Dive Brief:

• South Los Angeles will receive $1 million for a massive cleanup project, including $300,000 to bump up L.A. Sanitation services in the Ninth District; $370,000 for supplemental bulky item pick-up of discarded mattresses, furniture, and other debris; and $400,000 for trash cans to be set up throughout the District, including solar-powered compactors and automated bins. 
• The initiative is part of City Councilmember Curren Price's "Clean & Green" campaign, in partnership with L.A. Sanitation and Coalition for Responsible Community Development (CRCD). Price also orchestrated a 311 billboard public service announcement campaign, which calls for residents to report illegal dumping, bulky items, and for graffiti removal.  
• In addition to expanded trash and bulky item collections, there will be “litter” crews to target problem locations.  

Dive Insight:

Los Angeles’ trash problem has especially impacted its low-income communities, attributed largely to poor collection service. Other area-wide sanitation issues include how the county’s beaches became so polluted that it was shut down last year, and the region as a whole has struggled to meet California waste reduction goals.

In District Nine, just over two years ago, there were a total of about 15 city trash cans. But that is about to change radically, and bolstered receptacles is only part of the plan to rid the streets, alleys, and sidewalks of garbage.

"I am confident we can win the war on trash. However, it won’t happen overnight, and it calls for an all-hands on deck approach, including [involvement from] the Council Office, residents, and businesses. If we are to clear our neighborhoods of mounds of trash, we will need the ongoing cooperation of our neighbors to maintain them in a state of cleanliness," said Price to The New 9th.

To keep the momentum going, Price's office will oversee monthly community clean-ups, and the Sanitation department will present at Ninth District schools and community groups about maintaining litter-free space.