The results of the fall Pittsburgh Stash the Trash and Redd-Up events are in - in recycling bins and appropriate disposal facilities.

The 2008 Stash the Trash Fall clean-up was held on October 10. More than 3,800 students from 43 private and parochial school students from throughout Pittsburgh took part in a citywide litter pick-up litter on school grounds. The students gathered 630 bags of trash and 103 bags of recyclables.

The goal of this annual event is to teach children the importance of not littering and to make sure their schoolyards remain litter-free year round. The Stash the Trash event marked the beginning of a year-long initiative to have school students play an active role in keeping their neighborhoods clean and litter-free by participating in ongoing litter pick-ups on school property.

The event was organized by the Pennsylvania Resources Council, the Clean Pittsburgh Commission, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl’s Redd-Up Campaign and Pittsburgh Public School Superintendent Mark Roosevelt’s office.

The Redd-Up event, which took place over the second and third weekends of October, included over 90 city neighborhoods and surrounding communities and had more than 20,000 volunteers. While the amounts of trash collected are still being tallied, Pittsburgh is cleaner and safer for the effort to Redd Up, said PRC Regional Director David Mazza.

"Redd up" is the local Pittsburgh term for "tidy up" or "clean up." Late Mayor Bob O’Connor originated the city’s Redd Up campaign prior to the Major League Baseball All-Star Game in 2006. "It's time to Redd Up Pittsburgh, 'cause company's coming!" was O’Connor slogan to kick-off the campaign, which has been continued by his successor, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl.

11/7/2008