Mayor Ravenstahl with Troop 73 and Andy Masich, who adopted one of the first Redd Up Zones in Lawrenceville. Photo from the servePGH website.

Maybe you’ve seen the signs around town declaring a certain area as a “Redd Up Zone.” If you’re not from Western Pennsylvania, you might even be asking yourself what on Earth “redd up” means. Basically it’s Pittsburghese for cleaning or tidying up something, a notion former mayor Luke Ravenstahl wanted to apply to Pittsburgh’s neighborhoods.  Click here for the Post-Gazette article on how Redd-Up Zones were started.

Instead of the city doing most of the work itself fixing up communities, organizations and businesses can adopt a street and recruit volunteers to help them with year-round cleanups. All groups, from companies to schools to churches, are encouraged to participate by adopting zones, but they must commit to at least four cleanups per year, for two years.

Photo from The Clean Pittsburgh Commission website.

By partnering with The Clean Pittsburgh Commission, Citizens Against Litter, Citiparks, and the Department of Public Works, the city will, in turn, provide the materials needed to spruce up that section, such as trash bags, gloves, brooms, hedge clippers, safety vests, and more. It will also pick up the trash for free and prove two signs that display the name of the organization that adopted that zone.

Redd Up Zones are a great way for local organizations to not only help out the community, but to get recognition for doing so. And since all the necessary materials can be borrowed from the city, it’s easy for volunteers to get involved.

You can get more information on helping out, either by volunteering your time or adopting a street, by visiting the Redd Up Zone website, calling 412-255-2280, emailing servepgh@pittsburghpa.gov, or getting in touch with your local community association. You can also see a map of which streets have already been adopted here.