A question we asked ourselves this weekend, and we’re sure many of you have thought about: How does our downtown look so spotless the morning after hosting 150,000+ people at Fall for Greenville? We found out, from our friends at the City of Greenville.

Here’s how the city gets cleaned up –

👷🏼‍ 30+ employees from 3 Public Works Departments wait until all the lingerers leave to find a new place to hang out (or go home) then start on getting our downtown looking pristine.

Parks and Grounds Department members blow debris into the street then the Streets Department use the sweeper to suck it up. Both teams also spend time picking up debris with litter sticks in places near tents to avoid blowing trash into the food tents.

♻️ The Garbage & Recycling crews empty trash bins to take the landfill and remove material from designated recycle bins (Note: recyclable products on the ground are rounded up as trash due to contamination.)

This year, the city decided to include a proactive approach to litter management by having workers on site to keep flower beds and sidewalks clean throughout FFGVL.

⌛ It takes about 3 hours each night after the festival – except on Sunday night, that takes double the time. Local third-party companies help break down and clean up electric, tents, chairs, and tables before any trash is cleaned up on Sunday night.

Has it ever not been cleaned up? Never in 33 years, according to Director Angie Prosser. How incredible is that? Talk about having pride in your city. 💚

🔎 Public Works staff even show up early Monday morning to survey the event site (parking lots, light poles, etc.) and check everything in the daylight.

All the clean-up is included in the budget for the event and not paid for by taxes.

I’ve been to some big cities that smell really weird before due to all the trash piled up on the side of the road and old, soggy cigarettes on the sidewalk.

And I am *SO* thankful our little city isn’t one of those. Seriously, shout out to the Public Works Department for keeping it lookin’ brand new but let’s remember to try to do our part to keep it clean as well, y’all.

– Jordan