Here’s a new wrinkle on the city’s seemingly undying trash and litter problem, and the odd thing about it is that it’s about actually putting out the trash.
It’s not about setting out trash the wrong way — mixing trash and recyclables. There’s nothing new about that. It is a little bit about putting out refuse at the wrong time, as in too early, but there’s nothing new about that either.
On the 10-block stretch of the Frankford Avenue business corridor in Frankford, it’s about putting household trash in the wire receptacles the city wants used for street litter, and only for street litter.
The city’s SWEEP cops see household trash in those single-purpose receptacles and they start writing citations — to the businesses they’re intended to serve, said Assistant Managing Director Sanya Brown, Frankford coordinator for the PhillyRising program.
So what’s household trash doing on the Avenue anyway?
That’s easily explained. There are more than 100 households above the stores from the 4200 block up to the 5200 block, according to Kimberly Washington, executive director of the Frankford Community Development Corporation. Some of those residents don’t put their trash out in their own trash cans, but instead use the wire baskets intended for litter. Those baskets often are filled to overflowing, and that’s when the city’s SWEEP cops start writing tickets to the businesses.
That’s the problem. Washington’s idea is that Avenue residents wouldn’t use the wire litter baskets if they had their own trash cans, and they’d be likelier to have those cans if they got them for nothing.
That’s where PhillyRising steps in, Brown said.
The city’s neighborhood engagement program arranged for grant money to pay for 50 34-gallon trash cans, which will be given out to the first 50 Avenue residents who are eligible and who come to a workshop at Sankofa Freedom Academy, 4290 Penn St., from noon to 2 p.m. on April 19, she said. Those same residents also will get 20-gallon recycling bins.
“By providing residents with free litter-reduction education and receptacles, we not only fulfill our obligation to educate residents about the city’s trash-collection policies and regulations, but we provide them with the means to comply,” Washington said.
Washington is sending out letters about the free cans to eligible residents — those who qualify for city trash collection and are current on any collection fees.
She’s also sending out letters to those who aren’t current to encourage them to pay up, Brown said. Those who receive the letters and are eligible or become eligible will be able to apply for the program.
To participate, contact Christine Dejesus at [email protected] or call 215–743–6581.••
