October 11, 2015

Guest post: "Clean to the curb" can keep Petworth beautiful

October 11, 2015/ Drew

Local Petworth neighbor Carrie Johnson-Clark contacted me recently about “Clean to the Curb,” an initiative that encourages people to keep the area around their houses clean. Carrie asked if I’d publish something to get the word out. I offered one better — I offered to publish an article that she wrote. And here it is. I’m happy to offer an article from a Petworth neighbor who cares about how we can all do our part, even a little bit, to help keep the community looking beautiful.

May 22, 2015

It's about being a good neighbor

May 22, 2015/ Drew

This.

I've mentioned before on the blog (ok, complained) about litter in front of people's homes... saying unless you're infirm, how about grabbing a bag and spending a few minutes picking up litter once in a while?

Today, walking home from the Metro, that's exactly what I saw David Bylsma doing on 7th Street NW. I walked by and said "Thanks for picking up the garbage!" and he gave me a smile and a thumbs up.

Then I remembered my earlier post, and realized that I wanted to shine a light on this neighbor who was doing something positive for his street. So I walked back, introduced myself and started chatting with him.

"It looked so bad today," David said. "So I thought I'd get a bag and pick some up. Then I decided I'm just gonna do the whole block."

With a pair of gloves and a garbage bag, he picked up all the litter strewn along his part of 7th Street. "It hasn't taken me that long to do the whole block. My back isn't that sore," he said with a smile.

This is something we should all take the time to do once in a while.

Thanks David!

5/25 Update: To put an interesting perspective on this article, it has been one of my most popular articles on Facebook. It's been read 3,306 times, Liked 118 times. And the comments are great. Give them a read.