New receptacles placed in Adams Morgan to help deal with 'jumbo' trash overflow

WASHINGTON - The night before Thanksgiving is the unofficial holiday when people go out with friends. D.C. has even granted 250 bars the ability to serve alcohol until 4 a.m. and one of D.C.’s hotspots expected to be busy Wednesday night is Adams Morgan.

Brian Barrie with the Adams Morgan Partnership, the business improvement arm of the neighborhood, also proudly claims it to be home to a DC food staple.

"Adams Morgan is the home of jumbo slice," Barrie says.

But for years, jumbo slices have meant jumbo boxes and jumbo boxes can mean jumbo problems when it comes to trash.

"It’s surreal. Every Friday, Saturday night, the following morning, you just see it out here on the street," said Rory Rahman, who works in the area. 

Rahman says he has worked on 18th Street for a decade and is used to seeing the pizza boxes everywhere. To some, it’s a sign of a night well-spent but to him and many others in the neighborhood, it’s a huge inconvenience.

"You can’t fit them into a trash can. You try to fit a square peg into a round hole," Rahaman said. "You know what I’m saying?"

Barrie says the Business Improvement District has thought a lot about this long-running problem. 

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At one point, the popular stretch of 18th Street had solar trash compactors, but the boxes never really fit inside.  So many late nights-turned early mornings featured square boxes in round trashcans, creating a bit of a mess.

"They get stacked on the sidewalk. They overflow. There’s no room for other trash. Trash spills out," Barrie said. "We wanted something to make it a little more organized."

And now, the solution: two rectangular receptacles conveniently placed outside two jumbo slice spots. They spent about $2,000 oon them.

"A few pizza boxes can completely fill up a can, and then that’s, you know, a lot of resource for a very small amount of trash," Barrie said.

The hope is that the drop the boxes will contain the mess and keep the trashcans free so when the 6 a.m. clean team gets 18th Street ready for the brunch rush, their job is a little easier. 

Rahman is excited about the plan. 

"I’m proud of my government. I’m proud of my planet, my country. I really am. This is a moment, where we can all galvanize and come together," he said. "This is something that can bring the country together. Pizza boxes. Let’s get rid of these pizza boxes!"

The Adams Morgan Partnership knows the solution isn’t perfect and that there may be overflow but it's a start, and they feel it’ll be an improvement to the trash issue. Barrie also said less trash lying around will hopefully assist with rodent control.

For now, Barrie says the plan is to stick with two of these receptacles and see how it goes and potentially look at adding more in the future.