A community cleanup is a great way to bring people together while boosting neighborhood pride and protecting our environment. With a little planning, your event can make a big impact.
- Choose a location. Choose an area that needs sprucing up, and designate a meeting point where volunteers can check-in and get supplies. Factors to consider include accessibility and safety, parking, and area you can cover in a day.
- Set a date. Set a date that gives you time to recruit volunteers and a time people are likely to be available.
- Secure supplies. Keep Prince William Beautiful provides gloves, bags, trash pickers and safety vests for groups that register their events with them: kpwb.org/community-cleanups.
- Plan for waste and recycling. Coordinate with your trash service provider or HOA to arrange an extra pickup or a temporary dumpster. Have separate containers for: Single-stream recycling (plastics 1 & 2, cardboard, cans), Glass recycling (collected separately in Purple Bins) and review other rules for disposal.
- Sign up volunteers. This can be as simple as having an email point of contact, or use free tools like Google Forms or Eventbrite.
- Spread the word. Ask your HOA to promote the event, share on neighborhood pages and social media, encourage volunteers to invite friends, and contact Volunteer Prince William about sharing. You can also use this form to submit event information for the OccoquanDistrict.net calendar.
With a little coordination, your neighborhood cleanup can be a great way to be effective and fun.