In a December 16 Baltimore Sun opinion piece, columnist Dan Ro

Our trash stream is too long and wide, and its source is people — city dwellers as well as our neighbors in the immediate suburbs.

Still, the city is cleaner than it was just a few years ago.

The city is doing a better job at cleaning up our mess.  …

In particular, Rodricks cites the expansion of street sweeping and the deployment of a new “trash wheel” in the waters of the Inner Harbor.

Starting in spring, the city’s fleet of 36 street sweepers hit parts of the city that previously had no such service or only scattered service. The Department of Public Works says that, with 11 additional street sweepers, all neighborhoods are now getting this service.

The city expects to sweep 15,000 tons of trash and debris out of Baltimore gutters this year. That’s 5,000 tons more than in previous years, according to DPW officials. The expanded street sweeping has been financed in part with the stormwater fee the city started charging property owners last year.  …

Added to the armada [of city water trash skimmers] this year was the solar-powered water wheel that the Waterfront Partnership launched. …

Since May, the wheel has removed 132 tons of trash and debris from the harbor, according to the Waterfront Partnership. That includes more than 80,000 plastic bottles, more than 90,000 foam containers, 36,000 plastic shopping bags, 66,000 snack bags and 4 million cigarette butts.

Rodricks also called for public messaging to encourage recycling and reduce littering.