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• Section 11. Conducting Neighborhood Cleanup Programs

Chapter 26 Sections

• Section 1. Overview of Changing the Physical Structure of the Community
• Section 2. Improving the Quality of Housing
• Section 3. Providing Affordable Housing for All
• Section 4. Ensuring Access for People with Disabilities
• Section 6. Improving Parks and Other Community Facilities
• Section 7. Encouraging Historic Preservation
• Section 8. Creating Good Places for Interaction
• Section 9. Protecting Environmental Quality
• Section 10. Establishing Neighborhood Beautification Programs
• Section 12. Promoting Neighborhood Action
• Section 13. Enhancing the Built Environment through Design
• Main Section

What is a neighborhood cleanup program?

Why conduct a neighborhood cleanup program, who should be involved in a neighborhood cleanup program, when should you conduct a neighborhood cleanup program, how do you conduct a neighborhood cleanup program.

In the 1960s, I taught in an alternative school in a large city. One day, my co-teacher and I took our class of seventh, eighth, and ninth graders to a park that ran along a creek to teach an ecology lesson. After the lesson, we had lunch in the park before going back to school. As we started our walk, an eighth grader named Kyle, who had just finished the soda his mother had packed for him, flung the empty bottle off a bridge into the creek.

When the other teacher and I remarked that this was perhaps not an eco-friendly act, and out of keeping with the lesson we had just had, his reply was, "Have you seen my neighborhood? There’s trash everywhere! No one cares about my neighborhood. Why should I care about anyplace else?"

When a neighborhood is awash in trash and litter, when streets and surfaces are dirty and grimy, when graffiti are splattered on every blank wall, the streets can become symbols of the hopelessness of residents' situations, and of the impossibility of improving their lives. Even in more affluent neighborhoods, an abundance of refuse can lower residents' expectations, and work against community economic and social development.

This section is about an activity that may seem of relatively little consequence: getting together a group to clean up a neighborhood on a given day or two. In fact, a neighborhood cleanup can have a serious positive impact, particularly on a low-income neighborhood whose residents don't see anything better in their future. Both the act of engaging in the cleanup and its results can change a neighborhood's culture and self-image, and lead residents to view themselves in a different light.

Some definitions before we begin: Trash , as the term is used in this section, refers to relatively small pieces of waste that doesn't rot over the short term: paper, glass, cloth, wood, metal, plastic, etc. Most of it is usually made up of broken items – toys or electronics, for instance, or small pieces of furniture – or packaging, bottles, and similar items that are thrown away on the street. Garbage , on the other hand, is composed of items that do rot quickly or come in liquid form: discarded food, chemical cleaners, oil, dead animals, human and animal excrement, medical waste, etc. Bulky waste is composed of items such as appliances (refrigerators, washing machines, TV sets), tires, construction debris, concrete, large branches and logs, and other articles that are generally too large or heavy to be hauled away by waste disposal services. Recyclables are items that the municipality accepts for recycling. In most cases, a recycler either buys this material or hauls it away for free. Among the things that may be recycled in a given community are plastics, glass, paper, metals, and used motor oil. Each community has different standards, depending upon the contracts it has made with a recycler. In a neighborhood cleanup, recyclables may be sorted out by householders or separated from trash and bulky waste by volunteers.

Although the terms are often used interchangeably, there is a difference between a neighborhood cleanup and a neighborhood cleanup program. A neighborhood cleanup is a one-time event. A neighborhood cleanup program is an ongoing project that assumes that effort will be maintained, even if only once a year. Such a program, as we will see later in this section, takes coordination, structure, and a neighborhood commitment to keeping trash and other waste, graffiti, and neighborhood decay under control.

A neighborhood cleanup is just what it sounds like: residents band together to clean up all or part of their neighborhood. The effort may be led by the community, by an organized neighborhood association or council, by a grass roots neighborhood group, or by one or more concerned individuals. There are actually three kinds of neighborhood cleanups, any or all of which can be included in a single event:

• Public space cleanup. Neighborhood volunteers, usually with simple equipment – brooms, shovels, gloves, trash bags – spend some or all of a day cleaning up part or all of a neighborhood.
• Household cleanup. On a designated day or week, neighborhood volunteers or the municipality will (usually at no cost to the household) pick up items too large for regular waste disposal or otherwise difficult to get rid of. Residents simply leave the items waiting to be picked up at the edge of the road at an appointed date and time.
• Community-assisted cleanup. If one of the spots most in need of a cleanup is on private property – a vacant lot in which the owner or others have dumped a large amount of trash and bulky waste, for example – or if there are items, such as abandoned or junked cars, that a neighborhood group simply can't remove, the neighborhood may need help from the larger community. The municipality may be able to provide permits, equipment, and other aids to address the problem.

In many municipalities, the local authorities provide community employees and equipment such as trash compacter trucks, recycling bins, dumpsters, and/or tools to assist in the cleanup. This is especially true where the cleanup is an initiative of the municipality, but may also be an option in other cases. Some communities encourage neighborhood cleanups with an application procedure for this kind of assistance. Eligibility may depend on the level of neighborhood organization, the number of committed volunteers, or the identity of the applicant. (Some communities will only supply manpower and equipment to a registered neighborhood association; others require only a signature of someone who's willing to be responsible.)

Let's take a closer look at the different kinds of neighborhood cleanups.

Public space cleanup

A public space cleanup may start with the municipality. Communities approach this in different ways. In some cases, the municipality will designate a day for the cleanup, and will either be available to pick up the trash and other waste collected, or will supply tools and/or equipment to help with the process. In other cases, the neighborhood can apply for a specific day or weekend; if it's available, the municipality will assist. Aid from the municipality is usually limited to once a year per neighborhood, so that as many neighborhoods as possible can participate.

El Cajon, CA conducts a monthly cleanup, for which the town solicits volunteers to pick up trash, identify graffiti, and clean up in general at a particular place in town.

Where the cleanup is initiated by the neighborhood, there are a number of possibilities. The simplest, of course, is that the neighborhood takes full responsibility on its own. People bring their own tools and garbage bags, drive their own vehicles – pickup trucks are ideal – and use volunteer manpower to handle bulky waste and get it to the landfill or transfer station. If there's a building or heavy equipment contractor among the residents, there may be a dump truck or backhoe available for big jobs, but most neighborhoods make do with hand tools, family vehicles, and volunteer muscle.

A landfill is essentially a dump, but one in which the waste is continuously covered over with earth. Transfer stations exist in communities where landfills don't exist or have been closed. Waste, depending on its nature, is either deposited or recycled at the transfer station, and then transferred to a landfill or recycling facility in another community. Municipalities pay a fee to transfer waste, but are often paid for recyclables.

Many communities will aid in a neighborhood-sponsored cleanup in the same ways as in a municipality-sponsored one. They'll loan tools and/or equipment and operators, or provide special waste pickup for the neighborhood. The event might include a household cleanup as well (see below) or it might be limited to what volunteers can do in public streets and spaces.

Some neighborhood groups – often block or neighborhood associations – are very organized, and are able to muster dozens of volunteers on a regular basis. Others work with a small core group, hoping to attract supporters as they go.

One woman in Los Angeles started small. Andrea Ambrose and her friend John Lobato decided to clean up a trash-strewn block in their neighborhood. On the following weekends, joined by Ambrose's mother, they picked other neighborhood locations. A few people joined them, then a few others. Ambrose and Lobato's spontaneous cleanup turned into LANCUP, the Los Angeles Neighborhood Clean Up Project, with an email list of past and potential volunteers, and a history of cleanups in LA's Silver Lake area. A LANCUP Martin Luther King Day cleanup in 2009 attracted 250 volunteers. In 2015 LA mayor Eric Garcetti launched Clean Streets LA calling the city sanitation bureau to lead the efforts to clean the city neighborhoods. They are distributing 5,000 new trash cans around the city and are cracking down on illegal dumping. Clean Streets LA provides new funding to hire additional Sanitation crews to respond directly to bulky item pickup and reports of illegal dumping. Clean Streets LA partners with nonprofits to provide additional cleanup services including wee, litter and graffiti abatement.

Depending on the number of volunteers and the level of organization, a cleanup can cover an area as small as an intersection or a block, or it might try to encompass a whole city neighborhood. It can also focus on or include a city park or other large public space.

 Volunteers might take on tasks ranging from sweeping streets and sidewalks to picking up and separating trash and recyclables to trimming bushes in a park to hauling bulky waste onto a pickup truck and taking it to the dump. They might paint over graffiti, clean drains, haul away fallen tree branches, or report abandoned vehicles. In the process, they can get to know and bond with their neighbors, learn more about their neighborhood, and accumulate social capital.

Social capital is the mass of good will and obligation that you build by extending good will and fulfilling obligations to others in your sphere . A neighbor might watch your house while you're away, for example, because she knows you volunteer your time to neighborhood causes, or because you took care of her dog while she was on vacation. Even simple daily interaction – a greeting at the bus stop, a nod in the supermarket – serves to build social capital for both parties.

This type of cleanup often ends with a party or meal prepared by other neighborhood volunteers and/or the coordinators. Food and drink may be donated by neighborhood businesses, and the party/meal crew may include elders and others who want to be involved, but aren't capable of the physical labor needed for the cleanup activities.

Household cleanup

A household cleanup may be held as part of a public space cleanup, or may stand on its own. Some household cleanups are the result of a community initiative, and others are neighborhood-initiated. In the first case, the municipality generally designates a day or week for the neighborhood when residents are allowed to put out for disposal waste that isn't normally accepted by the community's trash haulers. This often includes bulky waste, and may also include some or all hazardous waste (paint, solvents, etc.), concrete, glass, used motor oil, and the like.

Municipalities generally have strict rules about what they will and will not take at a landfill or transfer station. Some are able to recycle nearly everything possible, others very little. Some will accept some or all hazardous waste, others none at all. They may suspend some of these rules during a household cleanup, but there are usually still some restrictions on what they will take and how much. Most communities, for example, require that appliances be emptied of freon (a notorious greenhouse gas that helps to cool refrigerators and air conditioners.) Many will only accept certain materials, hazardous or not: construction debris, large branches and trees, lengths of metal pipe longer than three feet, and concrete are all materials accepted by some communities in neighborhood cleanups and not by others. Many communities limit the amount of bulky and other difficult waste they will take (five yards – 135 cubic feet or nearly five cubic meters – is a common maximum.) Rules vary greatly from community to community, depending on what it costs them to dispose of various materials. Some communities will take any metal because they can sell it for scrap, whereas others have no market for it, and therefore must pay (by weight) to have it hauled away. The same is true for recyclables and some other items. The limits they set, therefore, depend as much on budget and sorting capacity as on the amount of space or number of trucks available.

A neighborhood-organized household cleanup usually operates similarly to a neighborhood-initiated public space cleanup (and may in fact be part of one, as mentioned above.) Neighborhood volunteers provide information about the cleanup, coordinate and oversee activities, sort household waste into recyclables and trash, and either actually haul it to the dump or transfer station or arrange with the municipality to truck it away on the appropriate days.

Volunteers in this case might help elders and people with disabilities pack up their waste for disposal and get it out to the curb where it can be taken away. They might also cut down broken tree limbs, clean up yards and driveways, and otherwise make it possible for residents with physical difficulties to participate fully in the cleanup.

Community-assisted cleanup

We've already referred to a number of different kinds of community assistance in relation to public space and household cleanups. Here, we're specifically discussing situations where the community itself makes all or part of the cleanup possible. A trash-covered vacant lot or an abandoned building may be not only an eyesore, but also a health hazard, a barrier to neighborhood business, and a magnet for drug use and dealing. If such a neighborhood sore spot is privately owned, residents may need permission from the owner or some official action from the municipality in order to clean it up. The same might be true for abandoned vehicles or the remains of a demolished building that provides an dangerous place for children to play.

Abandoned or junked vehicles can be towed away by the community without much process, and the owner notified after the fact. In the case of a vacant lot, building, or demolition site, however, the municipality may have to contact the owner and go through a process of warnings, sanctions, and impose penalties before anything can be done. Furthermore, whatever is done may have to be done by the municipality itself because of liability issues. The neighborhood may have no recourse but to report the situation and wait for something to happen.

In a situation where a vacant lot or other site poses a real health or safety hazard to the neighborhood and the municipality does nothing about it, social action may be called for. This might start with protests meant to persuade politicians to take action, and escalate into a cleanup as an act of civil disobedience or a lawsuit against the property owner and/or the municipality.

These cleanups may be one-time or annual events, but may also take place much more often, depending on the availability of trash hauling, the enthusiasm of volunteers, and the level of organization of the sponsoring body. Some neighborhoods organize monthly or even weekly cleanups. Large city neighborhoods may have to conduct regular frequent cleanups for maintenance.

• A neighborhood cleanup program can instill neighborhood pride . A neighborhood that looks good, that's free of trash and clutter, and that allows children to play without fear of being injured by debris or contracting parasites or diseases from rotting waste is one that residents and businesses can be proud of. If they've made the neighborhood that way, they can take pride in themselves and their abilities as well. Furthermore, a cleanup encourages residents to take ownership of the neighborhood and keep it clean and healthy.
• It can break a cycle of hopelessness and helplessness . In neighborhoods where income is low, crime is a daily concern, and unemployment is common, residents can lose hope if they see no way to change their situation. Once neighborhood volunteers and other residents see how much can be accomplished, even in half a day, with many hands and a minimal level of organization, they may also see that they can address other issues, both in the neighborhood and in their own lives. Children and youth particularly may change their expectations of what's possible as a result of involvement in such an effort.
• It gives everyone a chance to contribute . No resident is too old, too young, or too physically disabled to help or participate in some way. Children can sweep and pick up litter; frail elders can prepare or distribute food and drink to those doing physical labor. People who are housebound can make phone calls to inform residents of the cleanup and recruit volunteers, or negotiate with the municipality for assistance. No one has to feel left out, and the more volunteers there are, the more they can accomplish.
• A cleanup program enhances neighborhood quality of life . Living in a clean environment makes life healthier, less stressful, and more pleasant.
• It can improve the self-image of residents and of the neighborhood as a whole . A neighborhood that smells like garbage or looks like a dump is an undesirable place to live and work. When that neighborhood is cleaned up, its reputation will improve as well as the residents' quality of life.
• A neighborhood cleanup program can improve neighborhood health . Large amounts of trash and garbage, abandoned buildings and cars, and other waste – some of it hazardous – can become breeding grounds for rodents and insects, cause pollution, and create unsanitary conditions that encourage the development of health problems and diseases. Such an environment also makes it difficult for children to find a safe place to play, and increases stress for everyone who lives in it. Cleaning it up can provide real and immediate health benefits to neighborhood residents, as well as helping them think about the possibility of neighborhood wellness.
• It can help to "green" the neighborhood . A cleanup program can not only reduce pollution, but – by sorting neighborhood trash and recycling as much as possible – can help to teach residents about recycling and about activities that will reduce the neighborhood's carbon footprint.

"Carbon footprint" refers to how much carbon-based fuel – petroleum products (oil, gasoline, etc.), natural gas, coal, wood – you're responsible for burning. This is important not only because fossil (carbon-based) fuel becomes scarcer with every bit burned, but also because it contributes carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, adding to global warming. Recycling conserves resources and often – though not always – uses less fuel than making a new product from scratch.

• It makes the neighborhood more attractive to business . Businesses would almost always prefer to set up in neighborhoods that are attractive and well cared for, simply because people are more likely to visit those neighborhoods and residents are more likely to have money to spend. A neighborhood cleanup program can initiate economic development and attract new shops and services for residents.
• It can serve as a springboard for other neighborhood actions or activities . A neighborhood cleanup program produces a list of volunteers who may be ready to turn out for other activities as well – block parties, advocacy for better services, violence prevention, mentoring, etc. As mentioned above, the realization of what can be accomplished may make residents more willing to address other issues.
• It can increase the number of relationships and the amount of social capital within the neighborhood . In shared work for a common cause, people get to know one another and form bonds from their experience. Those bonds form the web of social capital that unifies the neighborhood. That web can help create real, long-term change. When a large number of residents know and care about one another, they are more likely to provide mutual aid and assistance, to try to prevent neighborhood violence and crime, and to accept one another's differences. All of that works not only to further strengthen individual relationships, but to make the neighborhood stronger as well.

The University of Arizona in Tucson conducts a student-led neighborhood cleanup each year in neighborhoods surrounding the campus. The cleanup, involving both students and permanent neighborhood residents, helps to connect students to the neighborhoods and to ease relationships among students and city residents, often strained by students occupying residential neighborhoods.

• A neighborhood cleanup program can encourage the embrace of diversity . If the neighborhood is diverse , and there's a sincere and effective effort to recruit volunteers from all of the different populations of residents, the bonds of social capital will extend across the borders of those populations. Whether the diversity encompasses economics, politics, class, race, ethnicity, culture, age, sexual preference, or all of these, relationships forged by working together can serve to make a diverse neighborhood into one where everyone is valued, and where the neighborhood sees itself as a coherent body, rather than a collection of separate parts.

To be successful, a neighborhood cleanup program should be as participatory as possible . That means involving all groups in the neighborhood in planning and carrying it out. You can and should try to recruit volunteers for the cleanup itself from all sectors of the neighborhood. In addition, planning should involve representation from as many of the demographic and population groups in the neighborhood as possible. Groups that might be involved in planning and implementation of a cleanup program include:

• Any significant racial or ethnic groups, including the majority group. Those largely composed of recent immigrants may be harder to recruit, but persistent effort can often pay off.
• Youth. Teens, and some children as young as 10 or 11, might be involved in planning, and even very young children can work as volunteers in some capacity for at least a short time.
• People with disabilities. These folks may have a perspective on cleanup that takes into account issues of accessibility that others may not have thought about.
• Faith communities.
• Property owners, including absentee owners.
• Neighborhood business owners and managers.
• Neighborhood clubs and associations. These often have a level of organization that allows them to mobilize large numbers of volunteers quickly and effectively.
• Health and human service organizations that serve the neighborhood.
• School personnel. These folks may be able to help organize the cleanup by sending notices home with children, creating curriculum around the activity, etc.
• Neighborhood and/or municipal officials. The local city council member, the precinct police captain or fire chief, the municipality's environmental officer – these and many other officials can bring in help from the larger community. They should be involved in any case, both for their own purposes – positive publicity, getting to know people in the neighborhood who can then be helpful to them in other circumstances – and to put the neighborhood at the front of their minds.

You can start a neighborhood cleanup program at any time, but there are both some general guidelines for timing the cleanup itself, and some specific times when this activity is particularly appropriate. We'll start with the general and move to the specific.

General guidelines for when to conduct a neighborhood cleanup:

Pay attention to the weather

A cleanup scheduled for mid-winter in a cold climate is probably not going to attract many volunteers. Furthermore, it's difficult and messy to find and collect trash and other waste when it's buried under snow. By the same token, a cleanup in mid-summer in a place where the thermometer soars is an invitation to heatstroke.

If you can count on the weather to some extent – if your area has a rainy season, for instance, and it seldom rains at other times – schedule your cleanup(s) when the weather is likely to be nicest. Spring and fall are best in many areas. Try to have a backup day in case of rain, unbearable heat, or some other problematic weather.

Schedule around volunteers' lives

Unless all potential neighborhood volunteers are retired, weekends are probably the best times for cleanups. If there are no major cultural traditions in your neighborhood to prevent it (see the next paragraph), you can schedule a cleanup for Saturday, with Sunday as an alternative date in case of bad weather.

Avoid national and religious holidays, and be aware of various cultural restrictions that volunteers might have. Don't schedule a cleanup on Saturday in an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood, or on Sunday in a mostly Catholic one. Try not to conflict with most people's vacation schedules as well.

A factory in one New England town always shuts down for the first two weeks of August. Since it's the largest employer in town, many other businesses follow suit, and most residents take their vacations at that time.

Coordinate with the municipality if you can

If the cleanup is initiated by the larger community, or if it can offer tools, equipment, and/or other help, make sure that you schedule your cleanup at the time it specifies, or at a time when it is willing to participate. Make sure as well that the landfill, transfer station, and/or recycling facility can accept the results of your cleanup on the scheduled day or very soon after, so that piles of trash bags or brush won't clutter the streets, waiting to scatter and make your work useless.

Some good times to conduct a neighborhood cleanup program:

• When open spaces and streets in the neighborhood are covered with waste . If the neighborhood has gotten to the point where dirt and waste are so common that they have become part of the scenery, it's time to take action.
• When the municipality provides the opportunity . If the municipality has a regular neighborhood cleanup schedule, or offers help to neighborhood groups to organize a cleanup, it's a good time to take advantage of the opportunity. The cleanup will be much easier and probably more effective with the community's help.
• When waste presents a danger to children or others . Discarded refrigerators with the doors still attached, brush piles that can collapse, demolished buildings, abandoned cars – all of these present appealing places to play, and can also be extremely dangerous. If these kinds of hazards exist in your neighborhood, get rid of them as soon as possible.
• When waste presents a danger to health . If rats are breeding in a garbage-covered empty lot, if there are chemicals leaching into the soil, if medical waste or used drug needles litter the streets, the health of the neighborhood is at stake. A cleanup will do much more than make the neighborhood look better.
• When the neighborhood is interested in economic development . A clean neighborhood, as we've discussed, is more likely to attract business.
• When you want to bring the neighborhood together . A neighborhood cleanup program can involve all the groups in the community , and help to bridge gaps between ethnic populations, age groups, and others.
• When the neighborhood seems to have lost hope . Both the act of working together and the result of their labor – a cleaner environment – can shift residents' opinion of themselves and of their possibilities.

A neighborhood cleanup program requires a certain amount of planning and coordination. The larger and more ambitious the cleanup, the more planning and coordination it requires. Neighborhood participation, an absolutely necessary ingredient, can best be gained by involving the neighborhood as much as possible in the planning process. And, as we've mentioned earlier, a neighborhood cleanup program isn't just one cleanup, but an ongoing effort that will ensure further activity and a neighborhood that stays clean and healthy.

Given all that, let's look at the steps you might take to establish both an initial cleanup and a cleanup program.

Recruit or find a core group to begin the effort

Someone has to start the ball rolling. That might be an individual – perhaps the individual reading this section – a group organized specifically for the purpose , or an already-organized neighborhood group , such as a neighborhood association, a club, or a scout troop. It's ideal if the core group mirrors the diversity of the neighborhood, but if that's not possible, it's better to have a non-diverse group to make the first move than to have no one.

Put together a planning group that represents all groups in the neighborhood

If the core group is diverse, this step may not be necessary. If it's not, the first task of the core group should be to reach out to all of the groups listed in the "Who should be involved…?" part of this section and invite them to participate in planning the neighborhood cleanup.

The best approach is always personal. If folks don't know people in a particular group, they can canvass their friends and neighbors for someone who does, or contact a key person within the group in question – the director of an organization, a clergy person, a coach – and ask for help. People are much more likely to respond to a request to participate if it comes from someone they know and trust.

In addition to word of mouth, you can post information in public places , distribute notices to everyone in the neighborhood, (using someone's computer and printer at the cost of a few reams of paper and a couple of toner cartridges), put stories in the local newspaper, and try to place PSAs (public service announcements) on local radio and TV stations.

Assess the neighborhood

Unlike a complete community assessment, this can be a relatively simple procedure of walking or driving around the neighborhood and observing the level of waste, dirt, graffiti, abandoned vehicles, and other cleanup targets in different areas. Members of the planning group could also talk with neighbors about whether a household cleanup is necessary, if this isn't obvious from observation.

Decide what kind of neighborhood cleanup you want to conduct

Your assessment should help you with this step. Depending on the size of the neighborhood, the possibility of help from the municipality, the number of potential volunteers, and the nature and amount of what has to be cleaned, your cleanup might range from a single intersection or a single block to the whole neighborhood. It could be a public space, household, community-assisted cleanup, or all three.

If you're trying to establish a neighborhood cleanup program – i.e., if this cleanup isn't meant to be only a one-time event – it's important to include, if not focus on, a public space cleanup. Volunteers will be out on the street where people can see them, cleaning not just residents' yards or alleys, but the spaces that all neighbors use. That sends a message to the neighborhood that cleanup is everyone's responsibility and benefits everyone as well. Such a message will make recruiting volunteers and organizing future cleanups much easier.

Another issue to consider is how long the cleanup should be. It might range from a half day to two full days. One whole day is probably about right for most neighborhoods, in terms of both what can get done and how much time volunteers are willing to spend. There are, of course, other possibilities such as staging a cleanup of a different limited area every weekend.

Consider your resources

Neighborhood resources generally come in three flavors: money; people (volunteer time); and in-kind contributions (goods and services donated directly to the cleanup). Money may or may not be needed for a neighborhood cleanup. If it is, it's most likely to come from local businesses and banks. It can be used for supplies, equipment, and publicity, among other things, but it's not required in most instances.

People are the most important resource: a true neighborhood cleanup can happen without money, but not without volunteers . Additionally, people bring skills: neighborhood residents might provide first aid and emergency medical help, direct the painting of a mural over graffiti, or drive a piece of heavy equipment that makes the whole cleanup easier. Find out what kinds of human resources exist in the neighborhood, and don't be shy about asking for the use of them for the cleanup program.

In-kind resources can take the place of money in many ways. They can include help from the municipality in the form of equipment, employees, forgiveness of dumping fees, etc. The skills mentioned above can be considered an in-kind resource: residents are donating services they might normally be paid for. Supplies can often be solicited from local businesses – food, drinks, and paper goods from a supermarket or two, trash bags and brooms from the hardware store, paint from the paint store, etc.

It's important to have a clear idea of what resources are available in the course of your planning. The knowledge can help determine the size and character of your cleanup.

Pick an appropriate place, date and time

Remember to pick a date and time that doesn't conflict with holidays or put volunteers out in the worst weather, and that allows for help from the municipality if possible. Ideally, pick a time of year when people would enjoy spending the day outside.

The place you choose should be large enough to accommodate the number of volunteers you intend to recruit and to accept the collected waste (or the dumpsters that it will be stored in) until it can be hauled away. A school parking lot might be a good bet, since the school will be empty on a weekend. The parking lots of office complexes, shopping centers, public buildings, or houses of worship might also serve.

Recruit volunteers

Recruiting volunteers can be difficult if your neighborhood has no tradition of volunteering. Personal contact, once again, is the most effective method. If your planning group is reasonably representative of the neighborhood, the networks of its members should reach just about everyone. As you did for the planning group, put out notices, fliers, PSAs, and newspaper stories to help inform and attract neighborhood residents and other important groups.

For both the planning group and volunteers, if there are many neighborhood residents who are not fluent in the majority language, make sure that any printed or spoken material you put out is in all the languages they speak. That's one important way to let all residents know that they're welcome, and that you've thought about them.

One of the best ways to find volunteers is through the clubs, schools, faith communities, youth groups, sports leagues, and other organized bodies they belong to. Some of these organizations and institutions may adopt the cleanup as an official activity, or use it in other ways (as a fulfillment of a community service requirement for high school students, for example.) You can make presentations to these groups, or establish contact through group leaders.

Emphasize that there are volunteer jobs for everyone, even small children. A four- or five-year-old can't be expected to work for very long, but there are still things they can do, and they'll enjoy themselves and feel that they are part of something grown up and important in the process. For young children, this can be a first lesson in the value of community service, as well as a hands-on demonstration of how improper disposal of waste causes problems for others.

Another important recruitment tactic is making the cleanup fun, and letting people know it. We'll address this further when we discuss planning the event itself.

Organize volunteers

As people volunteer, get their names and contact information, including e-mail if they have it. Make sure everyone knows where they need to be at what time on the day(s) of the cleanup, and what they need to bring. Although it may seem obvious, let people know that they should wear clothes that they don't mind soiling – perhaps permanently – and shoes that are comfortable enough to work in for the length of the cleanup.

Unless the sponsoring organization or the municipality is supplying everything, volunteers might be asked to bring (if they have them):

• Work gloves
• Buckets and sponges
• Shovels and hoes
• Cell phones
• Carts and wheelbarrows
• Lunch, snacks, and drinks for themselves

In addition, some volunteers may be willing to use their cars or trucks to haul waste or to transport others.

As you sign people up, find out what they can, or are willing to, do. You'll need some people who can do heavy lifting, others to prepare food for the party at the end of the cleanup, others to paint over graffiti, still others to distribute water or to run errands. As discussed earlier, those who are housebound can make phone calls or arrange for trash pickup with municipal officials. Don't turn away anyone who wants to be part of the cleanup.

Plan the cleanup itself

Even if your cleanup is very small – three or four volunteers sweeping up one intersection – there will be some planning to do. If it's larger – and most are – you'll have to plan carefully to ensure success. You will need to:

• Coordinate the effort. There needs to be an individual or small group (no more than two or three) that keeps track of everything and everyone throughout the day, addresses issues, dispatches volunteers, and is available to handle problems and emergencies. The coordinator may stay in one place or may move throughout the cleanup area, but should be reachable by cell phone at all times. If coordination is shared, one person might be responsible for handling problems, another for assisting volunteers with equipment, information, water, etc. In any case, someone has to see the whole picture at any given moment, and to be able to help or intervene where necessary.

An important part of coordination is maintaining communication among all the groups working on the cleanup. If one crew needs more people and another has people standing around, the coordinator can find that out and see that volunteers from the second crew are transferred to the first. If there's a medical emergency, the coordinator should be informed immediately, and should either dispatch help or decide whether to call an ambulance or drive someone to the emergency room. Communication is also important for publicity (making sure crews know that a media person is about to arrive, dispatching a photographer to a place where something interesting is happening.)

• Ask for help from the municipality. If your community offers loaned tools, dumpsters, free pickup, or other aids for neighborhood cleanups, you should ask for whatever you need well in advance. In many municipalities, you'll have to plan several months ahead in order to take advantage of the services available.

One service that might be important is a police officer to direct traffic around cleanup crews working in streets. Police presence will also emphasize the "official" character of the cleanup.

• Get permissions and permits. If you want to use a parking lot as a gathering point and dumping place, you'll have to get permission from the owner. If you want abandoned cars hauled away, you will need to contact the municipality. In some cases, you may need a permit to work in certain areas. All of this should be taken care of well ahead of time, so you don't find yourself with a crowd of volunteers waiting and unable to do anything.
• Lift and carry heavy objects
• Pick up trash, either by hand or with shovels or litter sticks
• Load waste of various kinds into cars or trucks
• Coordinate with municipal equipment and employees
• Act as a communications hub in order to dispatch crews and vehicles to places where they're needed
• Direct traffic
• Place signs, traffic cones, and other similar items
• Drive cars or trucks to haul waste and/or transport volunteers
• Load and push or pull carts or wheelbarrows
• Wash surfaces
• Paint over surfaces defaced with graffiti or other markings
• Shop for needed items – food, paper towels, drinks, brooms, etc.
• Prepare food
• Provide entertainment and encouragement
• Distribute food and drink
• Provide a sound system and/or play music for the after-cleanup party
• Offer first aid and emergency medical help (if trained to do so)
• Manage volunteers . The coordinator of volunteers might be someone other than the overall coordinator. They would assign volunteers to appropriate crews – no people with bad backs carrying refrigerators – that are the right size for the amount of work to be done. If crews are larger than two or three, each would benefit from choosing a captain, who will communicate with the volunteer coordinator, keep track of tools, and help the crew decide what's to be done next by whom. The volunteer coordinator might travel among volunteer crews throughout the cleanup, bring extra water and supplies, check to make sure there are no medical or health issues, solve problems, and generally provide support. They would also be responsible for making sure that volunteers got transportation to their work sites and back, and for placing volunteers in crews close to home where possible.

There's an argument to be made that volunteers should not work close to home, so that they can become familiar with residents from other parts of the neighborhood. That will help build neighborhood solidarity, in addition to broadening residents' connections with the rest of the neighborhood and increasing social capital.

• Work with the media to gain positive publicity . Be sure to inform the media and keep it informed as your plans for the cleanup develop. Try to place stories about the cleanup in local print and broadcast media, and on the Internet. Designate a person to take pictures throughout the event, both so that you'll have a record of what went on, and so that you can feed pictures to the media, put them up on a website, and share them through social networking sites. Invite media people to the cleanup, and designate someone to accompany them, help them find what they need, introduce them to volunteers, etc. The more helpful you are, the more likely media folks are to get good stories that will then get published, and the more they'll want to highlight your work.
• Take care of the nitty gritty. If your cleanup involves many volunteers, you'll need portable bathrooms and a large supply of drinking water (and perhaps snacks as well). You may want to offer volunteers morning coffee before they start their work. First aid and emergency medical help is a necessity – a neighbor who's an EMT (emergency medical technician) or health professional and a fully stocked first aid kit. If you have to make announcements, you'll need a bullhorn or a sound system. You'll need a plan for identifying and dealing with hazardous waste – volunteers shouldn't be handling it. You'll also need somewhere to dispose of any trash and recyclables generated by the cleanup itself – food wrappers, empty water bottles, sponges, etc. Paying attention to these kinds of details will help the cleanup go smoothly and reduce stress for everyone.
• Make the cleanup fun. The more enjoyable you can make the work, the more people will be willing to volunteer again and bring their friends and families. Having a clown or face-painting for kids who volunteer, creating contests around which crew can pick up the most trash, giving printed t-shirts or caps to all volunteers, having a local band go from group to group to serenade them during the day – any or all of these and any number of other activities might make the cleanup seem more like a block party.

Volunteers could wear logo t-shirts or caps while working in order to identify themselves to one another and to neighborhood residents not involved in the cleanup. Such a "uniform" helps to create bonds among volunteers and leaves them with a souvenir of the day. Whether or not this is feasible depends, of course, on your resources.

• Celebrate when you're done . You should plan a party or neighborhood meal after the cleanup. Volunteers can be recruited specifically to prepare and serve food. (Elders who want to contribute to the effort but are unable to do the physical work necessary might be good candidates for this task, as might faith community groups that are experienced in preparing meals for large numbers of people.) The celebration should include recognition of what was accomplished, recognition of each crew, perhaps some special awards (humorous or otherwise), and a chance to view pictures of the event. A celebration puts a cap on the cleanup, makes participants feel good, acknowledges their work, and helps them understand what they've been able to do in only a short time.

Run the cleanup

It's all planned – now do it.

Monitor and record your efforts

Document what's happening throughout the event, both with pictures and notes, so that you can review later and determine what you need to change and what went well and should be continued.

Create a structure to keep the effort going

If the cleanup was spearheaded by a neighborhood organization that's willing to maintain the effort, it might appoint a Cleanup Committee, composed of at least some of the members of the planning committee for this cleanup, to carry the process forward. If the cleanup was a stand-alone project, the planning committee, or those members who are interested, could become the Neighborhood Cleanup Committee. Whatever the case, the effort is unlikely to continue unless a group takes responsibility for doing so, and appoints a chair or coordinator to keep everything on track. The type of structure doesn't really matter, as long as it works: but having a structure of some sort is absolutely crucial if the program is to continue.

Start planning for the next cleanup

Remember that a cleanup program isn't a one-shot operation. It's an ongoing effort that should cover the whole neighborhood, and be maintained over time. You'll have to keep at it if you want the neighborhood to remain free of waste and litter. The longer you maintain your effort, the more residents will get the idea that it's everyone's responsibility to keep the neighborhood in good shape, both by not throwing anything in the street or elsewhere themselves, and by picking up waste or reporting it when they see it. Once that happens, there will be more volunteers than are needed for every cleanup, and the neighborhood itself will have turned a corner toward a better quality of life for residents and businesses.

A neighborhood cleanup can improve the look of your neighborhood, but can do much more as well. Especially in a neighborhood where people residents see themselves as having little reason to hope – where poverty is rife, unemployment is all too common, and crime and decay make life difficult – a successful cleanup can be the beginning of neighborhood regeneration. It can not only make the neighborhood more pleasant to look at, but can improve neighborhood self-image and confidence. Residents have a chance to bond with one another, to cross racial, ethnic, cultural, and other lines and establish neighborhood coherence. Perhaps most important, they can begin to see how much control they can exercise over their lives if they work together with a common purpose.

Establishing a neighborhood cleanup program can be a boon for any neighborhood, simply by increasing connections among neighbors and creating community. When it brings the possibility of improving lives as well, its value can be even greater. For that to happen, however, someone has to take the lead in developing a structure that can keep such a program going over the long term. In order to bring about long-term social change – and that's what we're discussing here – you have to build a structure that will survive the departure of the builders, and benefit the neighborhood indefinitely.

Contributor

Phil Rabinowitz

Andrea Glinn

We encourage the reproduction of this material, but ask that you credit the Community Tool Box:  http://ctb.ku.edu/ .

Online Resources

Clean Streets L.A.  Los Angeles city-wide effort to clean neighborhoods.

Development without Displacement Toolkit   provides practical lessons, frameworks, and tools that advance equitable development without displacing residents and small businesses. 

Neighborhood Services . Fort Collins, Colorado, neighborhood cleanup suggestions and rules. The city offers grants to groups for the cost of dumpsters and tipping fees.

Planning and Sustainability . Portland, Oregon, has a spring cleanup with more the 40 scheduled events organized by each neighborhood, with their own coalitions and websites as resources on the events and how to get involved.

A Successful Neighborhood Cleanup . Tips for organizing a successful neighborhood cleanup from the Nebraska Extension office.

Home — Essay Samples — Environment — Environmental Education — Community Cleanup Proposal

Community Cleanup Proposal

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Published: Jan 31, 2024

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Table of contents

Background information, rationale for a community cleanup initiative, proposed plan for the cleanup initiative, strategies for enlisting community support, implementation and management of the cleanup initiative, anticipated outcomes.

• United States Environmental Protection Agency. (2019). Advancing Sustainable Materials Management: Facts and Figures. Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/national-overview-facts-and-figures-materials

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Cleaning Up the Community: A Shared Responsibility

Table of contents, the importance of community cleanliness, benefits of a clean community, shared responsibility, education and awareness, conclusion: a clean future.

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The Great Global Cleanup

Organizing a cleanup tips for volunteers.

• Organizing a Cleanup? Tips…

April 15, 2020

Thank you for signing up to volunteer with the Great Global Cleanup™! By pitching in, you are helping to strengthen your community’s response to waste. If this is your first time as a volunteer at a cleanup, you might have questions. We are here to answer them.

• Ensure it is safe and permissible by local authorities.   Always follow health and safety ordinances before heading outside. If you live in an area where you can be outside, be sure to practice social distancing and robust sanitation practices before, during, and after your cleanup.  
• Choose a safe location, route and time . Select a place where it is less likely you will be around other people. Your cleanup route can be done in your neighborhood or a park nearby.  Before heading out, know what route you want to take and calculate how long it will take.  Always do your cleanup in daylight and when weather conditions are suitable.  
• Wear proper clothing . Ensure that you wear a mask and some form of gloves for protection.  Wear closed toe shoes (not sandals or flip flops) socks, long pants and shirts to avoid contact with anything unsafe or contaminated.
• Protect yourself from the sun! Make sure you bring a hat and apply reef-safe sunblock before a cleanup.
• Safety first! Only pick up litter that is safe to handle and can be easily disposed of or recycled. Never touch the litter directly or your face during your cleanup. Additionally, BBQ tongs, salad tongs, or other pickup device can help create further separation between you and the litter. Bring hand sanitizer, especially if you are somewhere where you are unable to wash your hands. 
• Leave hazardous items alone . Do not touch items like needles, syringes and medical waste. Items like oil drums, batteries and canisters are not safe to touch or pick up. These need to be disposed of according to special rules.
• Make sure you hydrate and stay cool. Bring and drink water. Avoid over-exertion, sunburn, heat exhaustion and dehydration.
• Respect live animals . When encountering birds or animals on your cleanup, respect their space and avoid the temptation to feed them your snacks.
• Recyclables Versus Non-recyclables. Not every item can be recycled. In fact, including ‘dirty’ recyclable items can contaminate ‘clean’ recyclables. To prevent this, use a better-safe-than-sorry approach. If a recyclable item is not relatively clean, put it in the non-recyclable pile.
• Work in teams . Stay with at least one other person while you clean up. Make sure to social distance when possible.
• Watch for the tide . If you’re cleaning up on a beach, be aware of the rising or ebbing tide and keep your distance, especially in wavy conditions.
• Bring your kids! Bring them along but keep them safe. All children under the age of 14 should be supervised by an adult or guardian at all times.
• Use our Earth Challenge 2020 App! Want to have your cleanup be a part of the world’s largest citizen science initiative? Download the app Earth Challenge 2020 app to map, track, and submit cleanup data. You’ll be contributing to solutions to global waste problems.
• After the cleanup, make sure to wash your hands as soon as possible! Additionally, it is important to disinfect all the reusable equipment that was used during your cleanup. 
• Have fun! When appropriate, take to social media to post pictures of your cleanup in action to not only recognize your event, but inspire others to take part! Be sure to tag us @EarthDayNetwork and use the hashtag #GreatGlobalCleanup.

Thanks for making Earth Day every day!

Jake Rubenstein

Related stories, 8 locations around the world that really “did” the great global cleanup, lviv cleans up this earth day, 5 ways being zero waste and owning less can make you happier.

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Essay on Cleanliness

List of essays on cleanliness in english, essay on cleanliness – essay 1 (150 words), essay on cleanliness: importance and conclusion – essay 2 (250 words), essay on cleanliness – essay 3 (300 words), essay on cleanliness: introduction, impact and challenges – essay 4 (400 words), essay on cleanliness – essay 5 (500 words), essay on cleanliness: with benefits and conclusion – essay 6 (600 words), essay on cleanliness: a key to achieve our goals – essay 7 (750 words), essay on cleanliness: types, importance and conclusion – essay 8 (1000 words).

Introduction:

‘Cleanliness’ as per the Cambridge dictionary means the state of being clean or the act of keeping things clean . One of the first commandment for health is cleanliness. Cleanliness is essential physically, mentally, spiritually and even environmentally.

Importance of Cleanliness:

Cleanliness is the major step to a healthy living. Cleanliness can prevent and cure people from communicable diseases. Effective cleaning can forbid viruses and other infectious diseases.

Tips to Maintain Cleanliness:

Major tips to maintain Cleanliness personally include brushing and taking bath regularly, washing hands properly before and after every meal, maintaining neatly trimmed nails and eating healthy food.

Environmental cleanliness can be enhanced by cleaning the mess created around us regularly, avoiding plastic bag usage, not littering the road by throwing the garbage, effective disposal of used water, adopting reusing and recycling techniques and always monitoring the pollution levels.

Conclusion:

Cleanliness is next to Godliness. Indian Government’s initiative like Swachh Bharat has given hope for a cleaner India. Along with the government it is the duty of every citizen to ensure a clean home and clean street to enable a peaceful living.

The state of being free and clean from dirt and germs and the act of imbibing this as a habit is called cleanliness. Cleanliness is one of the best qualities a human being can possess. In fact, not only humans, even animals are known to keep their surroundings clean? How many times have you come across a scene where your pet is cleaning the surface before being seated on it?

Aspects of Cleanliness

Disease prevention and hygiene are said to be the two aspects associated with cleanliness. Maintaining hygiene does not necessarily mean keeping yourself clean. It includes your house, your neighbourhood, your city as well as keeping your country clean or keeping your surroundings clean. In this way, cleanliness has more of a cultural and social impact on society as a whole.

Importance of Keeping your Surroundings Clean

With the assistance of cleanliness, we can keep our mental as well as physical health clean, which will make us feel better. Cleanliness offers to ascend to a decent character by keeping the body, brain, and soul perfect and tranquil. Keeping up cleanliness is the basic piece of solid living since it is the cleanliness just which enhances our identity by keeping clean remotely and inside.

We should all do our bit to maintain cleanliness in the areas we live or visit. In fact, for this very purpose, the Government of India has initiated the Swacchh Bharat Abhiyan so as to educate and inculcate good habits among the citizens of the country with regards to cleanliness.

We should also be mindful towards this habit. We should stop others from throwing waste at undesignated places. It is the cumulative effort of all of us which can help us build a clean India someday.

Cleanliness is a way of living in and around with a neat and clean environment, materials, etc. It is not a forced phenomenon and everyone should be practicing cleanliness for a better healthy life. Parents should teach their kids the importance of cleanliness within their home.

Home is our first school and we should be learning cleanliness from the root of a kid’s growth. It is necessary to keep yourself clean to avoid any type of diseases from affecting you and it will help you to be fresh and active all day. Keeping yourself clean is the first step towards cleanliness.

Next step is to keep your surroundings clean. Whether it be your room, school, garden, community, society, etc., you should keep it neat and tidy. With proper education about the importance of cleanliness, the characteristics should be developed in the kids so that they will continue this habit throughout their life.

The importance of cleanliness and its impact on the person should be taught to everyone from an early age. From picking up wastes on the floor to cleaning yourself to proper cleaning methods should be trained for their own well-being. Cleanliness is not only a good habit, but also reflects the inner beauty of a person.

Many life-threatening diseases are caused due to the lack of cleanliness in and around our places, whether it be home, schools, etc. With proper cleaning and taking care of your environment, all these health issues can be destroyed for a happy living.

Cleanliness is nothing that should be forced upon a person but should be properly practiced and be made a lifestyle. A clean and well-maintained person will always succeed in all his difficulties if he applies it in every path he walks. Cleanliness will also help us to be fit and healthy mentally, physically and socially as well.

Everybody loves a clean environment but very few have the ability to maintain cleanliness. The ability to ensure cleanliness and perform cleanliness is tasking and requires a lot of work. Due to the importance of cleanliness, most people struggle to keep their environments clean at all times. It can be a habitual process as it require to be done on a daily basis. Personal hygiene for example is an essential aspect of an individual’s life because it affects social relations, self-perception and health in general. It is therefore important to practice cleanliness at all times.

Impacts of Cleanliness on Our Lives:

Cleanliness cuts across for all stages of life and it plays important roles in the activities of daily living. In education, cleanliness has been determined to have an impact on leaning. The mindset of students is influenced by the environment which influences the ability of students to learn. A dirty environment is not conducive for learning because it instills stressful motions and there is reduced ability of students to learn.

In the workplace, the same concept applies because productivity is influenced by the environment. A clean environment will enhance productivity because people will work with a positive mindset that is free of stress. Also, achievements will be more pronounced in a clean environment compared to a dirty environment. In health, cleanliness is important because hygienic practices contribute to good health of individuals. A dirty environment predisposes people to diseases, which affects their ability to perform activities and it results in less productivity.

Social relationships are built through interactions between people. Personal hygiene is an important aspect in creating social relations because it is hard to approach a dirty person as they will be having bad breath, bas body odor and the interaction will be limited due to discomfort.

Challenges in Cleanliness:

Lack of resources can inhibit cleanliness. In order to maintain cleanliness, there is need for water, detergents and other supplies like cleaning equipment. In some situations, all these resources may be unavailable thus cleanliness is compromised. Another challenge is the availability of labor. Since cleaning is tasking and requires effort from people, some people opt out and cleanliness will not be achieved.

In conclusion, cleanliness is a huge responsibility that requires commitment. The impacts of a clean environment on the performance and achievements should be a motivating factor. If you love a clean place it should be your responsibility to make it clean.

Cleanliness can basically be defined as a state or attitude of keeping things clean and trying to stay away from any form of dirt in a bid to maintain a very good mental and physical health. Generally, cleanliness is an act of trying to keep our mind, body, home, dress, surrounding and even every of our other work area clean and very neat. The cleanliness of our body is extremely essential for our mental and physical health. Our surrounding areas should also be kept clean and our environment being clean is of utmost importance to our intellectual and social health. We should try to imbibe the habit of cleanliness and ensure that our home and surroundings are free of dirt; dirt is the primary cause of most diseases we have around us. If our surrounding isn’t clean and our body isn’t properly groomed and taken care of we can become highly susceptible to a variety of disease causing bacteria, germs, fungus and virus.

People with dirty habits are the major ones that spread fatal (threat to life) and very dangerous diseases. A lot of infectious diseases are propagated to different wide areas and can make people very sick and in severe cases leads to the death of the sick. As a result of this, we should do our best to always try to take good care of our health through our cleanliness every day. Some of the habits we should endeavour to imbibe include us always washing our hands very well and with soap anytime we eat or before we eat anything, we should also try to always make sure our body and most especially our face is clean by bathing frequency, we should also ensure that we take proper care of all our clothes and try to wear only clothes that are properly and well washed and clean; all of these should be done to keep a very good mental and physical health. Cleanliness also does a great deal to help boost our self-respect and level of confidence and also earn respect from other people. Cleanliness is a very good habit that can always make us happy and proud of ourselves in the society.

Cleanliness is extremely important in maintaining a healthy lifestyle with a good standard of living. Cleanliness plays a very vital role in boosting a person’s popularity. A lot of civil laws and programmes have been organised and put in place by various governments of the world. We should endeavour to dispose the wastes in our surrounding, we can do this by outing our waste away into the dustbin for disposal and in a bid to prevent the spread of various infections and diseases in our home and surrounding. Cleanliness is not just one person’s responsibility or job; everybody should do their best individually and collectively to maintain cleanliness in the country, community, society and the home. We should do our best to fully understand all the different facets of cleanliness so that we can fully benefit from cleanliness.

Cleanliness ranks high on the agenda of great and successful people. Because next to hard work, cleanliness tells a lot about a person’s character. When it is belittled, it results in indiscipline, dirt and disease. Therefore, when people progress, they become more clean and neat. Hence, cleanliness is often seen as an indicator of progress in the civilization of a society.

Areas of Cleanliness:

i. Personal Grooming:

Every individual is capable of the art of personal grooming. It involves cleaning and maintaining the body parts and look good. Taking bath, brushing and flossing teeth, combing, washing hands whenever required, cutting nails and hair at regular intervals are some habits that are important part of personal cleanliness. It further involves keeping our mind from filthiness. While a theist should spend time every day to confess the wrongdoings and receive forgiveness, an atheist needs to spend time on meditation on a regular basis. Keeping ones thoughts clean is as important as physical cleanliness.

Next to personal cleanliness comes keeping the dwelling place neat and clean. Starting with disposing the garbage on a daily basis, it includes cleaning up all rooms on a regular basis, maintaining bedcovers and curtains, trimming the interior and exterior garden, keeping the kitchen sink and toilet free of unpleasant smell, insects etc. It also includes proper disposal of solid and liquid waste into the municipal dustbin and drainage system.

iii. Workplace:

Since major part of the productive day is spent in the workplace, it is necessary to keep it very clean. Being quite larger than home in terms of area and headcount, the workplace requires the collective effort of the employer, employees and janitors to maintain the work environment. Apart from the basic cleanliness activities done at home, the workplace needs additional application of disinfectants, air filters, and waste disposal systems to maintain hygiene and dignity. It needs still more attention at Hospitals, Restaurants and like industries.

iv. Public Places:

Living in communities, it is important to keep public places like roads, beaches, parks etc. neat and clean. If each citizen becomes responsible and could show the same care that is taken for home and workplace, then the city and the entire country would have a clean environment to live, work and play.

Benefits of Cleanliness:

Since health is wealth, cleanliness prevents diseases, promotes good health and thereby preserves our wealth. It maintains discipline at all levels. It promotes self-respect and self-confidence of the family, institution, city and country. A clean environment gives a cheerful mind to improve and progress.

How to Nurture Cleanliness:

Although it is best to learn cleanliness from childhood, it could be developed at point of life whenever the sensitivity is achieved. Being careful and regular on a daily basis is the success mantra for cleanliness. It has nothing to do with being rich. So, it could be achieved by anyone in the society irrespective of their social status and wealth.

Champions of Cleanliness:

The first Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew started the campaign to keep the country clean almost 50 years ago. It made the place pleasant and added value to its economy. The sickness rate is low, life expectancy is more, tourism has flourished and all the citizens benefit from it.

Learning cleanliness from his days in the West, Mahatma Gandhi insisted that a lavatory must be as clean as a drawing room. He strongly believed that cleanliness would promote good health and hence advocated it throughout his lifetime.

Following Gandhi’s model, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has initiated a nation-wide campaign called Swach Bharat on 2nd October, 2014. It functions to provide sanitation facilities, proper solid and liquid waste disposal systems, and safe drinking water.

Cleanliness adds more value to personal and social life. Since good habits are contagious, it is possible to teach children, neighbours and illiterates on the importance of cleanliness, by being a role model. With a collective effort, cleanliness and in turn, good health and happiness are within reach.

Keeping our mind, body, home, neighborhood and workplace Clean and Green is “Cleanliness.” It is one of the most important habits we develop since childhood. We cannot ignore the value of cleanliness and hygiene in our lives. Habits learned in the early phase of our live stays implanted in our mind for a more extended period. Being clean and keeping green is a lifestyle we need to adapt for leading a healthy life.

Cleanliness is not just limited to sanitation of the area where you live. It has a pivotal role in your personal life. Cleanliness in attitude and thoughts play an important element to become a successful person in life. External cleanliness is related to the sanitation of your home and premises. But, it is equally important to have internal cleanliness – the cleanliness of the soul. Removing garbage, dirt and foul smell, etc., are part of sanitation, which helps to maintain the cleanliness of your living surroundings.

It is an imperative factor in life, and everybody must be conscious about the importance to maintain cleanliness. A dirty mind and surrounding is indeed a reason for a person becoming sick. Therefore we have to put conscious effort to maintain a healthy atmosphere by keeping the surrounding clean and keeping oneself clean.

Is it a key to achieve our goals?

Yes, we as an individual hesitate to understand the importance and value of cleanliness in our daily routines. It is not the goal, but it plays a vital role in achieving our goals. Personal hygiene gets affected easily if we don’t take proper measures to maintain cleanliness. And an unclean state of body and mindset can easily distract you from your desired goal. It will stop you, affect your performance and capabilities of your living standard.

For leading a purposeful life, cleanliness is crucial as it complements your true worth. It helps to fight from many dangerous diseases. Consuming unhygienic food, drinking foul water or a poor living condition are a few challenging conditions makes people sick.

For a healthy lifestyle, we need to respect our environment, body, and mind. Right steps taken at the right time will help in building our nation. The enchanted beauty will bring more foreign tourists to our land which will increase the tourism business. Remember, not a single tourist would like to visit a foul land. We, ourselves encourages and strikes the places with mesmerizing beauties. Thus, we should adopt a lifestyle to nurture our surroundings.

How to maintain it?

It is our responsibility to keep the environment clean and making others to understand the importance of maintaining the environment clean. Only the sincere efforts of following certain manners could give a better surrounding. Every government has to play a vital role to carry out cleanliness awareness drives and make sure that people respect the cleanliness laws. The government needs to take strict actions against people who are responsible for littering public places and throw garbage on the roads. Keeping the neighborhood unclean is a shabby practice which causes health issues. A healthy and positive mindset with a good physique is the balance sheet of cleanliness.

Pollution is one of the primary reason for the unhygienic living condition. Making changes in the lifestyle can save our neighborhood from pollution. We have to develop a recycling culture and all materials that are recyclable should go to the recycling plant. It can stop material pollution and spoiling the environment. Purchasing the products made of non-toxic materials will help to preserve valuable resources. Let’s say, investing in reliable and durable household items and reuse them in the future instead of purchasing disposable items will help to maintain a clean environment.

To maintain a healthy environment, we need to look out for greenery and stop felling trees. Trees are an essential resource to purify and control pollution. More trees in our surroundings equal healthy environment and a fresh mindset. Water – one of the most necessary resource needs to be utilized and stored efficiently. Never allow to contaminate water.

Planting the importance of cleanliness among society is essential to motivate the individuals keeping their surrounding clean. There should be a proper awareness campaign to reinforce the need for sanitation, and it can be easy to adopt a strategy to involve students, social and service organization to be part of the drive.

A joint campaign by involving all section of the society is essential to accomplish total cleanliness of a state. If each of us can put their effort to maintain the cleanliness, then it will have a significant impact on the society. Inclusive cleanliness awareness campaign will be helpful in spreading the importance of the subject, and people will start to adopt cleaning the surrounding as their responsibility.

To see the much-awaited change, we need to take strict actions and act with sincerity. Corrective measures required instead of complaining about the pollution. Make everybody responsible for cleaning their premises by actively involving them. Students can start their effort by cleaning their school campus; government officials can engage in cleaning their office and premises, factory employees can participate in cleaning their factory and surrounding, etc. A combined effort of all sections of the society can make a lot of changes in the nation and attitude of the individuals towards cleanliness.

As we live in a society, we are a part of our surroundings, so we need to understand our responsibility as an individual, we should encourage the efforts made by others’ and contribute to ensuring a healthy surrounding. Systematic collection and segregation of waste depending on the scope of recyclability should strictly implement to maintain sustainable cleanliness. For maintaining cleanliness of the environment, we need to process biodegradable and non-degradable waste separately. Similarly, for personal cleanliness, we have to keep our body clean.

Cleanliness has different meanings depending on the matter of discussion. With regard to religion, cleanliness is the state of being pure, without moral contamination. When the subject matter is on the environment, it is the state of being free from dirt. Environmental cleanliness is what most people are familiar with because of the daily interaction with the environment and the impact they have on the lives of individuals with regard to health and expectations of the society. Cleanliness of the environment include everything on the surface of the earth. There are different types of cleanliness in the environment. Mostly, the environmental cleanliness is emphasized during prevention of pollution and health education in the society. Cleanliness of religion varies with the specific religion and its beliefs. The importance of cleanliness is realized in both spiritual and physical aspects. The society s place double standard on cleanliness such that, whatever is clean is admired and fought for.

Types of Cleanliness:

There are two major types of cleanliness i.e., physical cleanliness and spiritual cleanliness. Physical cleanliness has several subtypes according to the object being cleaned. Physical cleanliness involves elimination of dirt and impurities from the body, clothes, food, houses and the outside environment. Body cleaning is done through full body bath with soap and water, handwashing practice and keeping away from dirt. Cleaning clothes is a laundry process whereby manual washing by hands can be done or machine washing. Cleaning the environment is through collection of dirt in the environment and disposing them appropriately, while observing the purity of all the three aspects of the environment i.e., air, water and land. When handling food, cleanliness should be observed through hand washing and using of clean cooking and eating utensils so as to prevent ingestion of dirt. The houses and household items should also be kept clean especially the living space, the kitchen, bedrooms and bathrooms because we interact with the house environment more often.

Spiritual cleanliness is basically focused on the removal of moral contamination and being pure in the faith and beliefs of the religion. In Christians, cleanliness means the forgiveness of sin and living according to the Bible doctrines. Christians also have cleanliness of conditions considered impure for example menstruation and childbirth. Christians lay strong emphasis on hygiene in humans. In Islam, cleanliness means the cleanliness of hearts of individuals and the good manners of members of the society. Muslims believe that purification of hearts of individuals from feelings of negativity and bad vices like jealousy enables the society to stay peaceful at all times. Muslims also believe that cleanliness from conditions that are considered ritually impure is important. Hindus believe that cleanliness is a divine quality that should be practiced by individuals. Bhagavad Gita describes cleanliness with relation to the Hindu society virtues and qualities that individuals must acquire in order to be given grace by God. Hindus also perform cleanliness through visiting the seven rivers to bathe and purify their minds.

Cleanliness is a vital component of human life both physically and spiritually. Spiritual cleanliness is important in being on the right with your God and following the beliefs and rituals of your religion. On the other hand, physical cleanliness is important in the wellbeing and existence of humanity.

Cleanliness is necessary for health and wellness of individuals and the society. Health and cleanliness relate to each other and influence each other. In order to be of good health, one should practice hygiene. Hygiene is basically the practice of maintaining good health and preventing diseases through cleanliness. Cleanliness of the body, food and environment contribute to the wellbeing of an individual health wise. Cleanliness prevents disease because dirt usually harbors infective pathogens that cause disease to human beings when they get exposed to them. Hygienic practices are highly advocated for by health professionals because it is better to prevent a disease than to wait and seek treatment for it. Hygienic practices prolong the lives of individuals because they will be free of illnesses.

Safety is enabled through cleanliness of the environment. The environment that we interact with often needs to be clean so that accidents can be prevented. For example, in the workplace, daily cleaning will ensure that there are no water spills on the floor that could cause a fall. Clearing bushes around homes provide safety from harmful insects and animals like snakes. Cleaning not only involves the act of clearing bushes and washing floors, but also the organization of the environment. Through organization, harmful objects can be put away so that accidents can be prevented in the environment.

Brand protection can be achieved through cleanliness. In environmental cleanliness, buildings and the surrounding environment are cleaned and organized. As a marketing strategy, cleanliness is an advantage for the brand because it will portray the brand as organized and conducive for human interaction. In this competitive world, cleanliness is a priority consideration for brands. In the food industry, cleanliness is what people look at before they can engage because health well-being is important for individuals.

Cleanliness also enables the extension of a lifespan of an object. With tools and instruments, cleanliness is emphasized because dirt causes reduction of the lifespan like in metallic objects, rust causes destruction of the tools and instruments. In buildings, cleanliness also preserves the integrity and enables longer durability.

Cleanliness is a moral virtue that is admired. When a person is clean, social relations and interactions become easier because society views dirty people as a nuisance and they are inapproachable. Cleanliness is attractive and admirable in the society.

In conclusion, cleanliness in the lives of individuals is unavoidable. Everything surrounding the life of an individual is viable for cleanliness in order to maintain functionality and development. Spiritual cleanliness is mostly focused on purity of self before God and humanity in all religions although the methods of purification are different for each religion. Physical cleanliness is beneficial with regard to human interaction and with the environment in terms of health, safety and lifespan.

Cleanliness , Health

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