Dear Residents,

The snow has finally melted, a sure sign that spring is just a green plant away! I’ve noticed that when one neighbor starts sprucing up their yard it sort of catches on and before you know it neighbors are sipping a glass of iced tea as they look over their freshly renovated gardens. There is nothing like the feel of fresh green grass under your feet after a month of 50 inches of snow. Pride in a neighborhood starts with just one neighbor and grows from there.

Our great City of Pittsburgh has been selected as host city for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in North America for World Environment Day (WED) 2010. The kick off will be on Earth Day, April 22nd, and will continue for six weeks until June 5th.

Each year WED has an official theme built around a worldwide environmental challenge or crisis that the United Nation deems critical to global prosperity. The 2010 theme is “Biodiversity” and the supportive regional theme being embraced is Water Matters! As Earth Day approaches a series of events will take place around the City focusing on environmentalism and sustainability.

The Clean Pittsburgh Commission and Citizens Against Litter have been working together and have already gotten community leaders, groups and residents in more than 83 neighborhoods within the City to participate in the spring 2010 Redd Up Weekend, taking place between April 23rd and April 25th. The City’s goal is to have residents from each of our 90 neighborhoods actively participate.

If you would like to volunteer or lead a clean-up in your neighborhood, please contact Boris Weinstein, president of the City’s Clean Pittsburgh Commission and founder and president of Citizens Against Litter at boris.weinstein@verizon.net or call 412-688-9120.

For more information on the World Environment Day celebrations, please visit the United Nations World Environmental Day 2010 Pittsburgh web site at http://www.pittsburghwed.com.

Sincerely,
Luke Ravenstahl
Mayor, City of Pittsburgh