Washington litter czars welcome viral #Trashtag Challenge – but advise safety first

Teens encouraged to join Ecology Youth Corps to clean up roadways

Do you remember the Harlem Shake? What about planking? Most social media phenomena are little more than silly time wasters, but a new viral challenge aims to leave the world a little cleaner than we found it: Thousands of people around the world are joining the #Trashtag Challenge on social media by posting photos of themselves ridding their roadsides, beaches, and parks of garbage.

Ecology Youth Crews is 2018 cleared more than 1 million
pounds of litter from Washington roadways. Here a crew
from the Puyallup area poses with a one-day haul of
picked litter last year.

The Washington Department of Ecology, which oversees litter prevention and pickup programs in our state, commends the efforts of #Trashtag volunteers. But everyone cleaning up litter should put safety first, particularly when working near traffic or dealing with potentially dangerous trash like needles, biomedical waste and weapons.

“Litterers annually dump more than 12 million pounds of junk in our beautiful state,” said Peter Christiansen, manager for Ecology’s roadside litter crews. “We’ll take all the help we can get picking up that trash – but make sure you take a few commonsense precautions. And consider helping out your community by picking up garbage at a park or a school.”

Christiansen advises Trashtaggers to stick to safe places like parks and beaches, and to wear high-visibility clothing and puncture-resistant boots and gloves, and stay away from roadways. If Trashtaggers choose to pick up litter from a roadway make sure it is legal, always face traffic, and be sure to have an escape route from out-of-control vehicles.

Social media fads fade over time, but litter never ends. If cleaning up your community means more to you than just a selfie for a few likes, sign up with the Washington Department of Transportation’s Adopt-a-Highway program by contacting a local coordinator.

And if you know a teenager inspired to clean up, let them know they can do more than volunteer. The Department of Ecology plans to hire 300 teenagers throughout Washington this summer as part of the Ecology Youth Corps. Teens chosen for the Ecology Youth Corps will earn $12 per hour and work up to 32 hours per week.

In 2018, Ecology Youth Corps crews picked up over 1 million pounds of litter and cleaned about 4,500 miles of roads statewide. Since 1975, the program has hired more than 12,000 Washington teens, offering them work experience, a summer job, and the chance to preserve Washington’s natural beauty and protect our state’s environment.

Applicants must be ages 14-17 as of July 1. The first deadline for applications in the Central and Eastern regions is April 1. Deadlines for applications in our Southwest and Northwest regions are April 12 and April 16, respectively.  Applications are available through area school counselors and at www.ecology.wa.gov/EYC.

Contact one of our EYC coordinators for more information:

Central Region
Ellensburg, Goldendale, Richland, Sunnyside, Toppenish, and Union Gap.

Rod Hankinson
rodney.hankinson@ecy.wa.gov
509-454-7209

Monica Martinez
monica.martinez@ecy.wa.gov
509-454-7873

Eastern Region
Chewelah, Colville, Moses Lake, Othello, Pasco, Spokane, Deer Park, Pasco

Laurie Dahmen
laurie.dahmen@ecy.wa.gov
509-329-3506

Lynette Kuehl
lynette.kuehl@ecy.wa.gov
509-329-3434

Northwest Region
South King County, North King County, South/Central Snohomish County, North Snohomish/Skagit Counties, Kitsap County, and Whatcom County.

Steven Williams
steven.williams@ecy.wa.gov
425-649-7048

Sarah Elledge
sarah.elledge@ecy.wa.gov
425-649-7029

Southwest Region
Aberdeen/Montesano, Chehalis, Olympia, Puyallup, Tacoma, and Vancouver

Lexi Ehresmann
lexi.ehresmann@ecy.wa.gov
360-407-6391

Ariona
Southwest Region Litter Administrator
ariona@ecy.wa.gov
360-407-6351

Ecology Youth Corps get it done!

Litter season ends with a landfill tour, celebration

Ecology Youth Corps across Washington wrapped up their season this week, including crews from Central Washington that worked from the top of Snoqualmie Pass to Highway 14 along the Columbia River.

It was a productive summer, with youth crews across the state picking up more than a million pounds of litter on state roadways. The crews sort out the recyclables, then send the rest to a landfill.

Youth ended their season with a visit to the Terrace Heights Landfill

"This is the first job for many of these kids," said longtime regional EYC supervisor Rod Hankinson. "These kids are tough - this isn't an easy job.

 

"I tell them this is the kind of work that helps them throughout their life, it teaches them to respect the environment and what they can do about it. It sets them up to receive recommendations to college from their supervisors, and if they work for me for two years - they'll get a recommendation from me."

What did they find on the roadways? Alongside the cigarette butts, fast-food paper waste, cups, cans and bottles you would expect, each year brings surprises. One girl found a "ninja star," another found baby clothes. Pocket knives and phones are common finds. In the Seattle area, an EYC crew came across a World War I-era rifle (which was passed on to police). Larger debris, like boards, car parts and furniture is also hauled away.

The central region crews ended their season with a tour of the Terrace Heights Landfill in Yakima County, where they learned about recycling and reusing household hazardous wastes like paint, batteries and household cleaning products. They watched yard waste being chipped and turned into valuable compost. They tested the temperatures of various yard waste piles to check on the progress of the composting process. They learned the life of the landfill was coming to an end -- all the more reason for recyclable products to find a new life as a new product in new markets.

 

To end their summer tour, the EYC crews left the landfill for a picnic of pizza in the park. Needless to say, after they finished eating, they picked up their trash and left the park spotless. Check out the crew's Flickr set

 
Want to know where you can recycle moderate risk waste in your community?
http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/swfa/mrw/mrw_contacts.html#local

Story and photos by Joye Redfield-Wilder, Central Regional Communications Manager



Ecology Youth Corp Crews from Ellensburg to Goldendale celebrate the end of the 2016 litter pickup season

 

Ecology Youth Corps: Making a Difference One Piece of Litter at a Time

By Erika Holmes, communications manager, Waste 2 Resources

Drivers are urged to watch out for 248 teens with the Ecology Youth Corps (EYC) picking up litter along roadways across the state through mid-August.

EYC crews based out of the Department of Ecology’s northwest and eastern regional offices started working in late June. The central crew began July 1, and the southwest crew begins work July 7.

Since 1975, the Ecology Youth Corps (EYC) has hired over 12,000 teens ages 14 to 17 to clean roadsides and other illegal dump sites. Youths from all over Washington gain valuable job skills, teamwork experience, safety awareness and education about environmental topics.

As we gear up for this summer’s cleaning, we want to share why this program is more than just picking up litter. In the following video, three people who’ve been there share their rewarding experiences working on the EYC.

Rapper Sir Mix-a-Lot appreciating the EYC in The Seattle Times. 

Sir Picks-a-Lot (of litter up)

Anthony Ray, or Sir Mix-a-Lot as he’s more commonly called now, worked on an EYC crew in the late 1970s. After reaching rap fame, he shared his experience with The Seattle Times. He brings up an important misconception about teens working for the EYC. They definitely aren’t juvenile delinquents. The best part: the EYC taught him work ethic, something “a lot of cats my age didn't have.”

That work ethic is proven by the numbers, and EYC crews didn’t disappoint in 2013.

 

2013 litter cleanup results

Last summer, EYC crews worked 64,869 hours (totals include spring and fall median crews):

• Picking up 1,081,874 pounds of litter
• Recycling 116,673 pounds of litter collected
• Cleaning 5,952 miles of road
• Cleaning up 192 illegal dumps

How you can help EYC crews

Step 1: The easy part: don’t litter.

Step 2: Look out for crews picking up litter on the road this summer. Give them a break for safety, and inform others about the important service they provide.

Step 3: Engage with the EYC on social media. We’ll post pictures and statistics from the road tagged with #EYC4life and #IThinkYouDroppedThis.

• Were you in the EYC? Post your old pictures and stories from the road using #EYC4life.
• See something somebody shouldn’t have tossed? Snap a photo and tag it with #IThinkYouDroppedThis.

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