Collect Memphis Clutter

If you are tired of seeing tires, shopping carts, construction barrels left behind for months, and general clutter along our roads and blocking sidewalks in Memphis, help us with a 3 month pilot program to clean up our city and return items where they belong, recycle, or trash.  This program is based on the work done by Mike S. around town. After adopting his neighborhood city park, he started to notice of all the clutter around town while driving to work or downtown for a Grizzlies game. Issues were reported to the city but due to budget and staff shortages sometimes junk still sat on the side of the road for months or even years.  Mike started to borrow friends trucks a few times to collect items but realized that wasn't sustainable. In February 2024, Mike and his friend Greg J. (neighbor, pastor, musician and overall great guy!) took it upon themselves to rent a truck to drive down Summer Ave and start collecting items. It only took a couple hours and made a huge difference for that one part of town.

Unfortunately, there are so many stretches of road in Memphis that need someone to care enough to collect the debris and haul it away. This project will use the funds raised to support a pilot program to collect data on the process to collect items, what type of items are most common, and what parts of town need additional resources to fight the blight they are dealing with.  The end goal is to show that we can be proactive in keeping our city clean and educating others how they can help. 

After a successful pilot, future plans include:

1. Acquiring equipment to continue cleaning up our city (truck, trailer, etc).

2. Secure an area to stage items collected before they are dealt with.

3. Offer a simple online/mobile solution for people to make a financial donation and suggestion on items that need to be collected.

4. Provide educational materials to repeat offender properties so they know how they can properly get rid of the clutter in their area.

5. Secure ongoing partnerships with organizations and individuals to support the efforts of the Memphis Clutter Crew!

1. We have already started regular work days to collect junk along our streets. Items are disposed of or placed so city crews can easily collect.

2. With additional funds, we will increase the number of work days from 1x a week to at least 3x a week. Other days will be spent submitting reports of larger issues to the city, TDOT, MLGW, etc including broken sidewalks and large dump sites that need special equipment to clear.

3. I (Mike S.) will personally pitch in $500 to match the first $5,000 raised to help this program be a success.

4. Tires will be recycled, shopping carts will be returned to stores, and road work safety items will be returned to owners. Clutter that can't be recycled will be properly disposed of. 

5. Each day cleaning will include documenting items, taking photos, and collecting data to use to fine tune the program and find permanent resources to support this program for the long-term.

Our city used to win awards for being beautiful - lately Memphis needs some extra TLC. Every major road going in all directions needs some help - with dump sites, overgrown lots, tires sitting on curbs or broken light poles on the ground. We will focus on improving these issues in all neighborhoods.  Cleaning up areas in tourist locations and dead end streets in neighborhoods all need someone to proactively clean them up.   Join the Memphis Clutter Crew with a donation today! 

Follow along on www.instagram.com/memphisclutter

Contact: [email protected] if you have additional questions or want to support in other ways!  

In kind items that would help this project - a truck, access to dumpsters, share this campaign with others who care about Memphis, and moral support!