PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia was named the dirtiest city in America for the year 2020 by InsureMyTrip in a recent survey. Now a local sanitation worker is launching neighborhood cleanups to combat that bad reputation.
When Terrill Haigler saw a Forbes article about the survey, as a sanitation worker, he took it personally.
"If it's in a bag I would take it, so if we can get all of this trash thats on the ground, we can be the cleanest city." he said.
"If I can get the residents to put in a bag and get it in some cans, get it in a pile, get it all nice and ready for sanitation workers to get it, I know myself and my coworkers will get everything. That"s the kind of the energy behind it, that’s the game plan."
Haigler, also known as as "_yafavtrashman" on Instagram, has amassed over 23,000 followers. He's says he's hoping to use that platform to help better the city, starting with a series of neighborhood cleanups.
"Your environment can be attached to your emotional state, your mental state, so I feel like if I felt like that and I know there's way worse blocks than mine, if they got cleaned up they would probably feel a lot better," he said.
The next cleanup will take place on MLK Day of Service at 11 a.m. starting at the corner of 17th and Jefferson streets in North Philadelphia. There will also be food, music and giveaways.
Haigler hopes to not only repair the city's reputation, but also help residents find a sense of normalcy.
"Get their mask on, social distance and just clean their own neighborhood," he said, "and watch the environment, the narrative, the perspective begin to change."