TFPWI Objectives

Potomac River Watershed Cleanup The founding activity of the TFPWI and largest regional event of its kind, the objective of the Annual Potomac Watershed Clean-up is to remove detritus from the Potomac watershed, provide a transforming experience that engages citizens and community leaders, and provide necessary data to illuminate “Trash Hot Spots”, show litter trends, and suggest areas for targeted litter prevention efforts.

Potomac Watershed Trash Summit The objective of the Trash Summit is to bring together regional stakeholders and elected officials to support and implement regional strategies aimed at cleaning up the Potomac River, reducing trash; increase education and awareness of the trash issue; and reconvene annually to discuss and evaluate measures and actions. At the Annual Potomac Watershed Trash Summit elected officials from throughout the region sign the The Potomac Watershed Trash Treaty which commits signers to achieving a Trash Free Potomac by 2013.

Potomac Watershed Trash Treaty The objective of the Trash Treaty is to have a formal acknowledgement by regional elected officials of the Trash problem plaguing the Potomac River; and to show their support for cleaning up, raising litter awareness, and reducing trash within the watershed. The Trash Treaty is signed annually at the Trash Summit where signatories and regional partners convene to strategize actions to solve the Potomac’s trash problem.

Policy The objective of the Policy component of the TFPWI is to work with advocacy groups and elected officials to promote policy that support the regional effort to clean up the Potomac River and its tributaries so that it is trash free, beautiful, and can sustain life.

Regulation The objective of the Regulation component of the TFPWI is to collaborate with local jurisdictions through enforcement of laws, rules, and regulations to promote accountability through regulations that support cleaning up the Potomac River and its tributaries.

Enforcement The objective of the Enforcement component of the TFPWI is to work closely with local county and city agencies to promote monitoring and penalization of littering and illegal dumping of trash and pollutants in the Potomac River and its tributaries.

Public Education The objective of the Public Education component of the TFPWI is to reduce litter in the Potomac through individual action by informing the public of how trash in the river is a serious pollutant and should not be handled carelessly. The major goal of the Public Education component is to create a regional anti-litter campaign that will impact the entire Potomac River watershed by 2013.

Market-based approaches The objective of the Market-based approaches component of the TFPWI is to prevent litter and clean up the Potomac River by promoting responsible waste management in businesses, organizations, and government agencies through the Trash Free Potomac Facility Program; and to promote the advancement of the landfill diversion infrastructure throughout the region through the Composting Initiative.