AKRON, Ohio — An Earth Day trash cleanup is underway in Akron’s Ward 2, and if Councilman Philip Lombardo has his way, it will become a permanent program in the North Akron neighborhood.
Project “Clean it Up” joins Lombardo’s earlier, ongoing campaigns — “Light it Up” fixes burned-out street lights and “Sign it Up” replaces damaged or missing street signs.
The goal of “Clean it Up” is to ensure problem areas are maintained, with an emphasis on heavily littered highway offramps, business properties and popular pan-handling spots. Lombardo knows because he drove or walked each of Ward 2’s 218 streets looking for areas to prioritize for the “Clean it Up” campaign, he said.
Lombardo took the same tack for the two earlier campaigns, as well, he said.
For Ward 2’s litter problem, Lombardo joined with the public Facebook group “I Hate Litter,” launched in 2018, which challenges residents to keep their North Hill properties litter free.
"Littering is a huge global problem and I know me, as one person, I can't do it all," said Dona Papp, "I Hate Litter" founder. "If I go out and encourage my friends and they encourage their friends, you know, we can make a much bigger impact. "
On April 17, the group hosted the “North Hill Spring Litter Cleanup," to hit the problem areas Lombardo had identified. Volunteers fanned out across the ward, ultimately picking up 83 bags of trash weighing over 1,000 pounds, Lombardo said.
Lombardo received a $150 donation from a North Hill resident and $50 from Dairy Queen, so he bought $10 gift certificates to give to the volunteers.
“There is more to do but if we all do a little here and there, we can do it!!!” the group posted on Facebook following the cleanup.
More is needed because the cleanup didn’t make it to all the streets Lombardo identified during his survey of the ward.
“Twenty-six streets left and we’re going to get it done,” he said.
Cleaning up problem areas is important beyond the immediate impact, Papp said.
"People tend to litter where there's already litter," she said. "So if they see a place that has litter there, they think, what's one more can, or one more water bottle and, you know, they don't hesitate to throw it out their window."
To keep the cleanup momentum going, Lombardo is asking the city to permanently install garbage cans, bolted to platforms, at Route 8 off-ramps where drivers dump trash.
Signs that rotate around the ward are also involved in the campaign. Lombardo is working with long-time North Hill business the Kane Sign Co. to create several pairs of quippy signs.
They’ll deliver messages like “Did you get the memo? Littering has been banned. The results will be spectacular!” and “Newsflash! We don't litter in Ward 2 anymore. Slam dunk your junk!” Another set will read “Put trash in its place — in the can man! Be part of the solution, not the pollution!”
Lombardo also plans to “have a little come to Jesus meeting” with panhandlers, who he says are responsible for some of the most littered areas in the ward. He wants the city to place trash cans at those sites as well.
“We're going to have a little agreement,” he said referring to panhandlers. “I don't even want a cigarette butt on the ground.”
Businesses in Ward 2 will have the option to partner in “Clean it Up” for a fee of $20 or less, which will represent their financial commitment to the campaign, Lombardo said. They’ll be asked to keep their parking lots cleared of debris, and can sport stickers he’s is having made to publicize their neighborhood pride and pledge their involvement in the campaign.
The councilman also plans to use his mobile number as a “Litter Hotline” where residents can report problem areas. He rejects using the city’s existing 311 line for the hotline because he says he wants to be notified of problems.
“If it's, you know, a piece of paper on the road I could do that,” he said. “But if it's a dump of tires, that's different. I am going out with a city truck.”
Lombardo has already started ride-alongs with city sanitation workers.
He noted locations people had dumped tires while he was driving the ward looking for litter, he said. Since then, he’s been working side-by-side with city workers to pick the tires up.
Finally, Lombardo will address people leaving trash cans on the street days after their scheduled pickup.
Akron’s code stipulate fines up to $150, but under the “Clean it Up” campaign, offenders will get two strikes before they are either fined or somehow reprimanded, he said. Stickers will also be put on offending trash cans, he said.
“This is going to stop,” he said.
As for residential litter, Papp says it's easy to motivate neighbors.
"The best thing that people can do is to take a walk, just take a walk around their block, their neighborhood, and take a bag with them and just pick up trash along the way," she said. "If other people see them doing it, it will catch on, and other people will want to do the same."
You can reach Lombardo through his Facebook page and follow I Hate Litter on the group’s Facebook page.