Camden spends $4 million a year cleaning up illegal dumping sites. Can this crisis be solved? And if so, what would the money be spent on instead?
WHYY and A New View Camden, a citywide art and social justice project that aims to deal with illegal dumping in creative ways, teamed up to explore solutions to the rash of trash plaguing the city’s neighborhoods.
The first phase of the partnership was an essay contest, which encouraged people to develop solutions to the problem while imagining ways to reallocate the funds. Ivy-Staten Minor won first place.
The second phase was a Community Conversation held at a former dump site. Mayor Vic Carstarphen was among the panelists.
The illegal dumping essay contest and Community Conversation was coordinated by Joy Soto, WHYY’s Community Voices and Engagement Fellow. WHYY’s engagement and journalism efforts in South Jersey are made possible by a generous grant from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.