1-Bag Challenge celebrates 10 years with end of summer litter pickup event

CEDAR RAPIDS — When Jeff Pomeranz arrived in Iowa’s second-largest city to assume his role as city manager in 2010, he came with a grand vision to take a “beautiful” Cedar Rapids to new heights after the devastating floods of 2008 — but there was a little trash in the way.

As he drove into town, Pomeranz noticed the broken welcome sign leaning on the ground. Around the neighborhoods, many street signs were faded — turning from green to an off-white — and hard to read. And the streets were filled with litter.

“I just saw trash everywhere — through the neighborhoods, certainly along (Interstate) 380 was just thick with trash. It was just a concern as a new citizen of Cedar Rapids,” he said.

Pomeranz said he made a pledge to himself to do whatever he could working with city staff and the community to clean up Cedar Rapids, remove the trash and improve the overall look of the city.

“For me, it really came down to taking pride in a beautiful city,” Pomeranz said. “And unfortunately, the trash was a symbol of letting things go.”

Pomeranz and city team members came up with a simple but unique concept to challenge Cedar Rapids residents to clean up their community.

That program, the City Manager’s 1-Bag Challenge, has now inspired citizens to pick up at least one bag of trash a year for 10 years. The city is holding a litter pickup event from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at McGrath Amphitheatre, 475 First St. SW, to mark the occasion. The rain date is Sept. 15 at the same time and place.

If every citizen did their part and picked up a bag of trash, Pomeranz thought when the program was created, he hoped “we would have one of the cleanest communities in America.”

Since the program’s inception in 2012, citizens have picked up 23,200 bags of litter, totaling 464,000 pounds. That’s heavier than the 312,000-pound Statue of Liberty and the heaviest blue whale recorded, which weighed more than 418,000 pounds.

Pomeranz read from postcards filled out by one citizen who completed the challenge: “My dog and I felt good after doing our part to keep CR clean. It was enjoyable to take part in keeping our neighborhood free from litter. Thanks so much for the challenge.”

The city has saved hundreds of postcards all sharing the joy of participating in the simple effort to clean up Cedar Rapids.

“This is the impact,” Pomeranz said. “This is unbelievable.”

The 1-Bag Challenge has been recognized across the U.S. The Society of Solid Waste Operators has previously honored it as an Outstanding Litter/Beautification Program. And it’s been adopted in other communities, including Cedar Falls.

The city also uses a litter vacuum, a Bobcat Toolcat with a vacuum hose and collection box nicknamed “Snuffleupagus” after the Muppet character, lovingly referred to by Pomeranz as “Snuffy.” That tool has collected 11.18 tons of litter, equivalent to about 1,118 bags or 22,360 pounds.

Other litter pickup efforts have launched since Pomeranz’s arrival. Willis Dady has partnered with the city so Willis Dady’s clients get paid to pick up litter. The city uses Stark Enterprises, a private company, for trash pickup along I-380.

“It’s a real community effort, and I just feel grateful,” Pomeranz said. “Often you have an idea — ‘Let’s clean up the city’ — but then city staff and the community take it and make it even better than you thought of in the first place.”

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