Litter has connections to many aspects of everyday life. It can cause pollution, spread disease, and harm wildlife. Litter in schools is also unsightly and can be demoralizing for students and staff and reflect poorly on the school’s quality and safety.

That’s why the School District of Philadelphia’s Sustainability Program, GreenFutures, has teamed up with Litterati to run CleanFutures – a contest-based project that encourages students to use an app to track the type of litter on their school grounds and then matches schools with the resources to try to help maintain cleaner spaces. GreenFutures is working with the support of the green stormwater infrastructure maintenance program on the CleanFutures project.

Some schools are plagued by community litter; others have litter generated mainly by their own students. By tracking and measuring the trash, a better, more sustainable plan can be designed to reduce it. This project can be of particular interest to Building Engineers, FAMs, and Food Service personnel, as food wrappers and packaging are often a litter and waste challenge. In addition, all District-run schools (K-12), science classes, science clubs, sustainability clubs, and/or any other applicable groups within the school can sign up.

Participants so far include:

• Amy Northwest
• Blaine, James G
• Carver, George Washington
• Cook-Wissahickon
• Fitzpatrick, Aloysius L
• Franklin, Benjamin ES
• Furness, Horace
• Kelly, John B
• Lankenau
• Lincoln, Abraham
• Northeast High
• Saul, Walter B (CTE)
• School of the Future
• The U School
• Waring, Laura W

For more information, visit the website or reach out to District Sustainability Manager, Megan Garner.