The 'So Fresh, So Clean, So Creative Southside-St. Louis' aims to reduce improper solid waste disposal, littering & illegal dumping while building community capacity to address & enact system-level change.

 

Project Goals:

DSCC plans to build collaborative partnerships to raise public awareness to significantly address local solid waste concerns. DSCC will promote & demonstrate sustainable materials management principles at the neighborhood, household & individual level within four southeast neighborhoods in the City of St. Louis, Missouri, including 1. Dutchtown; 2. Mount Pleasant, 3. Marine Villa & 4. Gravois Park – some of the most densely populated areas in St. Louis.

 

DSCC’s initial project partners:

1. Thomas Dunn Learning Center

2. Greater Gravois Park Neighborhood Association

3. Operation Brightside St. Louis

 

10 Key Project Activities:

1. Conducting a localized neighborhood-level sanitation systems review;

2. Hosting a broad range of stakeholder & technical advisory committee meetings;

3. The development of “train the trainer” community educational programs for adults & youth on sustainable materials management and recycling (toolkits will be distributed in the service area with materials available on the web);

4. Multiple resident-driven neighborhood cleanup demonstrations to educate & empower residents to reduce, reuse, recycle and rethink proper waste disposal & environmental/neighborhood stewardship;

5. “Pop up” recycling arts studio workshops during cleanup events to demonstrate upcycling – the creative reuse of materials – and the many ways to divert solid waste, litter & debris from landfills, water bodies, & the Mississippi River;

6. DSCC will explore & use consultation services to research the development of a self-sustaining innovative waste diversion “social business” demonstration project to leverage resources, implement solutions & create green jobs in historically underprivileged areas of St. Louis;

7. Activities to reduce illegal dumping;

8. Organizing workshops for landlords & tenants about sustainable materials management & recycling for rentals;

9. DSCC will document progress & create local sustainable materials management best practices throughout the project;

10. DSCC will document their approaches & lessons learned for the potential reapplication of project successes in other St. Louis neighborhoods to address solid waste issues. DSCC will track their process of working with & within the City of St. Louis & with various local stakeholders as a potential model for other areas of St. Louis.

 

Key outputs & outcomes include, but not limited to:

• Increasing the number of residents who understand how to effectively utilize citywide procedures for discarding solid waste & bulk items;

• Identifying & reducing illegal dumping & working with neighbors to execute effective strategies for sustainable materials management (e.g. solid waste management, reduction of materials, reuse of materials & recycling) at the community, household, & individual level;

• The prevention of further degradation of land, streams, water bodies, & aquatic life from improper waste disposal;

• The reduction of human exposure to waste & unsanitary conditions (that can exacerbate asthma & other health issues in young children) & the reduction of potential for breeding grounds for vermin & infestations (that can decrease the quality of life in the use of public/private spaces for the neighborhood as well as negatively impacting housing quality & conditions).

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For more information, Email:

Annissa G. McCaskill, Executive Director, annissa@dutchtownsouth.org