Allegheny CleanWays

Allegheny CleanWays staff and volunteers remove debris from the region’s hillsides, open lots, and greenways. This is the first crucial step to full restoration of the valuable green spaces that define the our communities. After cleanup is complete, we work with other community or environmental organizations or local residents to steward and restore the site, often into gardens, trails, or parks. DumpBusters is a small crew of trained volunteers (anywhere from 1-5 people) who eliminate dump sites of all sizes and specialize in the most severe sites, often with challenging slopes. The crew, which operates 12 months a year, can provide expertise to community groups wanting to tackle a difficult project and are on call to respond quickly to new dumping incidents. Additional volunteers are always welcome. No experience is necessary.

Beautification and stewardship are integral in helping to change the perception of a site that has been cleaned and keeping it from becoming trashed again. Each site we clean is evaluated for how to best restore it and keep it clean. In some cases, we work with other organizations to plant trees, native plants and shrubs or to install gardens on the site. In other cases, we work with local residents to monitor and steward the site.

The Tireless Project is a collaborative effort of local non-profit organizations committed to stewardship of the rivers and streams of Allegheny County. For more than 10 years Tireless Project events have provided volunteers and experience that builds deeper connections the the waterways of our region. In a typical three-hour event, participants become intimately acquainted with the rivers both aboard our 28' pontoon boat, the Rachel Carson, and along the water's edge as they work together to remove tires and other trash that has accumulated there. Since its origin in 2003, 2,981 volunteers to remove more than 406,520 pounds of debris and 2,514 tires from our three rivers and tributaries.