The City of Jackson will launch a new campaign on March 4 called “Stop Trashing Jackson.” The city is hoping to get 500 volunteers to come out to the event and clean-up in all seven wards in Jackson. The city has achieved about 35% of its goal for sign-up which is already available at www.keepjacksonbeautiful.com.
To increase awareness, representatives from the city, including First Lady Ebony Lumumba and various community partners, hosted a press conference on February 22. COJ Communications Manager Melissa Payne says that the sign-up does not reflect the concern that has been relayed to her from the community.
“Since I’ve been in the position, I’ve taken phone calls from several people in different areas all over the city who are upset and complaining about their neighborhoods not being clean. We’re asking people to take ownership of their community.”
First Lady Lumumba expressed, “Chokwe and I consider it a privilege to have been raised here and to be raising our family in one of the most culturally rich cities in the world…In her poem ‘Jackson, Mississippi’, Margaret Walker called it ‘a city of flowers’ – both botanical and human which speaks to the power that we have to make the place we love as beautiful as it has made us….folk will only love our city as much as we do.”
Lumumba expressed that it is time for the community to “put our love for Jackson into action.” With all hands on deck, she says, she hopes that every resident, family, business owner, faith-based group, school, and community organization will partner with the city to love Jackson and “help show her beauty.”
Bishop Ronnie Crudup of New Horizon International Church, a community partner for the initiative, challenged every church and every faith-based group in Jackson to adopt an area around their respective places of worship to keep clean at least once a month. “We complain about a lot of things but here’s something we all can do,” Crudup relayed. “Here’s something we can change that can be the great start to stopping all the negative things that happen in Jackson, Mississippi.” Ron Aldridge, an advisory board member of Keep Jackson Beautiful, was also present.
If residents are unable to attend the March 4 event, there are other ways to dispose of unwanted items. Currently, residents can place bulky items – mattresses, furniture, and tree limbs to name a few – for pickup on their second collection day of the week. On Wednesdays, residents can leave out items such as washer machines, dryers, stoves, refrigerators, and the like for free pickup as well. For this service, please call (601) 960-1193 to be placed on the list.
Additionally, on the second Saturday of each month from 8am-3pm, Jackson citizens can take part in Roll-off Dumpster Day; old household items and yard debris can be disposed of at various locations in the city. Residents and contractors can take demolition material and old household items to the city landfill in Byram. There is a small fee associated with disposing of materials at the city landfill.
For more information, visit https://www.jacksonms.gov/solid-waste-division/.
