Councilmember, nonprofits propose school program, yard-sign reuse and coordinated cleanup calls to curb litter

Councilmember Barb Warwick (District 5) asked the Clean Pittsburgh Commission on April 10 to help expand classroom education and hands-on cleanup work with Pittsburgh Public Schools and nonprofit partners, and to explore funding and logistics for a student-created yard-sign project.

Warwick described a three-part approach piloted with Allegheny Cleanways at Greenfield School: classroom lessons on litter, an art project and an in-school cleanup. "We actually had our first session yesterday at Greenfield School where Allegheny Cleanways is coming into the schools," she said. The councilmember said the art component would produce a durable yard sign students could take home as a longer-term reminder to reduce litter.

The meeting included discussion of funding and materials. Warwick said a unique printed sign would cost roughly $25 per sign for a custom-printed piece, and that organizers were considering alternatives such as group projects, competitions or reuse of Coroplast political signs. "...if you were to do a single sign, like, just a unique sign, it'd be about $25 per, you know, for them to print a unique sign," she said.

Commission members and partner organizations discussed practical options for making the project affordable and durable. Kelsey Ripper of Friends of the Riverfront suggested upcycling campaign Coroplast signs by painting them white and letting students create artwork on the surface; she noted the technique is commonly used for trail signage. "We've painted over them and then just let it dry, and then you can just do whatever on top of it," Ripper said.

The group also discussed logistics for collecting used yard signs after elections and separating rigid Coroplast signs from plastic-sleeved campaign signs (the latter require different recycling routes). Several speakers encouraged a localized collection strategy — drop-off points or neighborhood collections — to limit the workload on city crews and to make reuse feasible. "If we just do a local collection, we're not gonna be, like, inundated," Ripper said.

Separately, Warwick raised coordination among cleanup providers. She described recent conversations between Allegheny Cleanways, Friends of the Riverfront and CEO Works (a workforce-development cleanup contractor that employs people reentering the workforce) to avoid overlapping deployments and to better schedule crews. She asked whether the commission could play a convening role in a regular scheduling call so nonprofits, DPW and public-safety partners know which crews are operating where.

Commission members noted existing city resources — Helena Procopio Ross and others mentioned that DPW maintains a volunteer calendar for collections and that reuse/collection efforts have been tried in past election cycles. Participants suggested starting with a trial collection and local drop-off points ahead of the November mayoral election and coordinating outreach to campaign offices to request that candidates collect Coroplast signs.

Next steps discussed at the meeting included: refining the yard-sign cost estimate (possibly reduced if reuse is feasible), identifying local drop-off addresses and coordinating with DPW and campaign offices for sign collection after upcoming elections. Warwick said she would continue connecting partners at Pittsburgh Public Schools and report back to the commission as plans solidify.

Ending: The commission did not vote on a funding allocation for the yard-sign project at the April meeting; members asked staff and partners to return with more detailed cost quotes, reuse logistics and a proposed collection timeline before seeking budget approval.