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Home > Departments > Neighborhood Services > neighborhood clean-up
Neighborhood Clean-upTips for a Neighborhood Clean-up

Organizing a neighborhood clean-up is a wonderful opportunity to get to know your neighbors and beautify your neighborhood at the same time. Below are Neighborhood Services suggestions for planning and implementing a neighborhood cleanup.

Thanks for organizing a neighborhood clean-up! Remember, you can copy fliers and newsletters advertising your clean-up for free at the Neighborhood Services office.
  Consider applying for a neighborhood grant from the Neighborhood Services. Grants are available from $25-$500. When completeing your application include the cost of the roll-off plus $79 per roll-off for the tipping fee. Be sure the trash hauler understands their Landfill fee will be $79. Contact our office for more information or visit our website at fcgov.com/neighborhoodservices.
  Notify Neighborhood Services as soon as you have scheduled your clean-up and know which trash hauler you will be using. Neighborhood Services can then work with Larimer County Landfill in order to get the reduced tipping fee ($79) for up to 3 roll-off containers. Neighborhood Services will need to know the location, date, trash hauler, and neighborhood contact person to complete the arrangements with the landfill. Your trash hauler must have a letter in hand to give to the Landfill when dumping your roll-off containers.
  Contact multiple trash haulers to see who will give you the best price for your roll-off containers. Depending on the geographical area of your neighborhood cleanup, you may need between 2-4 roll-offs for an all-day event.
  Locate a site (school, church, or other large paved area.) large enough to accommodate roll-off containers and traffic flowing in and out of the location and make sure you get permission to hold your event there.
  Arrange to complete the event in one day. Roll-offs left overnight become an attractive nuisance and people will dump early and during the night. This may mean having to pay drivers overtime. It's important that roll-offs are dropped off and picked up on the same day.
  Have appropriate signage directing traffic in and out of the location.
  Have a first aid kit on hand at the event.
  Arrange to have 8-12 volunteers to help on the day of the clean-up. Specific volunteers can be assigned different duties during the event, such as:
- Calling for additional roll-offs and supervising what is deposited in the roll-off containers - no hazardous waste, paint, liquids, items over six feet in length, appliances that contain Freon, and tires;
- Supervising the entrance and screening participants to prevent non-residents of your neighborhood taking advantage of your clean-up, i.e., asking participants for their address and/or coupon (if one was provided in a neighborhood newsletter), giving out a coupon for participants who plan to return with an additional load;
- Supervising traffic control during the event, especially when roll-off containers are delivered and removed;
- Requesting and collecting any monetary donations that neighbors can provide to help off-set the cost of the clean-up;
- Assisting participants to unload their vehicles when necessary;
- Coordinating a "swap and drop" (should you choose to offer one), including monitoring items to ensure they are of suitable quality for exchange or reuse, and coordinating a charity organization to pick up the unwanted items at the end of the event; and
- Supervising clean-up of the location after the event. Remember to leave it cleaner than you found it.
  Consider organizing a social event for everyone at the end of the clean-up - pizza and ice cream always hit the spot after a hard day at the neighborhood clean-up!
  An additional idea - organize a leaf pick-up in the fall. Some trash haulers will offer services for a leaf clean-up. Check with them when you call to make your neighborhood clean-up arrangements.
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