Programs

Cleanups

Allegheny CleanWays works with local residents, organizations, businesses, and governments to remove debris dumped within Allegheny County.

Riverfront Cleanup

The Tireless Project is a collaboration of individuals and local organizations committed to stewardship of the rivers and streams of Allegheny County. The program was launched in 2003 by the Three Rivers Rowing Association in partnership with Nat Stone, a free-lance writer and rower who was horrified by the enormous volume of tires along the city's riverbanks when he rowed through on his adventure from New York City to New Orleans. Since its start, 4,993 volunteers have boarded our 28' pontoon boat, the Rachel Carson, and removed 680,000 pounds of debris, including 3,932 tires and 25,293 pounds of metal and other recyclables, from our riverbanks and streams.

Land-based Cleanups

Illegal Dumpsites

Our illegal dumpsite cleanup program, DumpBusters, operates 12 months a year. Consististing of two staff members and any number of volunteers, the DumpBusters crew tackles illegal dumpsites of all sizes and removes an average of 900-1200 lbs of debris per cleanup. Volunteer safety is the primary concern at every cleanup. Safe cleanup strategies have been developed to address the potential risks in removing broken glass, rusted metal, furniture, vehicles, construction debris, and tires from steep slopes, wooded hillsides, empty lots, alleyways, and around abandoned buildings. Equipment is used when volunteers' welfare could be at risk or people power alone is not enough.

The DumpBusters crew also provides expertise to communities wanting to clean up difficult sites, assists in stewardship and beautification of sites (as a way of helping to keep the sites clean), and is readily "on call" to respond to new dumping incidents. To date, our DumpBusters crew has removed almost 1,051 tons of debris (including 17,727 tires) from the city of Pittsburgh and the surrounding areas.  

Litter

Allegheny CleanWays provides training and equipment to community groups trying to fight litter in their neighborhood. Cleanup Coordinator Workshops provide valuable details on how to plan and implement a community cleanup. Allegheny CleanWays also serves as a distributor for PennDOT of gloves, bags, and safety vests needed to get the job done.

• Roadway Adoption: Receive equipment and technical support to adopt a section of a county or municipal roadway to keep it litter-free through the Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful Adoption Program.

Education & Prevention

Littering and illegal dumping won’t stop just because people clean up the debris. It must be stopped at the source. Allegheny CleanWays conducts outreach and education programs and is initiating a variety of programs designed to further help prevent these crimes from happening.

• Litter IQ Board. The Litter I.Q. Board is an interactive electronic display that creates litter awareness while educating the user about the life expectancy of discarded items. The board displays 12 common litter items and lists 11 possible decomposition times, ranging from "up to 2 years" to "indefinitely". The challenge is to match the item with the correct decomposition time. When the correct match is made, a buzzer sounds.
• Recycling IQ Board. The Recycling I.Q. Board is a fun, interactive, educational tool that allows the participant to match items that would be thrown away to items that can be made from the materials if they are properly recycled. When a correct match is made, a buzzer sounds, and the arrows, representing the recycling symbol, light up and spin around.
• Educational Materials. As an affiliate of Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful, we can provide educational materials for groups looking for environmentally-based curriculum and teaching guides for children and teens.