Neighbors, like Gretchen Newmark, tackle trash through AdoptOneBlock

The trash accumulating in the triangular block along Northeast 42nd Avenue and Sandy Boulevard bothered Gretchen Newmark. So she signed up with a new organization, AdoptOneBlock, and started picking up food wrappers, bottles and assorted trash to deposit in the bags and bucket the organization provided.

AdoptOneBlock is one of several groups attracting volunteers who are concerned about the trash piling up around the city. Although Portland has contracts with private companies to empty trash barrels in some commercial districts, it doesn’t have a municipal service for picking up street-side garbage. Instead, groups have formed for citizens to take on the task themselves.

“I like AdoptOneBlock because it is done on my own time,” said Newmark, who learned about the group from the NextDoor app. One day a week, she spends about 90 minutes picking up the trash with a long-handled grabber. Her block includes the Harold Kelley Plaza, a pocket park that attracts more-than-average trash near benches and tables.

After filling several bags, Newmark takes them to a nearby Whole Foods, where management has agreed to deposit them in the dumpster. The arrangement is convenient for Newmark, who walks to her block from her home, about a quarter mile away.

AdoptOneBlock and other cleanup programs recommend that volunteers try to make a dumpster arrangement if they have more bags than they can carry home or comfortably deposit in their own garbage cans.

Another clean-up organization is SOLVE, known for organizing the clean up of Oregon beaches for more than 50 years. It also organizes group events around the state and supports volunteers who form their own neighborhood cleanups in a Detrash Portland program.

SOLVE offers clean-up supplies, safety information and disposal assistance with local companies, said Kris Carico, the chief executive officer.

Among SOLVE’s planned events is the Central Eastside Industrial Council cleanup on Sept. 2. The St. Johns Clutter Busters plan a riverside cleanup in Cathedral Park on Sept. 25. Sign-up information for other group events and more programs, including efforts to eradicate invasive species and to plant native flora, is at www.solveoregon.com.

SOLVE and AdoptOneBlock are part of Mayor Ted Wheeler’s Clean and Green PDX initiative, formed earlier this year to encourage neighbors to volunteer for cleanup efforts. Representatives of cleanup groups meet every two weeks to coordinate efforts, learn what each is doing and to see if they can assist one another.

In addition to the Oregon Department of Transportation and the Portland Bureau of Transportation, which have properties that attract trash, the coordinating group includes Trash for Peace and Ground Score. These organizations encourage recycling through education and projects with reusable materials. They also provide job opportunities for collecting and sorting beverage containers. Information is at www.trashforpeace.org.

Another Clean and Green representative is Metro, the regional government which coordinates garbage collection and recycling for homes and businesses. It has the Regional Illegal Dumping (or RID) patrol, which deals with items dumped on public property, alleyways and waterways. To report such items, call 503-234-3000.

Most cleanup organizations attract volunteers to work in groups according to a set schedule, but AdoptOneBlock is designed on a different model, said founder Frank Moscow. He was retired from a high technology career five years ago when he moved from a suburb to Portland.

“I was appalled with my beloved city getting dirtier and dirtier,” he said. He devised a volunteer program that doesn’t require a commute, a meeting, or a schedule set by someone else. “You can go out your front door,” he said, “and be a good steward.”

Volunteers can become Block Ambassadors by signing up at www.adoptoneblock.org to select a block and provide contact information, where free cleanup materials can be sent.

Moscow has one employee and operates through grants and donations. “There are a lot of people out there who are eager to donate to a unique non-profit to improve the city,” Moscow said.

In less than a year, AdoptOneBlock has attracted about 4500 Block Ambassadors who are cleaning 5300 blocks on a regular basis, Moscow said.

For Newmark, filling a sack with the debris from her block isn’t a chore.

“In just doing one little bit,” she said, “I felt so much better. I always feel better in making my block look better.”

By Janet Goetze

janetgoetze@star-news.info

Star News

Ed: This is an excellent concept and should be adopted as the Adopt One Block program develops. Try it in your neighborhood.

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