Trash Academy: Residents map illegal dumping sites across Philadelphia through new online tool

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Illegal dumping remains a major frustration in the city, so a Philadelphia community group is asking residents to help document the problem through a new online mapping tool.

Trash Academy launched the interactive tool at the end of July after working on the project since the beginning of the year.

The platform allows residents to upload photos of illegal dumping sites in their neighborhoods along with nearby intersections.

At weekly meetings, community members can also identify problem locations, which staff members then enter into the digital map.

Organizers say the goal is to create a more complete picture of illegal dumping across the city and help speed up cleanup efforts.

"We can't be everywhere, and we don't have maps for every area of Philadelphia, so this way, people can just do it as if they're walking down the street, and they see a dump site, they can go ahead and take the picture," said Lois Williams, co-director of Trash Academy.

The advocacy group plans to use the information to identify legacy dumping sites, or locations that have experienced repeated dumping.

Organizers say the data could help city leaders better target cleanup efforts and address areas where dumping persists.

"So the city isn't clean and green until all the dump sites are clean and stay clean," said Shari Hersh, co-director of Trash Academy.

Hersh said one objective of the mapping effort is to provide evidence of the problem's scope and identify locations that require more than routine cleanups.

"One of the goals of the mapping is concrete evidence that this is happening, and also where are the sites that need a more complex response, because cleaning doesn't work," Hersh said.

Organizers hope the project will transform neighborhood complaints into measurable data that can help eliminate illegal dumping across Philadelphia.

For more information, visit TrashAcademy.org.