Live Impact
3Bags
398Pieces
10Hours
17Volunteers

How We Estimate Litter Impact

Our approach to honest, conservative measurement

CleanBlock Civic does not ask volunteers to guess weight. Instead, users select what they picked up, and the platform applies conservative default weights for common litter items.

Large or hazardous items — tires, mattresses, construction debris, chemicals, needles — are excluded from automatic estimates and require review or proper disposal reporting.

Conservative by design. We use the lowest reasonable weight for each item. If a plastic bottle typically weighs 0.03–0.07 lb, we use 0.03 lb. CleanBlock Civic never inflates impact numbers.

Quick Pickups

For small, everyday litter you pick up during walks, commutes, or daily routines.

  1. Open Quick Pickup from the Cleanup tab or Dashboard
  2. Choose a category (Bottles, Fast Food, Smoking, etc.)
  3. Select specific items and set quantities with +/- buttons
  4. Weight is calculated automatically — no guessing allowed
  5. Submit in under 30 seconds

Users cannot override weights. The system calculates total impact from the selected items and quantities. This keeps our community data honest and trustworthy.

Example Calculation

🥫

Aluminum Cans

2 pieces × 0.030 lb

0.060 lb

🍟

Fast Food Wrapper

1 piece × 0.010 lb

0.010 lb

🧴

Plastic Bottle

1 piece × 0.030 lb

0.030 lb

Total: 4 pieces · ~0.100 lb estimated

Weight Directory

Conservative estimated weight per piece for common litter items:

🛍 Plastic Waste (8)

🛍️Plastic Bag
0.02 lb/ea
🧩Plastic Fragment
0.005 lb/ea
🥄Plastic Utensil
0.015 lb/ea
🍱Plastic Food Container
0.025 lb/ea
📦Plastic Wrap/Film
0.008 lb/ea
🔗Six-Pack Ring
0.015 lb/ea
🥤Plastic Straw
0.003 lb/ea
🍿Snack Bag/Chip Bag
0.015 lb/ea

🧸 Miscellaneous Litter (12)

👕Clothing/Fabric
0.1 lb/ea
😷Mask/PPE
0.005 lb/ea
👟Shoe
0.5 lb/ea
🧸Toy/Broken Toy
0.1 lb/ea
🧱Construction Debris
0.3 lb/ea
📱Electronics/E-Waste
0.15 lb/ea
🔋Battery
0.03 lb/ea
⭕Rubber Band/Hair Tie
0.002 lb/ea
🎨Chemical/Paint Container
2 lb/ea
💉Needle/Sharp
0.01 lb/ea
⚠️Medical/Biohazard Waste
0.5 lb/ea
🧴Personal Hygiene Waste
0.05 lb/ea

🥤 Bottles & Beverage Containers (6)

🧴Plastic Water Bottle
0.03 lb/ea
🏃Sports Drink Bottle
0.04 lb/ea
🥤Soda Bottle
0.035 lb/ea
⚡Energy Drink Bottle
0.03 lb/ea
🔵Bottle Cap
0.003 lb/ea
📦Beverage Carton
0.03 lb/ea

🎣 Outdoor & Recreational (10)

🎣Fishing Line
0.01 lb/ea
🪝Fishing Hook/Lure/Float
0.005 lb/ea
🎈Balloon/Mylar
0.015 lb/ea
⚽Sports Ball
0.2 lb/ea
💩Dog Waste Bag (Discarded)
0.03 lb/ea
🏕️Camping Waste
0.15 lb/ea
🎆Firework Debris
0.04 lb/ea
🕸️Fishing Net/Rope
0.5 lb/ea
🪤Fishing Trap/Pot Part
1 lb/ea
🧶Tangled Fishing Line
0.1 lb/ea

🍾 Glass (4)

🍾Glass Bottle
0.4 lb/ea
💎Broken Glass Fragment
0.01 lb/ea
💎Large Glass Fragment
0.125 lb/ea
🫙Glass Jar
0.3 lb/ea

🧊 Styrofoam / Foam (5)

🥤Foam Cup
0.01 lb/ea
🍱Foam Food Container (Takeout)
0.02 lb/ea
📦Foam Packing Material
0.005 lb/ea
🧩Foam Pieces / Fragments
0.003 lb/ea
🧊Foam Cooler
0.5 lb/ea

📄 Paper & Cardboard (6)

🧾Receipt/Paper Scrap
0.005 lb/ea
📦Cardboard Box
0.15 lb/ea
📦Cardboard Fragment
0.025 lb/ea
📰Newspaper/Magazine
0.1 lb/ea
☕Paper Cup
0.025 lb/ea
🍬Candy Wrapper
0.005 lb/ea

➕ Other / Unknown (1)

❓Unknown Item
0.02 lb/ea

🥫 Cans & Metal (7)

🥫Steel Can
0.04 lb/ea
🔩Bottle Cap (Metal)
0.003 lb/ea
⚡Energy Drink Can
0.025 lb/ea
🧴Aerosol Can
0.06 lb/ea
⭕Pull Tab
0.002 lb/ea
🥫Aluminum Can
0.03 lb/ea
🔩Metal Scrap
0.1 lb/ea

🚗 Roadside & Vehicle Related (6)

🛞Tire Fragment
0.5 lb/ea
🛞Passenger / Light Vehicle Tire
15 lb/ea
🔧Car Part
0.5 lb/ea
🚘License Plate
0.15 lb/ea
🛣️Road Debris (General)
0.2 lb/ea
🚧Traffic Cone
2 lb/ea

Other (1)

🛞Large / Heavy Tire
30 lb/ea

🚬 Smoking Waste (6)

🔥Lighter
0.02 lb/ea
🚬Cigarette Butt
0.002 lb/ea
🚬Cigar Butt
0.006 lb/ea
📦Cigarette Pack
0.02 lb/ea
🔋Disposable Vape
0.05 lb/ea
💨Vape Pod/Cartridge
0.01 lb/ea

🍔 Fast Food Waste (8)

🍔Fast Food Wrapper
0.01 lb/ea
🥤Drink Cup
0.025 lb/ea
🥤Straw
0.003 lb/ea
📄Straw Wrapper
0.003 lb/ea
🤧Napkin/Tissue
0.005 lb/ea
🛍️Fast Food Bag
0.02 lb/ea
🫙Sauce Packet
0.005 lb/ea
🧋Drink Carrier
0.03 lb/ea

Data Integrity

CleanBlock Civic uses reasonable safeguards to keep impact data honest:

  • Guest Quick Pickups: maximum 25 pieces per submission (sign in to report the full amount)
  • Signed-in Quick Pickups: no piece limit — report the actual amount you collected
  • Maximum 5 Quick Pickups per user per day
  • Piece counts can be marked as exact or estimated
  • Photos are encouraged for 50+ pieces but always optional
  • Unusual patterns may be flagged for admin review
  • Admins can review, adjust, or disable any litter item in the directory

CleanBlock Civic uses conservative estimated weights based on item type. Estimates are intentionally low to avoid exaggerating impact.

📊 See the data

Explore what our community has removed together — every piece counted by type.

View Community Analytics →

Methodology & Data Quality

Learn how CleanBlock documents cleanup activity, handles location data, and what the data does (and doesn't) prove.

Questions? Contact us

CleanBlock Civic

A community-driven platform for reporting litter, organizing cleanups, and tracking the impact you're making in your neighborhood.

"Show Up. Clean Up. Repeat."

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© 2026 CleanBlock Civic. Community-driven, not-for-profit. Always follow local laws and safety guidelines.

Safety & Liability Agreement

Safety Comes First — Always

No cleanup, badge, score, streak, statistic, or community contribution is worth risking your safety. When in doubt, leave the item alone and report it.

Who these rules are for: These rules are for general community participants. If you are a trained, authorized, and equipped professional (such as a hazmat worker, medical waste handler, or law enforcement), follow your training and applicable laws for your work.

Do not touch — leave it and report it: Do not pick up, touch, or closely inspect any of these:

  • Needles, syringes, or any medical sharp
  • Suspected drugs or drug paraphernalia
  • Chemicals or unknown liquids and substances
  • Biological or medical waste
  • Weapons or ammunition
  • Dead animals
  • Items near active homeless encampments
  • Anything that looks, feels, or smells unsafe
  • Anything you cannot clearly identify

If you see one of these items:

  1. Leave it exactly where it is.
  2. Keep other people and animals away when you can do so safely.
  3. Report it through the app or to your local authority.

Do not touch or closely inspect an item just to figure out what it is. If you are unsure, treat it as hazardous and report it.

No credit for risk: CleanBlock Civic will never ask you to pick up a hazardous item to complete a cleanup, earn a badge, increase a score, or add to community statistics. There is no reward for taking a risk.

Trained professionals only: Only people who are trained, authorized, and equipped for a specific type of hazardous material should handle or dispose of it — and only by following applicable laws, regulations, and accepted safety procedures. CleanBlock Civic does not train or certify anyone for this work.

Your responsibility: You participate voluntarily and at your own risk. You are responsible for your own safety, including wearing gloves and visible clothing, working in safe conditions, and following local laws. Do not enter private property without permission. Contact local authorities (police, city services, or 911 in an emergency) for dangerous, illegal, or hazardous situations.

Liability waiver: CleanBlock Civic, its organizers, administrators, and partners are not liable for injuries, accidents, illnesses, property damage, or legal consequences arising from your participation.

CleanBlock documents environmental impact, not just participation. Cleanup counts, locations, weights, and community statistics follow documented data-quality rules.

Learn how CleanBlock data works →