Programs

Assessment

The cataloging of illegal dump sites is directed by Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful with local support provided by Allegheny CleanWays. Assessments only address "third party" dump sites along public rights of way, not along off road areas or dumps on private property by the landowner. Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful has completed formal assessments of each Western PA county and is currently working on completing several in Central and Eastern PA. By the end of 2011, all but a handful of counties will have been surveyed. More information about each assessment is available from KPB.

Cleanups

Allegheny CleanWays works with local residents, organizations, businesses, and governments to remove debris dumped within Allegheny County.

Tireless Project

This program is a collaborative endeavor of several organizations with a common interest in the waterways of Pittsburgh. The Tireless Project was launched in 2003 by the Three Rivers Rowing Association in partnership with Nat Stone, a free-lance writer and rower who was horrified by the enormous volume of tires along the city's riverbanks when he rowed through on his adventure from New York City to New Orleans. Since its beginnings, more than 2,279 volunteers have extracted 150 tons of debris, including close to 2000 tires and 301 bags of recyclables from the rivers' shores.

DumpBusters

Developed in 2010 with one of our volunteers, this is a year-round program to combat illegal dumping in Allegheny County. A small group of volunteers (anywhere from 1-8 people) go out every day to chip away at dump sites. While they focus primarily on small dumps that are easily eliminated by a small group, they have also tackled the largest cleanup in our history. The DumpBusters crew can also provide expertise to communities wanting to clean up a difficult site and is "on call" to respond to new dumping incidents. To date, our DumpBusters crew has removed almost 200 tons of debris from the city of Pittsburgh. Our goal for 2011 is to develop additional crews to expand beyond city neighborhoods in Allegheny County.

Illegal Dump Cleanup Events

The cornerstone of our organization and our parent organization, Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful, our illegal dump cleanup events typically engage a large number of volunteers in cleaning up illegal dump sites. Cleanups vary widely, however. Some involve volunteers or equipment, and some involve both. Volunteer safety is the primary concern at every cleanup. Safe cleanup strategies have been developed to address the potential risks in removing broken glass, rusted metal, furniture, vehicles, construction debris, and tires from steep slopes and waterways. Equipment is used when volunteers' welfare could be at risk or people power alone is not enough. Since our beginning in 2000, we have removed 519 tons of debris, including almost 5000 tires and 45 tons of scrap metal and other recyclables from the landscape through our illegal dump cleanup events.

Greenways Cleanups

Greenways are linear corridors of open space, linking our parks and open spaces to each other and to the places where we live. Some greenways are land trails for hiking, biking, and other forms of recreation. Others are water trails. Still others serve to protect the environment and aren't designed for people to use. Because of their remote character, areas that were designated as greenways are likely to have been historic dumping sites. Allegheny CleanWays continues to work with state agencies, local residents, and other organizations to remove debris from and restore the health of the region's Greenways.

Community Support & Litter Abatement

Allegheny CleanWays provides training and equipment to community groups trying to fight litter in their neighborhood. Cleanup Coordinator Workshops provide valuable details on how to plan and implement a community cleanup. Allegheny CleanWays also serves as a distributor for PennDOT of gloves, bags, and safety vests needed to get the job done.

• Partners Against Littered Streets (PALS) is a program through which Allegheny CleanWays provides kits of materials to community groups for frequent light litter cleanups. Kits contain safety vests printed with the PALS insignia as well as several types of cleaning equipment.
• Site Adoption. Sites that have been adopted under the Keep PA Beautiful Adoption Program must be cleaned twice a year. Allegheny CleanWays offers equipment and technical support to the organizations who are stewarding adopted sites.

Education & Prevention

Littering and illegal dumping won’t stop just because people clean up the debris. It must be stopped at the source. Allegheny CleanWays conducts outreach and education programs and is initiating a variety of programs designed to further help prevent these crimes from happening.

• Litter IQ Board. The Litter I.Q. Board is an interactive electronic display that creates litter awareness while educating the user about the life expectancy of discarded items. The board displays 12 common litter items and lists 11 possible decomposition times, ranging from "up to 2 years" to "indefinitely". The challenge is to match the item with the correct decomposition time. When the correct match is made, a buzzer sounds.
• Recycling IQ Board. The Recycling I.Q. Board is a fun, interactive, educational tool that allows the participant to match items that would be thrown away to items that can be made from the materials if they are properly recycled. When a correct match is made, a buzzer sounds, and the arrows, representing the recycling symbol, light up and spin around.
• Educational Materials. As an affiliate of Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful, we can provide educational materials for groups looking for environmentally-based curriculum and teaching guides for children and teens.

Beautification and Stewardship

Beautification and stewardship are integral in helping to change the perception of a site that has been cleaned and keeping it from becoming trashed again. Each site we clean is evaluated for how to best restore it and keep it clean. In some cases, we work with other organizations to plant trees, native plants and shrubs or to install gardens on the site. In other cases, we work with local residents to monitor and steward the site.

Our newly formed partnership with the Urban EcoStewards program will enable us to engage volunteers in long-term stewardship of greenspaces we've cleaned, thereby improving the overall health and natural value of the land. Urban EcoStewards receive one-on-one training on the site they have chosen to steward and attend free group trainings on relevant issues. Training workshops cover such topics as invasive plant identification and removal techniques, wildflower identification, erosion control, native shrub and tree identification, native seed collection, and techniques for leading a crew of volunteers.