image of a white fast food paper bag elegantly peeking out from long spiky leaves and weeds at night

Exhibit A

Public spaces in Philadelphia suffer from two main types of improper waste disposal, namely and illegal dumping. Illegal dumping consists of larger, heavier kinds of waste that are intentionally deposited by contractors, auto shops, junk haulers and/or residents.

image of a single used brown tissue on the path that bridges the road and a garden bed.
Within the garden bed, among other tiny wrappers, hides a crumpled white plastic bag, once again, peeking behind thin and long leaves

Exhibit B

To fight litter and illegal dumping in Philadelphia, previously also known as reducing the amount of trash that ends up in the street and increasing our capacity to remove the trash that does

Taken at night, this photo consists of a single white tissue paper being the main character as it hangs from the branch
of the furthest leaf and greenest bush.

Exhibit C

Illegal dumping costs Philadelphia more than The City has laws on the books imposing fines on illegal dumpers. It’s the catching that’s the problem; illegal dumping is often done at night and in low-traffic areas, where dumpers know they’re out of law enforcement’s eyeshot. Hence the frequent calls by residents for camera installation: If you can capture dumping on camera, then you have a better chance at catching those responsible.

A close-up photo of a red, white and blue Natural Light beer can hidden behind grass leaves, with a visible highlight caused by the reflection of the flash against its body

Exhibit D

The City’s Litter Index found that Philly has around blocks with moderate to severe litter conditions. Many of those blocks are in under-resourced neighborhoods. Even with Glitter (a street-cleaning startup), it’s unlikely the company will match the scale of the city’s litter problem any time soon. Unless, of course, the City gives them a major funding boost.

An unfocused image of a beer can. Image is taken from the mid-point of a bush to give the
perspective of the viewer looking directly at a can which is located among a pile of brown leaves,
at the bottom of the bush

Exhibit E

Starting small and targeting just the dirtiest 1,000 blocks in the city, at per block per month, puts the price tag at $2.4 million for the first year. In a city with an annual budget of over $5.6 billion, that’s barely a drop in the bucket

City of Littering Brotherly Love