The Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership and the Pennsylvania Resources Council Tuesday announced a collaborative effort to curb litter in Downtown Pittsburgh while rewarding those who choose to put litter in its proper place.

The “Caught Doing Good!” campaign was launched in Market Square by Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, joined by Jeremy Waldrup, PDP President and CEO, and Dave Mazza, Regional Director of the Pennsylvania Resources Council.

The event featured PDP Clean Team members carrying large yellow bags of litter parading into Market Square to the Dixieland and swing tunes of Pittsburgh’s Boilermaker Jazz Band. In 2011, the PDP Clean Team removed 1.1 million pounds of trash, 4,677 graffiti tags, installed 150 cigarette butt urns and power-washed the equivalent of 26.3 miles of sidewalks in Downtown Pittsburgh.

Litter buster volunteers – comprised of Point Park University dance majors and alumni, as well as students from their International Summer Dance Program – followed the procession and provide a special “surprise.”

This cavalcade of litter will mark the kick-off of the PDP’s “Caught Doing Good” campaign to acknowledge and promote people properly disposing of garbage, litter and cigarette butts in Downtown Pittsburgh.  The PDP’s 2011 Clean Team Volunteer Program included 192 participants performing 1,442 hours of support.

PDP President and CEO Jeremy Waldrup said of the new campaign, “Rewarding people for doing the right thing is one way to provide encouragement and reinforce positive actions to prevent litter. We dedicate our resources and efforts daily to ensuring that Downtown is a clean and attractive place to live, work and play.”

Throughout the summer, the PDP Clean Team and staff members from PRC’s Don’t Trash My Turf campaign will be on the lookout for pedestrians doing their part to help keep Pittsburgh’s Downtown neighborhood clean and vibrant.

“This campaign can reward someone for picking up newspaper from the ground and throwing it away or properly extinguishing a cigarette in one of the many cigarette urns placed on garbage cans throughout Downtown,” said PRC Regional Director Dave Mazza.

When someone is “caught doing good,” he/she will be approached by a PDP Clean Team or DTMT staff member, graciously thanked for helping to keep Downtown clean, and presented with a card good for a free medium coffee or $1.50 off any item at Downtown Crazy Mocha locations – all for just doing the right thing!

Select cards will contain a numbered code, recipients of these specially marked cards can visit PRC’s Don’t Trash My Turf website for instructions on how to claim additional prizes such as $50 and $100 gift card good for dining or shopping at participating downtown restaurants and stores as well as how to become a volunteer.

“So, next time you’re strolling through Downtown and notice a piece of litter at your feet, pick it up and throw it away,” said Waldrup.  “Your small gesture helps out the PDP Clean Team in their daily cleaning efforts and you just never know who will be watching!”

Click Here to watch a flash mob video from the event.

7/2/2012