Litter removal is helpful. But Fresno’s trash problem requires complete culture cleanse
Fresno’s curb appeal problem, to borrow Mayor Jerry Dyer’s phrase, won’t be solved with a few trash pickers. Nor a few hundred.
But you know what? It’s definitely helping. The efforts of 118 volunteers (me among them) who took part in the latest Beautify Fresno cleanup event made quite a difference Saturday morning. By the time we were through, bagging 1,265 pounds of litter from Shields and West avenues in central Fresno, commercial parking lots and residential streets in the vicinity were noticeably less trashy.
The experience proved enjoyable and oddly satisfying. Assigned to the intersection’s northeast corner, I must’ve spent 15 minutes using a trash picker to pluck all the cigarette butts, bottle caps, gum wrappers and scraps of paper from a dirt median strip that fronts a donut shop and liquor store.
After being completely engrossed in the task, I glanced around and saw several fellow volunteers, each of them wearing gloves and dressed in a fluorescent vest just like me, picking litter in other areas of the parking lot.
At that moment it was impossible not to feel a sense of camaraderie — even among a group of strangers.
This may help explain why Beautify Fresno, since its official launch in late January, has attracted 3,645 volunteers (including repeats) who have collected and removed more than 18 tons of trash from the city’s roads, neighborhoods and parks.
Just as telling is this tidbit provided by Mark Standriff, the first director of beautification in Fresno’s 136-year history as an incorporated city: At each of the 32 Beautify Fresno cleanup events held thus far, more people have turned out than registered in advance.
“There’s a feeling of satisfaction people are looking for, especially during the pandemic,” Standriff said. “I think the other thing, too, is the singular focus with a tangible result.”
Unfortunately, some of that good feeling evaporated after checking fresnobee.com later that morning. Featured was a story about Fresno County’s illegal dumping scourge that has increased during the past year.
Photographs and video taken from an intersection west of town, 5½ miles from Shields and West, depicted several mattresses, large pieces of furniture, even a hot tub that some schmucks dumped before driving off.
“It’s getting worse and worse,” said a resident who lives down the street.
Neighborhood cleanups just the first step
The illegal dumping story and visuals don’t detract from all the good work performed by Beautify Fresno volunteers and organizers. Rather, they underline the depth of the problem by illustrating that no matter how much trash in our community gets removed, there will always be more coming.
Which is why Fresno’s curb-appeal woes won’t be solved with trash pickers, at least not completely. What’s required is a complete cleanse of the trash-tossing culture.
The good news is that Dyer and Standriff, the mayoral appointee entrusted to coordinate beautification efforts in California’s fifth-largest city, both seem to understand this.
“Litter begets litter,” Standriff said. “Eighty-five percent of all litter that you see on the streets and freeways, parks and parking lots, is intentional. Meaning somebody made the conscious decision to throw it wherever they feel like it. I ascribe that to a combination of attitude and a sense of accountability, whether it’s government-imposed or just peer pressure.
“When there’s no accountability, when it looks like the city doesn’t care and it looks like the property owner doesn’t care, the average person looks around and says, ‘Why should I? It must be OK to toss this Starbucks cup or drop this cigarette butt. Because there’s all kinds of trash out here. This must be the status quo.’ “
Neighborhood cleanups, while great for community spirit and mayoral PR, are relatively easy first steps. The tougher, more permanent results must be achieved through education and enforcement.
Standriff insists Fresno is committed to both. A public awareness campaign that underscores the city’s new anti-litter mindset is slated to launch later this year. Plans are being hatched for how to bring that message to area classrooms.
Signs of Fresno’s attitude shift on trash
On the enforcement side, Standriff said the city will crack down on illegal dumpers and blatant litterbugs. While also dialing up the pressure on owners of trash-strewn properties.
“The attitude from the city has changed,” said Standriff, who also helps facilitate graffiti removal and neighborhood blight issues reported on the FresGO app. “Not only do we care, but we’re now going to bring more accountability to this particular issue.”
Will Fresno always be trashy? Aside from Beautify Fresno’s recent efforts, is there any indication we’re becoming a more tidy community?
Richard Sloan, who has spent decades removing trash and clearing homeless camps from the San Joaquin River, sees tangible improvements.
“It’s not like it used to be,” said Sloan, the founder of RiverTree Volunteers. “I used to fill up a pickup truck with trash every day. This morning below Palm and Nees (avenues), I only filled up two (plastic shopping) bags, one with trash and the other with recycling.”
Besides less trash — to the point where Sloan says environmental damage caused by an influx of fishermen has become a larger problem — he has also noticed a shift in attitude.
“More people are calling out the people who are leaving their litter,” Sloan said, “and that’s been good to see.”
Fresno’s trashy habits took decades to form, and changing them will take generations. But at least there’s a desire from City Hall, backed by resources and a sound game plan. For now, that’ll do nicely.
