Interested in a volunteering opportunity that gets you outside and provides a workout?   Allegheny Cleanways’ Dumpbusters program has cleared illegal dumpsites all over the city (including in Polish Hill), and they are always looking for more volunteers.  This is hard physical work, often on steep hillsides, and it requires some training and experience.

Urban EcoStewards, a partnership of several organizations, is offering a classroom workshop Saturday at REI, 412 S. 27th St., South Side, will be followed March 8 by a field practicum at a site still to be determined.  Trainees will learn how to assess a site, plan a strategy and organize a team to clear it.  This sort of preparation is necessary for the difficult work of removing large and often very heavy objects out of ravines.  Both the workshop and the field practice are free, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.  To register, visit www.pittsburghparks.org/uestrainings.

For more information about the program and the problem of illegal dumping in Pittsburgh, read this article by Diana Nelson-Jones in the Post-Gazette.