BY JENNIFER SCHAAL for WEEKLY VOLCANO 05/02/25:
I asked Jessica Tweed if there was a spirit of adventure in running Oscar’s Enemies, the phenomenal all-volunteer litter pickup activity that has been happening at least once a month in Tacoma for nearly five years. “It was an adventure just getting started during COVID,” she said, with family giving her a birthday present she really wanted, and “it has grown into community connections in more ways than I ever imagined.” That birthday present—a September litter pickup—began an adventure in community participation that continues to this day.
Oscar’s Enemies didn’t start out with any more of a goal in mind than simply trying to do a little good for Tacoma. “It hasn’t been a trajectory, with goals and benchmarks,” says Tweed. “It has just grown organically.” From the beginning, her sister BreeAnna helped brainstorm the organizing of pickups, and sister Carley photographed events for Oscar’s Enemies Instagram posts—the only social media advertising Oscar’s Enemies does. “There’s no website, no nonprofit organization behind Oscar’s Enemies,” says Tweed. “Everything we do is one hundred percent volunteer run and funded.”
She says her family are her biggest supporters. “We grew up in the eighties, with a sensibility about environmental concerns,” says Tweed. Over time, dedicated repeat volunteers have joined family members to form a twelve-person board that meets quarterly.
Starting formally in 2021 with the Oscar’s Enemies name, area litter pickups have been happening on the third or fourth Saturday of each month ever since. In the beginning, a dozen or so volunteers began working in neighborhoods that seemed to need a little help with litter pickup. Now, volunteer teams range from seventy to over a hundred each month.
When the first posts appeared on Instagram, “ladies from Litter253 reached out to tell us about the city-supplied trash bags” and “gave us contacts at Enviro Services,” she explained. Over time, the city contacts changed to Tidy Up Tacoma. In addition to pickup supplies, the City of Tacoma also provides the important landfill passes that allow Oscar’s Enemies to drop off litter without an imposed fee.
Why litter? She said, “I saw the need and it was easy to start up.” One could make an impact very quickly, with little cost. “My family loves Tacoma—we’re close to the Sound and could see and feel the impact of litter here.” And the litter issue seemed to get worse during COVID. “We learned that the use of people on probation to clean up highways and freeways stopped,” says Tweed, “and that practice has never been started up again.”
The planning routine for Oscar’s Enemies is well established. She and her helpers drive around Tacoma looking for areas with the greatest need for litter pickup. Areas must have ample parking for volunteers and an area large enough for gathering, setup, check-in, orientation, and raffle prize giveaways at the close of each pickup. Two routes are mapped out to accommodate two large teams of volunteers moving off in two different directions, allowing a large area to be covered. Volunteers check in by 8:50 a.m., pick up supplies—trash bags, gloves, safety vests, raffle tickets, and litter grabbers if needed—and then are split into the two teams. At about 9:00 a.m., volunteer teams are sent off with their “captains” to grab all the litter they can find.
There are some safety rules in place. Volunteers flag rather than pick up any needles or drug paraphernalia they may discover, and the flags are reported to the city for follow-up. Broken glass is avoided. Generally, anything too big to fit into the provided trash bags is left behind. Volunteers are also careful not to disturb anything that appears to be personal belongings or outdoor living situations. She reminds volunteers at orientation that “not everything is litter” and to please be respectful of those living in less-than-ideal conditions.
The numbers can be surprising. A single month’s pickup can result in as much as 1,760 lbs of litter. A recent pickup at the Port of Tacoma, when Oscar’s Enemies elected to break its “no big stuff” rule, resulted in an astounding 2,840 pounds of litter, including discarded tires and abandoned furniture. Their tracking spreadsheet reveals that during nearly five years of pickups, Oscar’s Enemies has cleared Tacoma neighborhoods of a total of 45,073 pounds of litter.
Oscar’s Enemies has an amazing amount of community support. Cars passing by during pickups often honk their appreciation of the volunteer efforts. Business owners and community members sometimes come out in disbelief of what is going on and thank the volunteers profusely. Nonprofits and government agencies have taken notice. Oscar’s Enemies recently began inviting Tacoma city council members to “follow” and participate in litter pickups.
The City of Tacoma provides the plastic trash bags, gloves, safety vests, and litter grabbers for pickups. Volunteers are encouraged to bring their own supplies but are grateful they can just “show up” and get everything they need or forgot to bring.
Volunteers get more than just the satisfaction of cleaning up litter. “Seeing Tacoma on foot is very different than just whizzing by in a car,” says Tweed, “and there is adventure in discovering areas you never knew existed.” After each pickup, Oscar’s Enemies sends volunteers a survey about their experience and takes the answers very seriously. “We average a twenty-five percent response to the survey, which is a great response,” says Tweed, and “We’ve used many of the survey answers to improve the efficiency of the operations.”
Each pickup requires a minimum of six people to “captain” the routes, look out for the volunteer teams, flag needles, and empty trash bags into a large can that rolls along with the teams. Tweed’s husband Andy drives his truck along the routes and collects and bags trash. Ideally, ten people keep things running smoothly when the volunteer teams are very large.
The connection with schools has been particularly satisfying for them while looking for ways to solve the litter problem for the long term. “The immediate gratification of cleanups is rewarding,” says Tweed, “but education of young people is really the key, understanding the environmental and community impact of litter.” Oscar’s Enemies loves partnering with schools to have pickup events like the April event at Mann Elementary. “Students will pick up litter on school grounds, with a real Oscar the Grouch in attendance,” says Tweed. The Tacoma Trash Panda will also be there to join in the fun.
I asked her what else keeps her motivated to keep the Oscar’s Enemies engine running, in addition to her full-time career as a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Senior Clinical Manager for a mental health service provider that provides home-based mental health services to youth and families in Pierce County. She answered, “I don’t put pressure on myself to have an end goal.” Having the strong support of her husband and family-and-friends board, who continue to come up with creative ideas and have the energy to implement them, helps her to just enjoy the ride.
She also relishes partnering with businesses and nonprofits. “We buy the gift cards we give away as raffle prizes,” says Tweed, “but sometimes businesses reach out to us and donate cards.” On a quarterly basis, Oscar’s Enemies partners with a nonprofit such as Raising Girls. “During our April pickup, volunteers can bring supplies to donate to Raising Girls from their list of especially needed items,” adding, “and they get double raffle entry tickets” for donations. Highlighting the nonprofit also encourages monetary donations to that cause.
She says people often ask how they can donate money to Oscar’s Enemies, but there is no organization or bureaucracy to give to. She suggests supporting local businesses by purchasing gift cards to donate to pickup raffles. She and her husband personally purchased the tote bags, pins, and T-shirts that are both sold and given as volunteer longevity prizes, and any proceeds from sales go right back into the purchase of more items. She thanks Haka Hat for donating the original Oscar’s Enemies hats.
To join a pickup, volunteers can look for Oscar’s Enemies on Instagram and sign up via the link there, or send an email to oscarsenemies@gmail.com to get on the email distribution list. Once signed up, volunteers will receive safety information along with the location, route maps, and parking instructions for the pickup. After participation in a pickup, volunteers receive an email with a survey and the signup link for the next month’s pickup. Once on the email distribution, volunteers may also receive notice of monthly “quick picks” scheduled during May–October in response to requests for more frequent pickup opportunities.
