As dawn breaks over Allston on another Sunday morning, illuminating red plastic cups, half-smoked cigarette butts and pieces of ripped clothing that blow through yards and sidewalks — remnants left behind by students who plowed through only hours earlier — a few Boston University students shake off their hangovers, rub their eyes awake and hit the streets again.
Sweeping and sifting through cups, cans and broken glass that collects through the week leading up to destructive Saturday nights is just business as usual for members of Keep Allston Decent, a group of students whose goal is to simply keep streets clean and keep the neighborhood from falling into the gutter.
“The neighborhood was just filthy,” said KAD co-chairman and College of Arts and Sciences senior Charlie Geyer. “There was a leaking fire hydrant filling my corner with dirty water because the drainpipe was filled with garbage, and I realized that nobody else was going to take care of this.”
Geyer unofficially started the project with BU graduate Alex Owens in December 2006 when the two grew tired of putting up with garbage-filled streets, sidewalks and yards.
“Our neighborhood of Allston is totally neglected by the City of Boston and by most of the people who live and party here,” he said. “The first cleanup was my reaction to that.”
In September, Geyer said they turned their efforts into an official group and began to hold cleanups on a regular basis on the second and fourth Sundays of every month with 10 to 15 students showing up to each.
“College kids are responsible for a lot of the mess in Allston, and their involvement in a project like this shows the community that we actually care about our neighborhood,” he said.
Geyer said the group received discounts and money to buy garbage bags, dustpans and gloves from Model Hardware and two privately donated trashcans that the group decided to paint a signature white — which are now on display along Ashford streets where it intersects Chester and Linden Streets.
In just a few months, the group has already garnered recognition from other community groups and local politicians.
“I think it shows pride in the neighborhood,” said Rep. Kevin Honan (D-Boston), whose district includes Allston. “It’s a really wonderful thing . . . and I thank them on behalf of the community at large.”
In addition to working with BU’s Sigma Chi fraternity and the Parents and Community Build Group, Inc., KAD has received praise from area groups for its goal to include other permanent residents in other community groups.
“We’ve always felt that if many of the residents took pride in Allston, even if they only live there for a few years, that the neighborhood can be an even better place than it already is,” said Allston Village Main Streets Design Committee board member Charlie Denison in an email.
Ashford Street resident Don Lubin, 63, said he appreciates the effort, but questions how long the group can sustain its efforts.
“These students will graduate, or perhaps become preoccupied with other projects even before that,” Lubin said in an email. “I doubt that this program will continue.”
