PITTSBURGH, PA (September 13, 2021) The City of Pittsburgh Department of Public Works (DPW) is inviting Pittsburghers to go for GOLD with neighbors in the fifth annual citywide Garbage Olympics on September 18. The annual competitive litter pick up event has attracted more than 40 Pittsburgh neighborhood teams, as well as teams from two neighboring municipalities, to compete in picking up garbage and litter from city streets.
The event goes from 9-11 a.m. and DPW and Mayor Peduto’s Clean Pittsburgh Commission will provide bags, gloves, safety vests, and "nifty nabber" litter grabbers. DPW will again collect the trash from designated locations in each neighborhood, and the City’s hard-to-recycle vendor, ECS&R, will drive around to pick up and recycle the televisions found during clean-ups.
Interested residents can find registered neighborhood teams, captain contact information and meeting spots on PGHGO.org. Interested participants can also email garbageolympicspgh@gmail.com or text or call 412-709-5155 to join a team.
“Each act of cleaning up litter isn't just one action. It accomplished dozens of things, every single time,” said the city’s Anti-Litter Specialist Chris Mitchell. “It raises pride in your community. It makes your community safer. It makes your community stronger. It makes the land and water around you less poisonous. It discourages further littering by keeping it clean in the first place.”
The Garbage Olympics began in 2017 with five teams competing for an Oscar award for the most trash collected. The event has grown exponentially since starting, with 38 of Pittsburgh’s 90 neighborhoods participating in 2020.
“The Garbage Olympics allows anyone to make an impact in their neighborhood. You can have a team of two or 50… you know that you’re a part of a bigger goal with all Pittsburgh neighborhoods doing a trash collection together," Renee Robinson Garbage Olympics co-founder and organizer.
Winners will be announced at a closing ceremony at Threadbare Cider House in Spring Garden beginning at 12pm.
Garbage Olympics Contacts:
Chris Mitchell, Anti Litter Specialist for the City of Pittsburgh - (412) 302-3460
Lena Andrews, event organizer - (412) 607-1957
Renee Robinson, event organizer - (412) 999-8928
