by Mitchell Sasser | WeINSPIRE Reporter 

HARRISONBURG, Va. - The neighborhoods, woods, and river are looking cleaner in Hopewell, Virginia thanks to a group of friends who are dedicated to picking up litter in their community.

James Madison University student and Junior Media Arts and Design major Homer Eliades decided to start litterstewards, an Instagram page that showcases people’s efforts to pick up trash and motivates others to do the same.   

“If you don’t do it, no one else is going to do it,” Eliades said. “Trash – it doesn’t promote the city or neighborhoods at all.”

 Eliades noted that driving through different neighborhoods and cities, he often sees couches, TV’s, bags of trash, and tires scattered around. Seeing pollution helps motivate their organization to jump into action to help prevent trash from piling up.    

 “It’s a terrible look, and when you see it in your own neighborhoods and in your own backyards – everyone I think should want to get it up, even if it’s not yours,” Eliades said.

 Right now, the page has only 72 followers. But Eliades “never even thought” that this page would make it this far. To keep his friends motivated on the pursuit to pick up trash, they often create some friendly competition.

 Many of the posts on the page utilize the hashtag #matchabag. The idea is that someone will see the number of trash bags that a group of people have made in one day, and feel inspired to either match that number, or exceed it.

George Rafey is a senior at Clover Hill high school who came up with the idea for an Instagram page with Homer to “spread the word” about cleaning up their community. Rafey agrees with Homer that picking up litter is a simple way to make a difference. 

“If you want to see change, then you’ve got to be the change,” Rafey said. “Grab a bag of trash and show how much you care.”

Eliades said that he wants this page to make people “cognizant of your ability.” Even if it’s as simple as picking up something on the ground on your way to class, Eliades wants people to realize how simple actions can go a long way.

 “We’re just trying to pick up trash because if it doesn’t go away, it’s just going to be there forever and our grandchildren and great grandchildren are going to have to see that and be reminded of our negligence,” Eliades said.

John Eliades is a freshman business major at Randolph-Macon. Eliades thought that when someone is young, they don’t have much of a chance to improve their community. When Eliades started picking up trash with his brother Homer in ninth grade, he realized that he was wrong. He said that picking up trash with his friend, now City Councilor of Hopewell, Johnny Partin, was also a huge influence.   

“People, I think, have lost a connection with their communities, and they don’t have that sense of community spirit and engagement,” John Eliades said. “I think that’s so important for people to care about where they live and where they come from.”

In January of 2020, Homer Eliades was featured on WTVR-TV after finding a stolen pendant around the Appomattox River on one of his trash runs.  

In the future, Eliades plans to partner with the JMU Caving club to do a clean-up in Harrisonburg, Virginia.