Urban cleanups

Your first litter pick up

Start small with an old grocery bag or a bucket. If you have gloves that's great. If not, old kitchen tongs work well too.

What to go for, and why

• Plastics, because they break down and go into the water supply, and eventually into our food supply. Pets can choke on certain plastics too. Also note, if you can pick up big plastics early you'll prevent lawnmowers and cars from breaking them down into lots of tiny plastics.

• Glass shards, particularly sharp ones. I want to keep them out of people's shoes, feet, and homes. And also to keep pets safe. These can shred plastic bags so I put them in a thick plastic jar. If I don't have a plastic container, I use other garbage as a container when possible (like a clamshell container). Then I can put it in the bag without tearing it.

• Rusty metal, to prevent tetanus

• Sharp metal like nails, screws, and wire on the side of the road, to prevent popped tires

• Food containers, cups, etc, because many of these have a coating that prevents them from being broken down

• Glass bottles: They're much easier to clean up before they're broken

• Soda cans: These aren't too harmful but they're also very satisfying to pick up

• Covid masks: These break down very slowly

• Garbage blocking water drains, because that can lead to localized flooding

• Cigarette butts, because they release chemicals into the ground. It can be a lot of work to pick up each and every one, so I sometimes just pick up a few.

Items I pick up less

• Tissues/napkins: These break down quickly and they can add a lot of weight, so I don't always pick them up.

• Cardboard: Regular cardboard breaks down pretty quickly so it's not too urgent

• Clothes: Most clothes will break down, and they can be heavy to carry

Rare items

• Needles: I haven't seen many of these. If I have my glass-safe container, that can keep them secure to get them to a safe disposal site

• Larger items I usually leave, unless I'm in a group with dedicated pickup

Where the litter is/isn't

These are the trends I've noticed in Seattle.

High litter areas

• • Schools

  • Abandoned businesses

  • Bus stops

  • Construction areas

Low litter areas

• • Single-family residential away from arterials

  • Active businesses

  • Certain parks are very well-maintained

Safety tips

• If you want to clean up the roadside, make sure you're facing traffic so that you can see them clearly. Also if there are items a little into the road, quickly brush them to the side with your foot so that you can safely pick them up from the curb. Pay close attention to parked cars that might start moving.

• Wear gloves and/or use grabbers/tongs

• Stay off of people's property

• If someone's camping/sleeping, don't mess with them

Special case: Seattle

• If you sign up for Seattle's Adopt-a-street program, they'll provide you with heavy trash bags, gloves, a garbage picker, a high visibility vest, etc. You can leave the bags right at city trash cans and they'll pick them up.

• If you find a big dumping site, you can report it in Seattle's Find It, Fix It app

Related: Graffiti / Stickers

On priorities: The top priority graffiti/stickers to remove are hate speech and those that affect safety like one-way signs and stop signs. Other signs such as directions are a lower priority. The lowest priority is purely cosmetic.

My kit is just household cleaners / tools. Here are the options I have which I've considered: Glass scraper / razor blade, soap and water, multi-purpose cleaner, glass cleaner, isopropyl alcohol, mineral spirits, magic eraser, scraper / putty knife. I'll also add that I use rags, scrub brushes, and old toothbrushes. For containing liquids I mostly use old tupperware.

Safest to try: Soapy water, multi-purpose cleaner

Ok but be careful: Glass scraper / razor blade, isopropyl alcohol

Use sparingly: Magic eraser

Too risky for me to try: Mineral spirits, scraper / putty knife

When starting on a sign, I start with the approach that's least likely to damage it and use more aggressive cleaners/techniques sparingly. This is particularly important to consider with signs meant for cars, which have a special reflective layer that's easy to damage.

I often start with the scrub brush and soapy water, then dry it with a rag. Then I'll scrape stickers and raised paint with the glass scraper. Then I'll use a rag with isopropyl alcohol to get any sticky stuff off. Sometimes that reveals bits of stickers I haven't gotten off and I go back to the glass scraper. In some cases the surface of the sign is cracked and I need to use a toothbrush with IPA to get in there.

The magic eraser is a light abrasive so I use it only when nothing else works and I dip it in the soapy water. In those cases, I try to use it just on the base color of the sign (usually white). In rare cases like stubborn paint I increase the pressure gradually, starting from areas of background color. I carefully test little corners of foreground color.

There are many signs that are very damaged by people trying to scrape off stickers with knives or keys and they scrape all the way through. That's less of a risk with a glass scraper if you're careful and experienced.

Also on the topic of razor safety, wear gloves if you can. Brace your hands against the sign for more stability and leverage. Use both hands for stability if you can. Make sure the sign isn't slippery while you work. Use a shallow angle and use a slicing motion for stubborn stickers. Clean the blade with IPA to get sticky residue off.

Also keep in mind that that IPA will dry out your hands. Be sure to wear gloves.