Two Do Not Be A Litterbug volunteers walking a Dayton street with trash bags on a summer clean-up

Our why

Why we pick up other people's trash.

We know we didn't drop most of what we collect. We pick it up anyway — because a clean block is the fastest way to tell a neighborhood it's worth something.

Stand behind the why

Litter and illegal dumping don't just hurt our environment — they impact us in many ways.

Did you know that litter and illegal dumping harm our communities, threaten public safety, negatively impact our mental and physical well-being, and hurt our economy?

Research also links neighborhood blight to increased violence. A study by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society found that after lot clean-ups and greening interventions across Philadelphia, gun violence dropped significantly in those areas (source).

A Do Not Be A Litterbug volunteer sweeping and clearing a Dayton street during a clean-up
Neighbors, two hours, one cleaner block.

Clean neighborhood saves lives

A drifting chip bag on the levee, a smashed bottle at a bus stop, a fast-food sack in a kid's front yard — each one quietly says nobody's watching, nobody cares. That message compounds. It's how a proud street starts to feel forgotten, and how a forgotten street stops being cared for at all.

Dayton has earned its comebacks the hard way — floods, factory closures, a 2019 that would've flattened a lesser town. We don't think the city that rebuilt itself should have to wade through litter and illegal dumping to enjoy its own neighborhood.

Every week throughout the year we put gloves on and prove the opposite is true: people are watching, people do care, and it takes about two hours to change how a whole block feels. Kids see adults caring for a place and learn that it's worth caring for. That's prevention you can't buy with a sign.

"When people love where they live, they stop littering and illegal dumping where they live. Our whole job is helping Dayton fall back in love with its own front yard." — Do Not Be A Litterbug

The people behind the why

Neighbors, partners, and stakeholders.

Boots on the ground, city and grassroots partners, media coverage of the 2026 relaunch, and planting where litter used to be.

Boots on the ground
Boots on the ground
Bagging litter, block by block
Bagging litter, block by block
A crew works a brushy lot
A crew works a brushy lot
Everybody can pitch in
Everybody can pitch in
Proud to keep Dayton clean
Proud to keep Dayton clean
City, county & grassroots partners
City, county & grassroots partners
Leadership walks the neighborhood
Leadership walks the neighborhood
Youth crew plants where litter used to be
Youth crew plants where litter used to be
Flowers go in on a reclaimed bed
Flowers go in on a reclaimed bed
Greening a once-blighted spot
Greening a once-blighted spot

Hover or tap any photo for its caption. Names are our best labels — tell us any we should correct.

The honest part

This campaign is year-long. Gloves wear out, cleaning tools need repairs, and signs and billboards cost money. We keep overhead low and volunteer support high — but the supplies and materials are real, and so is the bill.

If our why sounds like your why, the single most important thing you can do is support our campaign — by volunteering your time or making a financial contribution. It's the difference between a day of good intentions and a day of full bags.