Penn Hills 'Litter Queen' volunteers to pick up trash 'because it's the right thing'

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Penn Hills’ “Litter Queen” doesn’t have political aspirations — she just so happens to treasure her community so much that she is willing to clean up after it.

Faith Milazzo is a mother and a wife who has a full-time job in academia. She rarely misses a council meeting, where she has no problem gently speaking her mind about various topics. She sings for her church. She volunteers with the Penn Hills Community Development Corporation.

And during her free time, she picks up trash — used McDonald’s bags, wrappers, plastic cups and tires among other things — along roads in the community.

Milazzo, 49, is the founder of the Penn Hills Anti-Litter Group. Since 2017, it has organized dozens of litter pickup events across the municipality. The group has picked up about 1,000 bags of trash and more than 50 bags of recyclables in that span.

The group also has participated in the past two Pittsburgh Garbage Olympics, a citywide event where hundreds of volunteers compete in various neighborhoods for most trash picked up in a single day. The group earned the Olympics’ most team spirit award both years.

“We’re not afraid to be silly each year,” Milazzo said.

And in August of 2020, Milazzo earned a Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful Community Pride Award from state Rep. Tony DeLuca, D-Penn Hills. The inaugural award recognizes “outstanding environmental stewardship by a business, individual, school, community organization or civic group that makes an outstanding commitment to litter control, recycling, beautification or general environmental stewardship,” according to a Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful news release.

The anti-litter group also began an essay contest for Penn Hills students. It prompts them to write about litter and the environment. The group also partnered with the Crescent Hills Civic Association for its anti-litter posters program for younger students.

This year, the group launched its Clean Sweep Initiative, a program that encourages local businesses to keep the outside of their establishments clean and tidy by awarding certificates to those already going above and beyond. Griff’s Grounds Coffè became the first recipient in January.

For Milazzo, it all started when she began noticing the community’s willingness to point out its littering problem on social media and the public sphere.

“I saw people complaining about it on various Facebook pages,” she said. “So I decided finally to make a designated space to do something about it. You know, sort of like, ‘Let’s take action instead of just complaining about it.’ ”

The Penn Hills Anti-Litter Group now has 550 followers in its private Facebook group. She estimated maybe around 75 people from the group have gone to at least one litter pickup event and anywhere from 30 to 40 people have come to several. Another 20 to 30 come to one event a year.

Milazzo said she likes to think the group is making a difference. She remembers a little girl who watched her pick up litter near her house a while ago. The little girl asked her why she was doing that. Milazzo told her she did it because she wants her community to look nice.

“I asked her, ‘don’t you want to live in a nice community?’ She said, ‘I do, but I don’t want to do it,’” Milazzo said. She said the girl said her mom throws litter out of the car window because other people are hired to pick it up.

After a while of the girl watching Milazzo pick up trash in the same area, she came out and met Milazzo.

“She took the trash I was picking up and threw it away. So kids are watching,” she said.

Becky Fenoglietto volunteers frequently with the Penn Hills Anti-Litter Group. She said the whole point of the group is to show the community — and young people like the girl from Milazzo’s anecdote — that they care about the way it looks.

“And that gives them impetus to also join in and even if they’re not coming to litter pickups, they see what we’re doing, they become more in tune to environmental issues that we’re trying to put forward. And maybe they recycle a little more, reuse something a little bit more. We want to continue to be a voice in the community and maybe change some things,” Fenoglietto said.

Fenoglietto started volunteering with the group about four years ago. She had never met Milazzo. But now the two are very close friends.

“She’s one of the funniest people that I know,” Fenoglietto said of Milazzo. “But what really sticks out is her dedication to this community.”

She said the fact that Milazzo does not have political motivations for her volunteerism is “refreshing.”

“She wants to do good because it’s the right thing,” Fenoglietto said.

Milazzo said she has been asked a lot if she has her sights set on political office.

“Never say never, but it’s very unlikely,” she said. “I’ve been going to council meetings for six years, I hardly miss a meeting. I just want to know what’s going on. It’s important to stay informed. I like to just volunteer.”

In the future she hopes to focus more on educating youth about litter and the environment. The essay contest was put on hold in 2020 because of the pandemic. She hopes to organize presentations and start partnering with Penn Hills schools for cooperative litter pickups.

In the meantime, Milazzo hopes to kick off the litter pickup events starting in late March or early April.

People can join the group by visiting the Facebook page, “Penn Hills Anti-Litter Group” or by sending an email to phantilittergroup@gmail.com.