LA has a trash problem. The county has been trying for years to find a solution on how to clean up the streets. Some residents are coming together to tackle the issue. As Esther Quintanilla reports, one organization has taken its mission further by including social activities in their community cleanups.
This is the sound of trash getting picked up in woodland hills by the community clean up crew overdue.
The group got started when Max Suwaki was out walking his dog.
Max: “He almost stepped on the needle, and I invited my roommate to pick up trash. And that’s how we got started.”
Igor: “It’s something that Max did on his daily walks.”
That’s Igor Leontiy, Suwaki’s roommate.
Igor: ”It kind of picked up and it snowballed from there and it was all organic growth.”
Overdue has cleaned up all around l-a county since 2020. According to its website they’ve collected over 55 thousand pounds of trash from neighborhoods, lakes and hiking trails.
Kerjon Lee from LA county public works says the county produces about thirty million tons of trash each year.
Kerjon Lee: “On average, every resident of L.A. County. All two million residents are sending about five pounds of trash or waste to landfills on a daily basis.”
The county is working toward reducing how much waste is being sent to landfills.
Kerjon Lee: “The county has a vision for its communities, for them to be vibrant and waste conscious. So to achieve this vision, we set a goal of diverting 95 percent of waste from landfills by 2045.”
Trash is still a problem that angelenos have to deal with every day until then.
Organizations like overdue have popped up all over the San Fernando valley. People are looking for ways to help keep their streets clean.
There are a few governmentally funded programs that pick up trash in LA. The department of public works and LA sanitation will pick up large garbage and clean up illegal dumping. But the litter scattered on sidewalks is often overlooked.
Kerjon Lee: “The services of the the cities and the county are essentially the last line of defense on the streets when people don’t dispose of their waste properly, either by littering or maybe blows out of their trash cans and it’s not picked up. Then the county and cities come in to pick up that waste.”
Kerjon Lee: “We call them the four Rs and you might remember them from school. The four Rs are reduce, reuse, recycle and rethink.”
Taking responsibility is something Leontiy thinks should be put on everyone in the community.
Igor: “It falls on all of us. Each individual that consumes and produces waste. It falls on us to clean up after ourselves.”
Sammy Evans joined overdue about a year ago after seeing them pass through her neighborhood.
Sammy: “I was like, Who are these people who were doing such amazing things in my neighborhood? And I was like, I have to go. So I went and I picked up trash, and then they’ll talk to me afterwards. And I like God, they’re so cool. I finally found my people in the valley.”
Evans appreciates that overdue is making a difference in her community.
Sammy “So it’s so lovely to have them here and to like, have built a community of people who are like, really trying to see the beauty in our own community and like how we can make it better.”
Twenty to thirty year-olds get together not just to clean up, but also go out to local bars to hang out.
Max: We call them trash friends. It’s a unique community that you can’t really get from, like networking events from like businesses. And, you know, because it’s a nonprofit, because it’s a volunteer experience.
That’s the best thing about groups like overdue. Close friendships are made while doing good for the community.
For Annenberg Media, I’m Esther Quintanilla.