Pittsburgh Garbage Olympics to target litter in dozens of city neighborhoods, Penn Hills

Residents of nearly three dozen Pittsburgh neighborhoods will collect litter this weekend in the city’s annual Garbage Olympics.

Teams from 34 neighborhoods across the city and Penn Hills will compete to gather the most garbage in the seventh annual Garbage Olympics event.

Pittsburgh’s Department of Public Works and the Clean Pittsburgh Commission will provide bags, gloves, safety vests and “nifty nabber” litter grabbers for the competition, city officials said.

The event is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Saturday.

Interested residents can still find registered neighborhood teams and meeting spots online.

Pittsburgh’s anti-litter specialist Chris Mitchell said cleaning up litter provides numerous benefits.

“It raises pride in your community,” he said. “It makes your community safer. It makes your community stronger. It makes the land and water around you less poisonous. It discourages further litter by keeping it clean in the first place.”

The Garbage Olympics began in 2017 when five teams competed. Since, more than 3,000 volunteers have picked up over 3,350 bags of trash, 1,500 tires and 900 televisions, the city said.

Communities participating this year include the Central North Side, Marshall-Shadeland, Spring Hill City View, Perry South, East Allegheny, Lower Lawrenceville, California-Kirkbride, Spring Garden, Garfield, East Liberty, Upper Lawrenceville, Shadyside, Central Lawrenceville, Bloomfield, Friendship, Stanton Heights, Greenfield, South Oakland, Central Oakland, Polish Hill, Squirrel Hill North, West Oakland, Frick Park, Bluff, Brookline, South Side Slopes, Mount Oliver, Beechview, Carrick, Allentown, South Side Flats, Duquesne Heights, Sheraden, Westwood and Penn Hills.