Announcing a Neighborhood Cleanup

Cars passing mounds of garbage left on a roadside in Naples's suburb of Afragola. (Ciro de Luca/Reuters). And you thought Lynn was bad. See the International Herald Tribune for the story behind this mess.

I came across this picture upon walking into the elevator at the building where I work. Someone had dropped their newspaper this morning. I guess I was meant to see it. It makes me think about how we are a global community, not just a local one. It also makes me think about how the man with no shoes complained about his lot in life before he came across the man with no feet. I am constantly railing at the amount of trash here in my little corner of Lynn. It could be worse.

This brings me to the point of this post. I am the proud recipient of a$500 grant from SCI Lynn. My proposal was inspired by the new trash ordinancerecently passed by the Lynn City Council. One of the requirements ofthis ordinance is that trash be kept in barrels with tightlyfitting lids to present less of an opportunity for rats to feast ongarbage. While this is not the whole solution to the problem, it's astep inthe right direction. Lynn Lumber is offering this type of trash barrelat a reduced price ($11.00).

SCI Lynn saw it fit to fund my proposal to hold a neighborhood cleanup in May, but with a twist. We'll also give citizens the opportunity to exchange their old lidless trash barrels for new lidded ones. Simply bring the old one in and you'll receive a new one with a tightly fitting lid to help ward off the rats and keep the city cleaner. We'll take the old ones and recycle them for another use. I also hope to have a community celebration with food and entertainment to commemorate our efforts.

Stay tuned for further developments on the neighborhood cleanup/barrel exchange/community gathering.