Picking up trash has a long history in Carrick – from spring cleanups to Tree Tenders projects to cleaning up Phillips Park. More trash pickups are ahead.
Saturday, April 24, is the 4th Annual Carrick Community Council Beautification Committee Earth Day Litter Clean Up. It starts at 11:00 AM & runs for three hours. People will meet at the Carrick Dairy District pavilion for coffee & donuts before breaking out in groups to clean up various streets in the neighborhood. Gloves & bags will be provided. About forty people are expected. Advance registration is not required but helps with the planning.
Saw Mill Run, which passes through Carrick, will be cleaned starting at 9:00 AM on April 24th by volunteers associated with Watersheds of South Pittsburgh. People will meet at the James Street parking lot in Castle Shannon, which is near one of the few places the public can access the Pittsburgh stretch of Saw Mill Run, and work downstream into the city from there.
In March, 2021, an early spring cleanup was held by the Carrick Community Council & Linda Roth. About twenty people broke into small groups, cleaned litter from different streets in the community & enjoyed pizza for lunch sponsored by District 4 City Council member Anthony Coghill.
For many years, Carrick Community Council has organized regular cleanups along Brownsville Road and other Carrick streets. Neighbors joined neighbors starting in the spring, generally after winter left a mess behind. They gathered at Carrick Shopping Center & spread out from there. Carrick Community Council provided bags, water & light refreshments.
Carrick Community Council will organize other cleanups during 2021, Laura Doyle, chairperson of the Carrick Community Council Beautification Committee said, including participating in the Pittsburgh Garbage Olympics. In 2020, 35 neighborhoods participated. Carrick won for collecting the most garbage. Elliot & Allentown came in second & third in the Garbage Olympics.
Litter & trash cleanups fit the Carrick Community Council’s strategic plan, which includes engaging residents & businesses to promote a sense of pride in Carrick. “Litter makes people feel bad about the community. We want to clean it up & show some Carrick pride,” Doyle said.
Other litter pickups have been held.
Carrick Tree Tenders are a loosely organized group of volunteers who trim new trees, mulch & weed, & clean up litter around trees, mostly along Brownsville Road.
In April, 2021, PittsburghParks.org, Citiparks, Councilman Coghill and the Friends of Phillips Park partnered for a spring cleaning around the recreation center, throughout Phillips Park and at the Veteran’s Monument, which is adjacent to the park. Almost from its formation, the Friends of Phillips Park has organized volunteers to clean trash from the park in two-hour sprints. Volunteers are asked to wear clothes they could get dirty. Closed-toe shoes are recommended. Gloves & tools are made available. Water & light snacks were provided. Other organizations – the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy & the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh – have joined with the efforts beautify Phillips Park.