What do 9000 lbs of trash, 16 volunteers, 3 Allegheny CleanWays staff, 1 dumptruck, and 1 cameracrew have in common? All of them were at the dumpsite cleanup in Stanton Heights this past Saturday. The coordination and teamwork of the volunteers was exquisite. In just a few hours they managed to move over 4 tons of trash up a steep hillside and fill up the 12-yd dumptruck 3 times! Some of the treasures of the day included a UPMC sanitary services cart, a toilet, a cute panda toy, a lawnmower, and the old street sign from the days when street signs were white.

We would like to thank all volunteers who came to our volunteer appreciation event in October and to all our other volunteers who worked with us through the year. The dedication of our volunteers is what makes our organization function and allows us to help keep Allegheny County beautiful. This year we’ve had over 900 volunteers put in 2800 hours. That is well over the number of hours that a full-time employee would put in over the course of a year! Through their hard work, 422,700 lbs of trash and debris have been removed from the county and properly disposed.

Hannah Geiser recently joined Allegheny CleanWays as the Education and Tireless Project Coordinator/DumpBuster Crew Leader in September 2013. Hannah is a recent college graduate from Indiana who wants to experience the vibrant environmental non-profit community in Pittsburgh and be more directly involved in beautifying her local neighborhood. To receive more information about our programs or to volunteer with ACW’s Tireless or DumpBuster programs, contact Hannah at (412) 381-1301 or email her at Hannah.Geiser@AlleghenyCleanWays.org.

Hannah is working with us for a year of service through PULSE (Pittsburgh Urban Leadership Service Experience). PULSE cultivates a community of servant leaders to transform Pittsburgh by inviting talented university graduates to live in community and partner with local non-profits for a year of service and leadership.

To learn more about PULSE, visit www.pulsepittsburgh.org.

The Post-Gazette published an article on February 21st about our DumpBuster Coordinator Joe Divack and his work with the DumpBuster program. A significant proportion of our regular volunteers are 55+. The DumpBusters program couldn't move the tonnage of debris that is does every week without these dedicated volunteers. From January 1st, 2013 to February 21st alone, the DumpBusters program removed 19 tons of debris and 3,200 tires from hillsides, vacant lots, and roadways in Allegheny County. The next time you see one of our DumpBuster volunteers, thank them for the great work they are doing!

Passed in 2010, the Pennsylvania Covered Device Recycling Act goes into effect today, January 24, 2013. From this point forward electronics (i.e. TVs, computers, tablets, monitors, printers, audio equipment, etc) can no longer be put in curbside trash - they must be recycled. More information about this law can be found on the website of the Department of Environmental Protection.

Local resources for recycling your electronics include:

E-Loop

Construction Junction (an E-Loop location)

Commonwealth Computer Recycling