The amount of litter and junk on the side of the roads (especially areas like 880 and Emeryville underpasses) is shocking and disturbing. When people visit Oakland by plane this is the first impression they get of our city. Oakland needs a strong beautification program in which non-violent criminals (ie. marijuana offenses, repeat traffic citations, etc) can reduce their jail sentences by picking up trash, pulling weeds, and repainting walls covered in ugly graffiti. Wouldn't it restore these down-and-out people with a sense of purpose ? Wouldn't it instill a feeling of pride in one's neighborhood? Would it not build stronger communities? For the amount of criminals in this city and crowded jail cells we could have the cleanest city in the country!

There are many neighborhood groups that have started sponsoring trash can mosaics. But there are many many many more ugly trash cans to cover. Everyone loves them, so we need a simple way to match sponsors (businesses, neighbors, etc) with trash cans and mosaic artists. Old Oakland Neighbors has created a simple video and sponsorship page which has worked well to cover over a dozen trash cans in Old Oakland: https://www.gofundme.com/oldoaklandmosaics . But we need a way to scale this idea city wide!

https://www.facebook.com/OldOakDistrict/posts/10153941642742174

I see new commercial, residential and mixed use developments going up all over downtown, but I don't see very many new public trash enclosures being installed in the downtown area. I don't know what the City currently requires developers to do, but it seems like additional trash cans should be required, just like street trees, new sidewalks and bike racks. The existing trash cans are getting overwhelmed, and worse yet, littering increases and pollutes our waterways. New developments bring new workers and residents, so more trash capacity just makes sense.