Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Trash Club?
A trash club is a volunteer run and community based group of civic minded people who gather in or near to where they live to pick up excess trash and city debris. Those involved work and collaborate with ALL community members regardless of their housing status. When cleaning is done with or near encampments, members are committed to being especially mindful, respectful, and communicative with the folks currently living there. Trash clubs do not profit from this effort and are not affiliated with a political party or any elected officials.
When and where do you meet?
2 times a month on Sundays from 10am-12pm at different locations throughout our neighborhood, depending upon need. Visit Instagram, Nextdoor, or join our mailing list for information on the next date/location!
What should I wear?
We recommend you wear clothes you don’t mind getting dirty and suggest that you wear work gloves and a mask if you have them. We can supply you with a pair of gloves and a mask however, if you don’t have one or either, and we have all of the supplies you will need!
Do I need to bring supplies?
No! We provide cleaning supplies and equipment. We have garbage bags, cleaning tools from garbage pickers and brooms to heavy duty shovels and rakes, masks, hand sanitizer, sharps containers, and work gloves. You are always welcome to bring your own supplies if you prefer or if you have something you would like to donate!
I don’t live in Echo Park, can I still come?
Yes! Anyone from anywhere is welcome.
We also recommend looking in your local neighborhood for similar organizations, and are working on a complete list of local trash clubs (coming soon!)
How do I start my own trash club?
You can reach out to Erin by text at 217 766 8318 however, coming in 2022 we will be hosting periodic “Trash Club 101 Zooms”!! Keep your eyes on Instagram, Nextdoor, or our newsletter for more information about all things EPTC!
Why do you do it?
This may be answered in many ways, but our full mission statement provides an important overarching view on the work we do:
The Echo Park Trash Club Mission Statement:
The Echo Park Trash Club is a group of community volunteers whose mission is to help keep our neighborhood clean. Due to the sensitive and complicated issue of houselessnes in Los Angeles, there is a large degree of trash buildup around encampments in our city. There is also a large degree of neighborhood debris that is separate from encampments. Our mission is to step in where the city of Los Angeles currently is not, and to clean our neighborhood while treating the unhoused folks living here with the respect they deserve. When we clean near encampment areas we are committed to speaking with those living there and we will never and have never dismantled outside homes or take items that belong to folks living outside. We aim to help keep our neighborhood more clean and safe for the children, families, and people that live here both inside and out.
A few other pieces of information:
1. We do not condone or perform “sweeps”.
2. We are not affiliated with a political party and we are not affiliated with Mitch O’Farrell, although he did visit one of our cleanups.
3. We are very grateful and fortunate to have the use of an LA city sanitation garbage truck, however we do not work for LA city sanitation.
4. We are always open to hearing suggestions & feedback!
5. We love Echo Park and want it to be a more safe and more clean place for everyone.
6. We know this is a complicated issue with a lot of different perspectives surrounding it. We feel the best and most humane thing we can do, as community members who are civic minded, is to simply help pick up the excess of trash to the best of our ability as volunteers.
7. While the city is severely falling short providing accessible mental health care options, jobs, and homes to many of those who desperately need them, we hope to do our part by at least helping to make things a little more clean.
Please read our Community Agreement before volunteering. Thank you!
Further questions?
Email echoparktrashclub@gmail.com, or DM our Instagram