Tacoma is beautiful — but there’s too much trash. Here’s what the city is doing | Opinion

Tacoma is a city of striking beauty. From our mountain and waterfront views to our parks and neighborhoods, we live in a special place. Yet, sadly, I hear from community members every day who are concerned that it has become more difficult to recognize the city we love beneath all the litter and graffiti.

I connected with many of these same people recently at a community-organized, volunteer-led Litter Free 253 event. Litter Free 253 has brought renewed energy and focus to addressing litter across our community, and I have been deeply impressed with the efforts I’ve seen thus far. While many have stepped up to help, I think we can all agree that tackling this issue will take more.

As one of the sponsors of Tidy-Up Tacoma, a community cleanup program initially funded with one-time money from the American Rescue Plan Act and other city funds, I am very proud of the work we have done as a community over the past two years. With the new 6%tax on residential and commercial solid waste bills that went into effect on April 1, we now have more resources to fund and expand community cleanup programs like Tidy-Up Tacoma.

Over the past few years, the City of Tacoma has worked hard to address the impact of encampments in a holistic manner. This work has included the removal of millions of pounds of trash. Part of the funding from the new solid waste excise tax will go toward encampment-related debris cleanup.

Litter and graffiti problems do not just exist in encampments, however. In places where there are no encampments, we still see litter choking our storm drains and scattered across our parks. Our expanded Tidy-Up Tacoma program offers coordinated litter, debris and graffiti clean-up services to support cleaner and more welcoming streets and public spaces across our entire city. It includes increased trail maintenance too, so more of us can enjoy a cleaner, safer network of trails. And, in our business districts, it includes maintenance and replacement of public trash cans to help us keep litter off the ground in the first place.

While these efforts will enhance many parts of our city, the City of Tacoma can’t keep Tacoma clean without the help of private property owners, and our government agency and nonprofit partners who must all work to keep their own properties clean and well-maintained as well. This truly is a community-wide call to action, and we need everyone to do their part. Because everything we do, no matter how small, counts. Together, we will keep Tacoma beautiful.

You have an opportunity to determine where and how the City of Tacoma focuses its Tidy-Up Tacoma efforts. In-person and online engagement opportunities are scheduled to begin in July. To learn more, visit cityoftacoma.org/tidyup or call (253) 502-2100.

Council Member John Hines was elected to the Tacoma City Council in 2019. Born in Tacoma, he has lived his entire life in the City of Destiny.