City of Columbus

Overview

As Chair of the Environment Committee, Councilmember Emmanuel V. Remy has discussed the challenges, concerns, complaints, and ideas residents have experienced related to litter and debris on the streets and in the alley’s throughout Columbus neighborhoods. There have been tens of thousands of calls about litter registered with the City’s 311 line.

Councilmember Remy and his office began to research and explore holistic approaches to litter abatement that would begin in April 2020 to coincide with Earth Day. Working with Keep Columbus Beautiful (KCB), the goal was to increase the number of volunteer clean-ups citywide and increase community awareness through education and partnerships.

These efforts resulted in the creation of the Cleaner Columbus program. Cleaner Columbus was designed to engage Columbus residents through education, environmental advocacy, stewardship, employment opportunities, accountability, with fair attention to equitable enforcement. The program will build on 5 focus areas:

• Community Litter Clean-Ups
• Community Education
• Youth Engagement & Education
• Employment Opportunities
• Accountability/Enforcement

Cleaner Columbus will highlight programs and initiatives championed through the Columbus City Council Environment Committee.

Community Education Litter is defined as waste products that have not been properly discarded.

Addressing litter begins with understanding what it is, what causes it, and how to eliminate it. Litter endangers our environment, our wildlife, and our economy. It pollutes our neighborhoods, decreases property values, and destroys our city's natural beauty.
The ideal way to handle the problem of littering is to prevent it in the first place. Let's all take responsibility and try our best to properly dispose of waste!

To complement the work of Cleaner Columbus, Councilmember Emmanuel Remy will launch a citywide campaign to bring awareness to resources, tools, and opportunities available to lead us towards a cleaner, healthier Columbus.

Some of these resources include:

• Keep Columbus Beautiful
• RecyColumbus
• Sustainable Steps
• Green Spot Columbus
• Adopt an Area
• Household Trash Collection

Youth Engagement & Education
Our most valuable assets are our youth and future leaders. Cleaner Columbus will work closely with Columbus City Schools and Columbus Recreation and Parks to engage and educate our youth and establish the value of a clean and healthy community. By working with Columbus City Schools, an age-appropriate curriculum will be incorporated into their course work, furthering their knowledge of sustainable behaviors, including mitigating litter in the community.

Employment Opportunities

Columbus City Councilmember Emmanuel V. Remy is passionate about neighborhoods and the people who define them. In an effort to support residents and communities hardest hit by the pandemic, Council launched the Cleaner Columbus Employment Program. The goal of the project was twofold, to provide temporary employment to residents and clean up the neighborhoods they love.

The three-week initiative was a resounding success. Using $250,000 in CARES funding during its initial launch in November 2020, the Cleaner Columbus Employment Program produced:
• Collected 53 percent of the total weight of litter collected in all of 2019
• Collected 5,789 bags of litter and debris
• Collected a total weight of 173,670 lbs

The Cleaner Columbu Employment Program continued in 2021 under its original structure. For 2022, the employment program will focus on hiring workers full-time with the city. These workers will be tasked with litter collection and beautification. Each candidate selected for this opportunity will be provided a living wage, full benefits, and given the opportunity to mentor other city employees with opportunities for career advancement within the city.

Tips To Help Prevent Litter

1. No littering! Take your food wrappings, drink containers, newspapers and other potential litter home with you and dispose of it in your own trash or recycling carts, or use one of the 96-gallon bins provided in the city’s streets and parks.
2. Do not throw trash out of your window! Keep a litterbag in your car and dispose of your trash properly once at your destination.
3. Keep your yard clean and free of things that can blow into the street and become litter. You are responsible for any litter or debris that's in stormwater pipes or a stream in your yard.
4. When you visit a park, remember to take out what you bring in. Keep trash and recyclables in a bag or backpack until you can put them in a litter basket.
5. Recycle! Recycle! Recycle! Talk to your family and friends about recycling to reduce the amount of litter you throw away.
6. At home, make sure garbage and recycling bags are tied securely so that loose papers and other items can't fall out and become litter.
7. Educate children about the importance of disposing of trash properly.
8. Participate in community cleanup events.
9. Properly dispose of bulky household waste items by taking them to your local waste recycling center or by calling 614-645-3111.