Pa. Resource Council asks amateur photographers to turn their 'Lens On Litter'

Pennsylvania was home to a half-billion pieces of litter in 2020, and that was just along the roads, according to a survey commissioned by the state’s Department of Environmental Protection and PennDOT.

That’s disheartening news to Pennsylvania Resource Council Executive Director Darren Spielman, especially since the council’s annual Gene Capaldi “Lens on Litter” contest has been working to draw awareness to the issue since 1984.

“It struck us as a really good way to bring attention to the challenge in a way that’s educational, and positive for the folks who are involved.”

“Lens on Litter” invites both adults and young people to find and capture examples of what litter is doing to Pennsylvania’s environment. And each year hundreds of people across the state take part.

The contest is named for longtime PRC volunteer Gene Capaldi of Newtown Square, who ran it for 17 years. Capaldi died in January 2018.

The contest is open to amateur photographers who can compete in either the adult or student categories.

Spielman said the contest allows the council to get a fuller picture of what littering looks like across the state, as opposed to hiring a photographer to shoot publicity images of litter.

“This way, we have several hundred people who wind up looking at the situation of dumping and litter where they live,” he said. “So in addition to the larger-scale work we do, this is a smaller-scale way to get people involved and looking more closely at the problem of litter.”

In the past few years, entrants from Sewickley, Carnegie, Richland, Fox Chapel, Swissvale, McCandless and Wexford have been among the winners of six monetary prizes.

Contest entries for 2023 will be accepted through Oct. 31. Full contest details are available at PRC.org.