CEDAR RAPIDS — Denise Covington is helping clean up Cedar Rapids one bag of trash at a time.

Over the past three years, her efforts have added up, making her the poster child of sorts for a city-sponsored program aimed at beautification.

To date, Covington has filled 286 bags with trash she has found in the neighborhood near her home on 8th Street SW.

“I started just being aware of my neighborhood more,” said Covington, 51. “I just noticed there was so much litter in the street. Kids are playing in it; people are walking their dogs in it. This was the answer to what needed to be done.”

Covington picks up trash through a program called the “City Manager’s 1 Bag Challenge.”

The brainchild of City Manager Jeff Pomeranz, the 1 Bag Challenge was created to encourage a cleaner and more-welcoming city. About 8,000 bags of litter have been collected since the program was launched in 2011.

“When I first came to town about six years ago, it seemed to me there was a lot of litter and trash blowing around in the community,” Pomeranz said. “One of the first things I did ... I participated in a litter pick up along 380.”

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Pomeranz said he quickly realized the city’s litter problem extended beyond what a few citizens could do on a weekend.

“So, I thought, ‘What can I do?’”

One bar per year

Pomeranz said he wondered what would happen if each of the nearly 130,000 Cedar Rapids residents picked up one bag of litter a year. He brought his question to his staff, and the 1 Bag Challenge was created.

The concept is rather simple: Residents pick up a collection kit — which includes a light turquoise plastic bag, a set of cloth work gloves and instructions — they fill the bag with trash and they set the filled bag out with their garbage. A $1.50 sticker is not required so long as the trash is in the provided bag.

The collection kits are assembled on an as-needed basis by city workers with down time and offenders ordered to do community service with the Department of Corrections. Covington had free time last summer and pitched in to roll up 1,600 collection kits.

“We want everyone in the city to take their own stand in making a difference,” said Maria Johnson, Communications Division Manager for the city. “The idea behind the name is that if every person in the city picks up one bag then we have no issue. We have a couple of residents, some we know about, go out on a walk every day and take their bag.

“One bag is not hard for anyone to do. Everyone can contribute and make a difference.”

Pomeranz said it is important Cedar Rapids is a clean and attractive city where residents can build pride and invest in their community.

“We all take a great deal of pride in our city,” Pomeranz said. “A clean city builds positive feelings toward the community. Everyone wants to live in a clean community. This doesn’t cost a lot of money. It’s a simple solution to a problem we’ve had.”

Collection kits are available at the following locations:

• Designated Hy-Vee stores in Cedar Rapids

• NewBo City Market

• Indian Creek Nature Center

• Cedar Rapids City Hall

• Cedar Rapids City Services Center Building

• Cedar Rapids Water Administration Building

• Cedar Rapids Police Substation

The Litter Lady

Moving along with a long-handled trash grabbing tool, Covington says she has seen all kinds of trash scattered throughout her neighborhood streets — mattresses, tires, pop cans and plenty of fast food wrappers.

“People will get fast food and throw their wrapper out the window,” she said. “They’ll have a can of pop; they drop it as they walk and keep on going. When I grew up in the 70s, we had conservation we learned in school. We were taught to throw it away when you got home.”

She referenced the iconic Keep America Beautiful advertisement, which featured a Native American man crying when he saw litter cluttering a street.

“A lot of it has been lost on just educating each other on keeping our environment clean,” Covington said.

Her goal during the first summer she participated in the 1 Bag Challenge was to collect 100 bags of litter. She has carried that goal for the last three summers. She’s collected so much trash, the city’s solid waste employees often bring loads of the bags to her front door. Covington doesn’t use the gloves that come in the collection kits because she doesn’t want to waste them, she said.

Sometimes, Covington is rewarded for her good deeds when she finds small amounts of money during her search for trash.

“It’s a tip,” she laughed. “I keep it in my pocket.”

Starting a buzz

Covington says her neighbors are often in disbelief by how much trash she collects. Really, they can’t believe so much garbage has found its way to the streets.

But, she said her efforts are starting to catch on with others, not just in the form of trash collection but in neighborhood pride in general.

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“I see other bags being picked up,” Covington said. “People would be mowing their yards, fixing their houses. It just kind of energized our area back here. It just takes one small effort from somebody to start a buzz.”

She said this time of year — when trash has been left behind following the winter snow and spring wind and rain — is a perfect time to take the 1 Bag Challenge.

It doesn’t take much time to make a big difference, she added.

“It gets you out of the house. It gets you exercising to improve your health. It improves your neighborhood. You may increase the value of your house,” Covington said.

“Start with one bag.”