City Manager's 1-Bag Challenge Program Breaks Litter Collection Record

After celebrating more than 10 years of program success, the City of Cedar Rapids City Manager's 1-Bag Challenge litter collection program has broken the record of bags of litter collected in one year. A total of 7,192 bags of litter were collected in fiscal year 2023, which ended June 30. The previous record was 4,476 bags of litter collected in fiscal year 2021; this year's number breaks the record by over 2,700 bags. The litter was collected by resident volunteer individuals and groups, City staff, contracted workers, and participants with Willis Dady Homeless Services. 

City staff and contracted workers provided litter collection along I-380 and busy street corridors; these efforts contributed more than 2,600 bags to this year's record-breaking count. Willis Dady participants collected nearly 3,500 bags. The City's mini litter vacuum, launched in 2018, adds additional assistance in the fight against litter, collecting over 11 tons of litter in the last five years. This number is not included in the annual tally of 1-Bag bags collected. 

Cedar Rapids City Manager Jeff Pomeranz challenges every resident to help CleanUpCR. 

"Over 10 years ago, we at the City challenged every resident to collect at least one bag of litter per year. Here we are, more than a decade later, going stronger than ever in the fight against litter," Pomeranz said. "I am passionate about making Cedar Rapids the greatest place to live, work, and play. That's why we created the CleanUpCR campaign and the City Manager's 1-Bag Challenge. Over the years, our community has survived disasters such as extreme flooding and the 2020 Derecho, and we have come together with resilience and strength to clean up Cedar Rapids."

Since its inception in 2012, the 1-Bag Challenge program has inspired volunteers to fill close to 30,000 bags of litter, collected by residents, City staff, businesses, churches, neighborhood associations, scout troops, organizations, schools, and more. These efforts have removed an estimated 300 tons of trash from City streets and highways, and to celebrate the 10^th anniversary of the program, the City held a litter pickup event last fall. Final collection numbers have been tallied at the end of each fiscal year since June 2014. 

The City saves litter kit postcards received by residents who have taken the challenge and filled out feedback on the card. Some of the recent postcard comments include:

"To make this community great, we all need to work together. Breaking this record shows that we continue to do that. We designed this litter-collection program so everyone has access to tools to pick up litter and dispose of it," Pomeranz said. "There is never a day off in the fight against litter, and I hope residents will be inspired, even more so now that we have broken this record, to take and keep taking the City Manager's 1-Bag Challenge."

Litter kits for the program, which include the aforementioned postcards, as well as bags and gloves, are available from April through October every year at designated Hy-Vee stores, NewBo City Market, Cedar Rapids Public Library locations, and City buildings. Individuals collecting litter can place their filled 1-Bag bags next to their residential GARBY garbage collection carts on their normal collection day. Groups interested in scheduling a cleanup event or signing up for the Adopt-a-Road program can do so on the City's website. For more information and to sign up to take the 1-Bag Challenge, visit CleanUpCR.com.