At times, North Lawndale can be quite a beautiful place. However, most of the time North Lawndale is filled to the brim with trash. The trash problem has been an issue in North Lawndale for a while now, but this article seeks to analyze the inner nuances of the problem.
There could be many answers to the question: “Why is there so much trash in North Lawndale?” Yet, a few different answers stand out when this question is asked. Systemic neglect, a lack of community pride, or the prevalence of corner stores could be the answer. It could be one of these three or a combination of the three.
Ultimately, there may be no one answer but rather a combination of sorts.
Systemic Neglect
North Lawndale is a very special community in Chicago. It has schools, community centers like gyms and churches, and a few different businesses here. Yet, the constant for the entirety of North Lawndale is the trash that is present throughout the neighborhood.
The presence of said trash tarnishes the image and livelihood of the area. Not only that, but trash can impact the health of residents. So, the question still stands, why is North Lawndale so unclean?
One of the major reasons could be that the City of Chicago neglects the community of North Lawndale in comparison to other communities. Even the downtown area can be really dirty at night, but is almost spotless by the morning.
Economic Centers Seem To Be the Cleanest
Take Lake View for example. When people go to Lake View, they almost always say how clean and pretty it looks. Part of the reason why, is that Lake View is cleaned by the City of Chicago. This applies to communities like Lincoln Park as well. The common denominator between the communities that Chicago focuses on versus the ones that they don’t, is economically based.
Communities like Lake View, Downtown Chicago, and Lincoln Park, are big economic centers for the city and they bring in a lot of money. So, it is in the best interest of Chicago to keep those areas as clean as possible.
When compared to North Lawndale, these economic centers are leagues and bounds cleaner than North Lawndale. However, this is but only one answer to the question. Some say the reason why North Lawndale is unclean is that the residents simply don’t respect the area.
Respect the Space
Respect for an area is something one can simply see with their eyes. Given that there is so much trash on the ground in North Lawndale, some say that the residents, particularly the young people of the community, simply don’t respect the area. One of the reasons for this, is that some people genuinely view cleaning as a lower task. What this means is that there are sometimes very few people cleaning up the streets or cleaning near their homes.
However, a few people cleaning near their homes simply isn’t enough. For North Lawndale to truly be a clean space, it would take an organized effort from everyone involved. It makes no sense for a community of 40,000 to have only a few folks cleaning up. St. Agatha Catholic Parish’s Father Larry Dowling had this take on the subject:
It’s going to take a big effort from the entire community to not just become a clean community, but to stay a clean community.
The Corner Store Issue
North Lawndale is one of many impoverished communities in America. It, like many other impoverished communities, has many corner stores. These corner stores provide salty snacks, sugary drinks, and candy galore.
The problem is that all of these wrapped goods end up on the ground once they have been consumed. So, they end up accumulating on the streets over time, because they aren’t being picked up.
What this leaves the community with is a snack wrapper-filled community. However, there are solutions to this problem.
It’s Time to Clean Up North Lawndale
While the problem itself is multifaceted, the solution can be as simple as picking up trash when one sees it. There are a couple of solutions to North Lawndale’s cleaning problem.
One of the easier solutions to implement is to organize a consistent cleaning club. What this would mean is that community members can clean block by block until the job is done. Once finished, they would just start from the first block again. This would mean that every block would be cleaned on a consistent basis.
Another solution would be to petition the City of Chicago to implement a need-based cleaning system for the city so that no community gets left behind.
Finally, one more solution would be to organize a sort of “cleaning day” for all of North Lawndale. What this would mean is that the entire community would be cleaned all at once by everyone in the community.
Furthermore, this means that once a year the entire community of North Lawndale is cleaned like it’s supposed to be. In fact, many of these or at least parts of these solutions are being considered or implemented by different organizations in North Lawndale.
Written by Kenneth Mazerat
Beautify Hamilton: Here’s Why You Should Participate in a Community Cleanup by Rubab Sarwar
Brightly: How to Host a Planet-Saving Community Cleanup in 5 Simple Steps by Asha Swann
Crown Products Online: 5 Ways You Can Keep Your Community Clean by Fred Levine
Featured and Top Image Courtesy of Ivan Radic’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
First Inset Image Courtesy of Matt Hintsa’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
