A half-eaten meal littered by the curb provides for most of a rat’s basic needs. The food is its sustenance. With the wrapper, it builds a nest.
“The amount of food waste alone is enough to sustain the rat population,” said Merrit Drucker, the District’s Clean City coordinator.
This month, two dozen D.C. residents will judge the cleanliness of more than 1,800 streets and alleys in an “in-depth, objective check on government service,” Drucker said. The quarterly ratings help shape how the government clears litter, particularly the deployment of its 40 street sweepers and 17 litter vacuums.
For example, February assessments found neighborhoods much dirtier, due largely to the shutdown of residential street-sweeping efforts in the winter. The District’s sweepers use metal brushes and require water to keep dust down and prevent sparking, but the spray can ice up in the colder months, said Mary Myers, Department of Public Works spokeswoman.
“We are looking at street-sweeping equipment that will function better in the winter,” Myers said. “It’s something that’s on the table.”
But there’s only so much the sweepers can do, government officials say — hence an aggressive outreach and education effort, including the “Clean & Green D.C.” brochure that will soon be translated into Ethiopian.
“My feeling is the District could get much cleaner much quicker with just a little bit more resident and business support,” Drucker said.
Residents generally agree that the government can’t do it alone.
“There’s some benefit from the community doing it themselves and not relying on the city,” said
Tim Stephens, an advisory neighborhood commissioner in Meridian Hill.
In Adams Morgan, extra taxes paid by businesses are funding a street-cleaning effort on 18th Street and Columbia Road. But the government also has to step up, said Alan Roth, an Adams Morgan neighborhood commissioner.
“It doesn’t absolve them of the responsibility of looking at education, visibility and enforcement,” Roth said. “There is virtually no enforcement.”
Clean City assessors
» Three needed per ward.
» Assessments run May 15-19.
» Require minimum six hours.
»To volunteer, call Marlene Pheney at 202-724-8967.
