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  THE CLEAN MISSION

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How to solve San Francisco’s two biggest problems at the same time

10/24/2018

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​Written By: Jeff Winkle
Creator of The Clean Mission initiative

​San Francisco is the best city in the country for a lot of reasons.  The beauty of the streets and uniqueness of the architecture is unsurpassed by any other metropolitan area.  It perfectly embodies the multicultural identity of the United States and its residents find comfort in the diversity around them.   When you walk from neighborhood to neighborhood, the weather and altitude isn’t the only thing that changes;  you can find yourself in the middle of North Beach and feel like you’re walking down an Italian street, or grab a quick meal in the Mission District and confuse your surroundings with Mexico City.  You also have the ability to run to the beach on a Saturday morning or cross the Golden Gate bridge to find incredible hiking trails.  Plus, San Francisco has about 2% unemployment and would be in the top 25 countries by GDP.  In many ways, it sounds like the utopia of a mature democratic society.


So how come I always get the same two questions from friends or family that are visiting the city on the first day they arrive:
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—Why are there so many more homeless people here compared to other major cities?
—And why is there so much trash on the streets?!


The truth is I don’t have a good answer to those questions.  They are complicated issues stemmed from a long history of decision-making by the government of San Francisco, and unintended consequences that came as a result of those decisions. I’ve spent a lot of time looking backwards at the road that led us to this point, but I will reserve those details for 10-20 other articles for those interested.  Right now, we need to become really thoughtful about what we can control: the present and the future.


We’ve all seen the “present state” of the city of San Francisco… Beautiful buildings, wonderful people, and lots of jobs juxtaposed with an astounding homeless population and the need to watch where you are walking at all times so you don’t step on trash or human feces.  The key concept to understand with those two issues is the fact that they are complicated and intertwined.  To explain what I mean, consider the economic incentive for homeless people to collect as many plastic bottles as possible to recycle them for the 10 cent refund.  For someone living in a world where every penny counts, it is a prudent use of time for them to rummage through every public and private trash can in the city for bottles they can turn into income.  The problem is, they don’t have much regard for placing that garbage back where they found it.  This leaves a pile of trash on the sidewalk on a good day and a tsunami of loose garbage around the adjacent streets on a windy day.   


We are living through a time where citizens and those that represent them are quick to support extremely simple solutions to extremely complicated issues.  Kids are bringing guns to schools?  Let’s just give them see-through backpacks.  There’s a drug problem in the US?  A border wall will fix that!  In a progressive city like San Francisco, we need to look at issues holistically and become concerned with practical solutions that attack the issues head-on.


Which is why a solution for the future requires an initiative that tackles both problems simultaneously.  For this, I look to the city of Fort Worth, Texas for inspiration and a roadmap to follow which addresses these exact issues.  Their local government piloted a program that pays homeless people to pick up litter around the city to move towards eradicated both problems.  It works towards a world where the urban area is trash-free while also providing the homeless individuals with dignity and purpose.  Plus, it provides an income stream which may allow them to rise out of their circumstance and work towards their goals.


The program in Fort Worth has been launched on a small scale but has been incredibly successful.  40 homeless individuals were hired in 2017 and they amassed an astounding 3,856 tons of trash collected.  Local news in Fort Worth also dives into the story of one such individual who moved into his own apartment after 23 months living in a homeless shelter as a direct result of this program.


Fort Worth isn’t the only city implemented this type of program either.  San Diego launched a program called ‘Wheels of Change’ earlier this year which has similar goals and provides access to housing resources to the workers as well.  Chicago, Denver, and Albuquerque have also instituted similar programs with great success.


I looked for comparable types of programs in the Bay Area with no success, so I started an initiative about a year ago called “The Clean Mission” (Instagram: @CleanMissionSF) that is attempting to improve the cleanliness of the streets of San Francisco. We hold consistent cleanup events and mobilize energized volunteers to pickup garbage on the weekends.  However, I view these cleanup events as short-term bandaids to a larger problem and, as The Clean Mission works towards long-term solutions, we hope to have well-funded government efforts working in parallel to create a cleaner city that can be sustained for the next generations.


With a new mayor in the city, I am hopeful she will formulate plans that do more than throw money at the issue in an uncoordinated way as we have seen in some cases in the past.  What we need right now is strong leadership and we call on London Breed and other elected officials to look to programs like that in Fort Worth, Texas as inspiration for a comprehensive plan that can make the city streets cleaner.
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The Clean Mission // Genesis

1/28/2018

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Written By: Jeff Winkle
Creator of The Clean Mission initiative
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    The city of Chicago was my only real exposure to urban landscapes growing up.  Between April and October, my family would make the 30 mile drive into the city when we could because, during that time of year, the Windy City is a beautiful city.  It may be an amazing place during the other months of the year as well, but nobody will ever know because they are inside by the fireplace with a cup of hot chocolate.  

I never realized how relatively clean Chicago is until I started to travel to New York City and live in the Bay Area.  I recently moved to the city of San Francisco and was struck almost immediately by the amount of garbage I saw on the streets.  It made no sense to me.  San Francisco is supposed to be one of the most environmentally-forward cities on earth and yet there are beer cans rolling around the sidewalks in most neighborhoods?!  In my opinion, it is one of the most beautiful cities in the world—as long as you keep your eyes looking forward and up.  You can find an incredibly diverse mix of cultures, amazing food, and gorgeous views yet you will likely be stepping over trash at times to fully experience SF. 

But why?  What is causing the immense amount of litter in tourist areas like Pier 39 as well as neighborhoods like SoMa or the Mission District?  I started researching the biggest factors contributing to the state of cleanliness in San Francisco.  What I found were unsurprising answers: very high population density, public policies enacted in the past that had unintended consequences, and garbage collection systems that incentive dumping garbage in public places.  Maybe some citizens want to save the $100 they have to pay to Recology to collect their garbage every week.  Maybe the money the homeless receive from trading in bottles encourages them to sort through trash cans, leaving a trail of litter in their wake.  

None of these factors surprise me at all.  So, maybe the question should be, “What is a city like Chicago with a similar population density doing right to prevent/fix the issues that are making the streets dirtier?”  I have not found a straightforward answer to that question.  In fact, there are a lot more questions that arise when searching for answers which have made me even more confused.  

I reached a point where my conclusion was that I can either accept I won’t find answers to my questions and keep living my life, or just forget about what may be causing the problem and try to do something fix it. 

The wheels of The Clean Mission were soon set into motion and the initial excitement and support I received from the community was overwhelming.  Tons of amazing people reached out to offer help in any way they could.  “Are you artsy? I can help with designing a logo”, “I am your typical SF techie—let me help with the website”, “Please let me know when there is a cleanup event—I have been wanting to do something like this!”

The truth is, I think The Clean Mission tapped into a feeling inside of many citizens who feel like they want to do something to affect positive change in the world, but don’t know what they can do.  This initiative offers a way for people of any age to take a little bit of spare time and turn it into an immediate, noticeable impact on the community around them.  I will be working hard to allow The Clean Mission to continue to grow, but I know that it will only be because of people like you that long-term impact will be achieved.  


If you feel like you want to get involved, sign up for our email list or send me an email personally (jeff@thecleanmission.com)--I would love to hear from you. 

Find us on Instagram and Twitter @cleanmissionsf—like, share, comment if you feel so inspired. I am grateful for your attention.  
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