Eugene and Springfield, Oregon has a trash problem. A bad one! This is due to the large amount of homeless living within our cities. It's very common to see piles of garbage scattered along city streets. Junk Munkiez decided to help it's community by offering to clean up several locations suggested by community members. The owner, Derek Hatcher did this by publishing a video on Facebook asking residents to provide locations they'd like to see tackled. One by one, I went to the locations shooting live before and after videos on Facebook while mentioning the persons name that suggested it. Over a thousand pounds of debris has so far been collected over a month time span, and the project is still in progress.
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| A before and after shot at the I-105 bridge next to the Oakway Center where Junk Munkiez removed several hundred pounds of junk and garbage. |
More information regarding the volunteer project can be found by simply searching #JunkMunkiezCleansEugene on Facebook. You can also read an article that The Register Guard put out and watch a short KMTR NBC 16 news clip on the subject.
Something noticed while cleaning up these troubled areas is how fast the trash comes back but also how some locations seem to have some sense of order. Just like the rest of us, homeless produce waste. The only difference is they don't have access to curbside garbage service like the rest of us. What many of them end up doing is piling their disposed items in one spot. This intrigued me and had me wondering if there was a more permanent solution to preventing the refuse from accumulating in the first place.
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| A before and after shot at 2nd and Chambers that Junk Munkiez cleaned. |
There's most likely several different methods that could help prevent this but as one idea, what if the city provided large drop off boxes, trash bags, and sharps containers for the homeless to dump their trash in? There would be some security issues that would need to be resolved first. Passersby that can afford waste management services may take advantage of these bins and illegally dump their trash there as well. Plus, although some homeless care enough to at least contain their trash, many others don't and will throw it anywhere. A tough problem to be solved.
If you know of any dirty sites within Eugene or Springfield feel free to let us know by contacting us at: (541)337-0619. You can also email us at junkmunkiez@gmail.com. Please also feel free to contact us to set up an appointment for a free estimate if you you're looking to have junk hauled away from your property!
Happy holidays to everyone!
-Derek Hatcher
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