Did you know that as of 2020, Philadelphia was named the dirtiest city in America? To deal with this problem, the city spends nearly $45 million a year. But there is something we all can do to help the situation. The solution is organizing a block cleanup with the help of Junk Removal Philadelphia Kings | Spring Cleaning Tips.
So, how do you organize a block cleanup in Philadelphia? Let’s find out!
Survey
The first step of an excellent block cleanup is a survey. With a survey, you can choose the right area of focus for the neighborhood cleanup. The right block cleanup project will allow you to fix any existing trash problems in your neighborhood. It should also inspire other people to get involved in the project.
Your cleanup projects can come in different forms;
- Beach cleanups
- Trash and litter collection
- River cleanups
- Flower planting incentives
- Beautification projects
From your survey, ensure that you choose a block cleanup project that isn’t being addressed. For instance, does your playground equipment require a fresh coat of paint? Does the local park need new plants?
Also, when surveying for the next project, it’s important to remember that certain efforts, like painting the playground equipment in the park, may require permitting or permission from the city. Once you have the project locked down, the next steps of your survey include the following:
- Listing the location of bulk items, trash, tires, and graffiti.
- List each school, lot, reaction center, street, or recreation center you want to be cleaned
- Estimate the supplies and people you will want to help remove the trash.
- Take the beforehand photos that will help you document the cleanup results.
Schedule
Once you have your survey in place, the next step is scheduling the cleanup. It’s essential to ensure that you have a specific schedule for the cleanup. Your plan should include the following:
- Date of the block clean up
- Number of volunteers you require and the initiatives to help recruit them
- Meeting location for everyone involved in the cleanup with access to restrooms
- Outline the work that needs to be completed before and during the day of the cleanup.
- List the supplies you will require for the project
- Schedule of events that will run during the block cleanup
- List of all licenses and permits required
A detailed schedule can help you organize the neighborhood cleanup fun and efficiently.
Volunteer Recruitment
It won’t be a cleanup if you don’t have volunteers to help with the project. However, not everyone will be open to helping clean the block, so it’s important to recruit volunteers early. Start your recruitment efforts a month or two earlier before the cleanup event starts.
You can use different methods to recruit volunteers like:
- Telling friends, neighbors, community members, churches, local businesses, and other organizations about the cleanup event.
- Create a flyer that will highlight the details of the block cleanup. Make sure you distribute them.
- Promote the cleanup event on your social media platforms
- Add the cleanup event to the online community event calendars
- Ask your neighborhood’s organization to promote the cleanup event in the community newsletters.
During the recruitment phase, ensure you ask your volunteers to sign up. This will let you know how many people you are recruiting and who is coming. However, remember that not everyone who signs up will show up for the cleanup, so recruit more volunteers than required.
Choose a Project Coordinator
Every project needs a coordinator. You need a go-to person to help with all the planning. Therefore, make sure that the chosen leader has some event planning experience. This experience will come in handy from the very beginning of the project. With a leader in place, it gets easier to choose a committee or team of people who will help in planning the event.
The project coordinators will help with the following:
- Identify the resources for equipment
- Choose a date that everyone in the community is comfortable with. You also need to include a rain date, as weather can greatly affect your cleanup project.
- Determine when and how the materials and equipment will be picked up
Clean Up Day
Finally, it’s cleanup day. The day of the event:
- Have every volunteer who showed up fill out a sign-in sheet.
- Designated specific tasks for different teams.
- Things like juice, coffee, donuts, lunch, and music should be welcome additions to the cleanup projects.
Once you have your plans down, the entire project gets easier. Remember, failing to plan is planning to fail.