JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The city of Jacksonville announced a new campaign designed to help fight litter and blight on Thursday.
The announcement took place at VyStar Ballpark. Among those in attendance were Mayor Donna Deegan, the city’s manager of blight initiatives, Al Ferraro; the city’s director of administrative services, Richard Reichard; and Harold Craw, executive vice president and general manager of the Jumbo Shrimp.
Deegan said the campaign called “Keep Jax Cute, Don’t Pollute” will be a comprehensive effort focused on education, prevention and enforcement, and community engagement.
“Yes, we said cute, because Jax is cute, it’s beautiful, it’s of character and charm, but too often, litter and blight are in the way of all that,” Deegan said. “Trash on the sidewalks and on the highways, debris in the broken down properties that drag down entire blocks of the city. We all see it, and we deserve better.”
The mayor said people talk to her about the blight and the trash, so this is an effort to create a more vibrant city from neighborhood to neighborhood.
This campaign is also in partnership with the Jumbo Shrimp’s Jax Litter League brand. Deegan said you can form a team and clean up your part of town and send in pictures of the trash bags.
The top teams will have a chance to throw out the first pitch at a Jumbo Shrimp game and enjoy the night in a private suite.
The city is also deploying a mascot named T.P. McClean, the “trash panda,” a friendly raccoon who will lead educational efforts among youth.
“We’re thrilled to partner with the city on this anti-litter campaign,” Harold Craw said, Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Jumbo Shrimp. “This is a fun way to help address a real problem in the city and we think a lot of local baseball fans and folks in neighborhoods across the city will engage with it.”
The campaign will use motion-activated surveillance cameras and, potentially, drone technology to monitor known dumping areas and the MY JAX app will let residents report litter hotspots in real time.
Click here for more information about the campaign and how to sign up.
