EVERETT, Wash. — On Wednesday afternoon, Matt Sweeny walked to the corner where the Boeing Freeway meets Evergreen Way in Everett.
"I joke with my wife that's my corner because it's the one I go by all the time," he said. "I clean that one up every week. It's crazy."
Watching mounds of garbage pile up in his community, Sweeny, a Port of Seattle firefighter, decided not to complain but to do something positive about it.
"I couldn't just do nothing," he said.
He's getting his hands dirty.
Call him a "trash bag half full" kind of guy.
"I'm a hopeful guy," he said, trash bags in hand. "I hope it will get better."
Every week for the past four months Sweeny has been picking up garbage at the intersection.
He has already collected about 100 bags of trash strewn around roadways and homeless camps.
"It's crazy stuff," Sweeny said. "Kitchen sinks. Pieces of cars and stuff. We're like two blocks from three schools. Who wants to drive by and look at all this stuff when you're going to school?"
According to the Department of Ecology, in 2022, 24,000 pieces of litter were found per mile on Washington's urban interstates.
In July alone of last year, crews collected 357 tons of trash.
The state spends $9 million per year picking up garbage and still can't keep up. Statewide, 18 million pounds of litter are dumped on Washington's roads, parks and recreation areas.
Sweeny hopes his hard work will inspire others to do the same.
"It shouldn't just be me doing this, it should be a whole community," he said. "I think if everybody did something in their community for a couple hours a week it would help a lot."
A Department of Ecology study found 26% of the population is causing all of the mess.
Sweeny knows he's fighting an uphill battle, but at least he's fighting.
"For a couple of days I'm gonna feel good as I drive by," he smiled. "Then I'll be back."
For now, Sweeny continues cleaning up his corner, one piece of trash at a time, knowing full well this work will never be done.
But he is making a difference -- if only a temporary one.
"I guess it'll be my corner for a while," Sweeny laughed. "It is what it is for now. Hopefully, it gets better."