Apr 12, 2019 3 min read

The city of Washington will be cleaning up around town May 4 during its annual spring cleanup when residents and volunteers pick up trash.

“We’re just asking residents to clean up around your house and your neighborhood,” Mayor Scott Putnam said. “Obviously, we all want to live in a beautiful place, so let’s clean up around our own areas.”

Putnam said East Maiden Street near the train trestle usually collects a lot of trash, as well as the Brookside Avenue and the on- and off-ramps of Interstate 70 near Jefferson Avenue.

“Any of the gateways of the city just seem to be dumping grounds,” he said.

The city will provide bags and safety vests for any volunteers who want to participate. Supplies can be picked up at City Hall, Putnam said. He said the trash pickup will not include electronics or appliances.

He advised that people can put the garbage bags on the corners of streets, and City Council members will be driving around picking them up and taking them to the city dumpster. He asks that residents let the city clerk know what area they plan on cleaning so council will have an idea of where bags will be for collection.

“I hope we get a good turnout and that people take pride in the city and get it cleaned up,” Putnam said.

Fern Sibert, a city resident, has been cleaning up trash around town for the past four years. She starts when weather turns warm in March and goes out every Saturday that it’s not raining and picks up trash.

“If God gave you something, you should take care of it,” she said.

Sibert continues through May and does more cleanups around the Fourth of July and Labor Day. She said the park and ride lots at Jessop Place and Beau Street usually have a lot of litter as well as empty lots throughout the city. She also said she usually picks up 18 to 20 bags of trash from the hillside near Brookside Avenue.

Sometimes she’ll spend hours cleaning up an area, only to return to it the next week and find it littered again.

“It hurts my feelings,” Sibert said. “But I say, ‘OK, God. You have me cleaning up for a reason, so I’m going to go back there and clean up again.’ That’s just my way of showing God’s love to the neighborhood.”

Sibert has occasionally worked with Dusty Hopkins of South Strabane, who also helps clean up areas of the township and the city every Saturday in the spring and summer. With the help of his service dog, Diesel, and a group of about 10 people, they pick up trash along the highway ramps, Jefferson Avenue, West Chestnut and Locust streets, and Manifold Road.

Over the past three years, Hopkins said he’s seen all kinds of trash, from disposed shower stalls to shopping carts, mattresses, televisions, bottles and “a lot of needles.” He said his group piles up bags on street corners, and then he calls Putnam to let him know where the bags are for collection.

“We don’t complain about the trash,” he said. “We just pick it up and have a good time doing it. I try to get people involved in it.”