Stop Picking Up Trash By the Ward System. There are six Wards in Columbus, and they are not drawn to be concise in geographic areas, but instead gerrymandered to ensure each ward has the same population. Why would the City ask a private entity to “follow the wards?” It doesn’t make sense to have the trash picked up on only one side of the street because each side is in a different ward (like Warpath and College St.) or to stop in the middle of a street because it turns into a different ward (like 2nd Ave N.) Some apartments report that different floors are on different wards. Instead, have the garbage system picked up in the most efficient manner. Trash should be treated as a whole as we are one city.
Great American Clean Up: Litter Study 2021. Use data to learn what works and what doesn’t. Many studies show that commercial properties create much more litter than individuals. Their data also indicates that a littered area tends to attract more litter so reporting littered areas to remediate quickly may be a valuable tool. The city has a some pretty good garbage anti-litter laws but the enforcement of those laws appear to be a low priority. Maybe the city could have “deputy” code enforcement for litter control targeting commercial violators. SeeClickFix could be used as a recommended solution for an app to report litter.
https://kab.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Litter-Study-Summary-Report-May-2021_final_05172021.pdf https://kab.org/programs/great-american-cleanup/event/
Trash Cans. The City Code does not allow for plastic bags on the streets, yet plenty of property owners do it anyway. Some, even leave it out all week, to just pile up—as if it is acceptable to store garbage in the front yard. Consider having landlord provide trash cans.
Contain Trash Cans Properly. Too many apartments do not have a proper way for residents to dispose of trash, causing trash cans to fall over, or allowing residents to leave trash cans out for days.
Enforce property owners to get a dumpster when creating major trash. Code enforcement should be ensuring the City is clean rather than be inconsistent and defend nuisance property owners and slum lords littering by allowing owners to put trash out on the street that the City is not supposed to be picking up, like mattresses, couches, and old appliances. This appears to be inconsistently enforced—some people have to while others get a pass.
Find the Root Source. Many of us pick up trash daily in an effort to keep our neighborhood clean. Others, participate in City-wide Clean-Ups. Some do both. But until the roots cause is addressed at the source, we can all continue to pick up trash, but it won’t stop the trash problem. P ‘properties may need to consider locking their dumpster and or making an enclosure for it.
Code Enforcement is a simple solution to many of the trash challenges we face as they could give violators (such as not using a trash can, not having trash properly contained, dumping, etc. etc.) a notice via doorhanger and also provide a list of companies that provide that service for a fee.) The City could also include the information-reminder of City policies in their utility bill.
Originally published in October 2022.
