San Francisco can be a dirty city at times, depending on where you stand. It’s also a dating hellhole, depending on who you ask.
Now you can have the full dirty san francisco-meets-dating experience at a singles-only garbage truck.
The singles group met on Thursday for a stroll through the Marina District, picking up litter – and possibly a date. The event was one of around 1,000 garbage clean-ups hosted by Refuse Refuse, a local cleaning organization dedicated to making SF’s famously dirty streets sparkling clean.
“No, I didn’t come about the singles thing,” said Lauren Molina, an audiologist and a participant in Thursday’s cleanup. “I came for the rubbish. But it would be a nice little story, yes?”
CONTINUE READING: SF Drain Mom Miss Drizzle seeks ‘Drain Daddy’ as co-parent
The group was small, with only seven participants, most of whom were younger women. Vince Yuen, founder of Refuse Refuse, has expanded the cleanups to specific affinity groups, such as SF singletons, dog owners, or disco parties.
Lindsay Battenberg picks up rubbish at a singles rubbish cleanup at the Marina on Thursday. | Liz Lindqwister/The Standard
“Given the makeup of who is here, I’m not surprised. I actually told my friend that it’s probably going to be mostly girls,” said Lindsay Battenberg, a climate policy analyst. “My overall assessment of the straight men living here is that there doesn’t seem to be much urgency to settle down – the Peter Pan thing. […] Boys don’t want to grow up and they don’t have to grow up here.”
For others, however, it was all junk and no Tinder priority: contestant Jessica Palmer had picked up gallons of junk at over a dozen other Refuse-Refuse events; and an elderly man named Marinus, who wanted his last name omitted, simply wanted his beloved San Francisco to sparkle again.
“When I was a kid in 1967 and the world felt like it was about to collapse, I thought the only thing that came out of that year was positive — it was San Francisco and the Summer of Love,” Marinus said.
“I don’t have any relatives or friends here, but I do it for myself to feel good,” Marinus added.
Marinus, a Marina resident, cleans up the garbage in his neighborhood on Thursday. | Liz Lindqwister/The Standard
Refuse Refuse estimates it has collected 270,000 gallons of trash since its inception in 2021, and the organization has partnered with animal welfare groups, schools and local businesses to host sponsored pickups.
“In my 20s, I didn’t volunteer outside of volunteer days outside of the company,” Yuen said. “But now most of us will find the time, and you’ll feel rewarded and make some friends at the same time.”
The regular cleanups for non-singles typically draw between 30 and 60 participants, and the events have helped some volunteers build important values-based relationships in the Bay Area, organizers said.
Jessica Palmer holds a garbage bag with “Love Your City” written on the front. | Liz Lindqwister/The Standard
For his part, Yuen envisions a future where everyone in San Francisco actively works to keep their neighborhoods pristine. He’s elated to be at the center of SF’s dirtiest problem, even in a city whose garbage collection efforts are riddled with controversy.
“I’m the real Mr. Clean in SF — not the one who goes to jail,” Yuen joked.
Anyone can participate in future trash garbage clean-ups in neighborhoods across San Francisco. Those interested can register here.
Liz Lindqwister can be reached at [email protected]
