Brandon Pousley, is an award winning educator and CEO of Glitter, an organization geared towards affordable cleaning for neighborhoods in Philadelphia. He shared the significance of keeping Philly clean, and how to get involved.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
As CEO of Glitter, can you explain what initiatives Glitter takes to clean and maintain the streets of Philadelphia?
So, Glitter is a neighbor funded block cleaning initiative. Um. So we work on behalf of residents, businesses, and organizations who want to see inner streets. And we work block by block with them to raise the funds necessary to hire and pay someone locally, a living wage to come up and clean up on a weekly basis, clearing away a little trash and debris from the streets, sidewalks and storm drains.
In 2020, Forbes named Philadelphia the dirtiest city in America. Do you think you’ve seen any change in Philly waste management for better or for worse since then.
Sure so, there’s a few things I’ll note. You know, the pandemic, unfortunately, has exacerbated a lot of problems in all kinds of cities, and Philadelphia wasn’t really an exception to that. One of those challenges was, um, a really stressed municipal collections from the patient department. So actually, at the height of moving, we saw also the height of litter and trash on our streets, whether it was because collections were delayed or just because, you know, society was stretched in multiple ways. So we really took that breaking point as an opportunity to say, how can we reimagined um a service that can actually meet those that had an increased need. there was also the recognition that people were also strained in terms of their ability to earn income So what we did was take kind of those two stressors and try to find a solution that would allow people to earn a living wage while helping maintain the streets at a time when they were really in disarray in a lot of ways.
So what do you consider the biggest challenge that Philadelphia faces when it comes to people handling their waste?
By that, I mean, there’s different collection methods and rules, whether or not you’re a renter in an apartment building or a single family homeowner or business you all have different rules different methods of collection some are not even serviced by the city. And then, depending on what area of the city you’re in, you may have, um, entirely different collection method.You may or may not get street sweeping. So when I look at it from a neighbor’s perspective or a business perspective, it must be really frustrating and confusing to even figure out what kind of services are available to you, and then how to comply with those. So I would really love to see much better standardization, and compliance and enforcement of the existing laws that we have. Just to try to create a level playing field and, and just better clarity so that for those who do want to do the right thing have an easy and efficient way to do that. I agree. What I wanna focus on, though, is the 95 % of people who are trying to do the right thing, how to make it easier for them. So how to make it they have adequate trash recycling bins so that there are public trash cans available for visitors and neighbors alike.
That makes sense, they really just aren’t seeing anyone else doing it. So On the website there’s a statement about how cleaner neighborhoods lead to safer neighborhoods and how it can reduce gun violence in certain neighborhoods. How have you seen communities respond to these efforts? And, has there been any change in neighborhoods that have become cleaner?
So the biggest way that we’ve been involved in that work is for a private called Safe Steps Northwest, which is an effort to literally build on that research base that shows that cleaner streets are safer streets, and we’re actually operating right now in German town and about area on a 330 block project that cleans a block every week in an effort to not be the only solution toward creating a safer block because obviously there’s lot that goes into it again. One of those pieces that creates a better environment, a more inviting environment, is encouraging neighbors to come out and and enjoy a cleaner street. All of those things ultimately lead to a safer place for everyone. Because it’s a place that’s cared for, a place that’s more enjoyable, and people wanna spend more time And a place that literally someone there actually just taking good care of it, which actually just creates, you know eyes on the, on the screen, and invisible presence.
Do you think there any certain areas that are less represented or go more unnoticed than other communities?
Sure. I mean, there is, there is very clearly unequal disparity of of violence, crime, and also some of the littering and and dumping issues across the city. And, you know, I won’t list every place, because by doing that, I’m sure I’ll miss them. But there are nearly inequities in many parts of North Philadelphia, southwest Philadelphia, And there are certain neighborhoods that experience it to a to a high degree above others. But what I will say is, of course, there is disparities, but we actually see it as as a universal need. So for us, instead of just targeting areas where it might be more sensationalized, we have to look at every block kind of needs some level of attention. And we find every neighborhood has different issues, different concerns. So we get excited about working with individual neighbors on individual watch better understand what do they need, what they wanna see, and then help them achieve those goals.
Are there any initiatives of Glitter to engage more communities and, educate people on the importance of keeping the city cleaner?
Sure, there are lots of players doing really amazing work, there are individual activists, who are talking about ways to keep the city clean and engage people. There are a lot of nonprofits, organizations. There’s the Block Give Back program, so there’s really no form is a way for neighbors who want to either either take initiative themselves or meet up with others to volunteer and help clean up. That being said, while we support those groups and appreciate the work that they do, we find that the volunteer effort is, is not enough, and it doesn’t really address the scope of the challenge, which is weekly maintenance on, you know, nearly every walk throughout the city, which is one of the big reasons why we adopted the, the business model that we did, which was to try to recognize the fact that while volunteers are, are very well appreciated in doing great work.
Can you tell me what motivated you to work with this organization and being apart of the change?
So for me, it was a personal, um, a personal desire to want to make a difference. So it was during the pandemic around 2019, when I was going outside each day because I was stir crazy, and it was a safe, easy way to get some physical activity, um, and to help deal with what, at the time is a really challenging problem, like we talked about earlier on, litter and trash were at its highest levels in the city. So, um, I took the initiative to just get a pair of gloves and some bags, and just start cleaning up near where I lived. And through that experience, I met lots of neighbors who, um, were very appreciative of what I was doing, and they had questions about what they could pay me, and how could they do the work? So I started hearing enough of that. I started to think that there are a lot of people out there like me who want to make a difference, and probably need to earn some extra money, um. And what would be a great way to try to get those people together in a model that’s sustainable and accountable and professionalized? And I met Morgan Burman, who’s the founder of Glitter, just as she was thinking about how to scale up the idea of photo, which was what she was working on. And then I met her right around the same time I was on my own journey. So it was a really great match to talk to people thinking about a problem in similar ways. That was three, years ago that I haven’t looked back since.
How can people get themselves involved with Glitter?
There’s, there’s two main ways, um to get involved. The first is, if you’re somebody who wants to help the city be cleaner, and you’d like to earn some money while cleaning up, you can go to our website at share Glitter dot com and look for our apply page and set the motivation to work with us. And we’re constantly looking for folks who are great fit, in their neighborhoods to help clean up. So that’s one way someone wants to work with us. And the other way is for neighbors who want to support our work and help create a cleaner block where they live or where they work, that they can sponsor a walk by getting signed up, making a pledge, and those pledges together help fund the work that our cleaners go out and do every week.
Is there anything you would like to add on and close with?
Sure, everyone deserves a clean and safe place to live. So we’re trying to provide as many tools and resources and and make things as affordable as possible for everyone to be able to achieve that and have that within their own means to do it and not have to wait on a politician or or wait on a separate service. Is something they can get. Today, we realize that the ability to pay is, of course, a barrier, but we’re constantly working on ways to make things even more affordable. To be able to offer costs for neighbors. You do have more challenges in terms of being able to pay for service like this. I’m really proud of the work we’ve been able to do, not only cleaning up those blocks, but also, then, again, reinvesting those funds by paying local cleaners living wages. We’re actually doing that work and seeing some of that money stay within the community and going to someone who needs that work. So I appreciate all of your questions and the what you’re doing.
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