I am Peng. AMA 2025 Oakland Edition

Hi all,

I decided to do an AMA today. Feel free to ask me about anything related to my journey to beautify Oakland and the Bay Area.

For 2025, I will not only be continuing my volunteering but I will also be putting more emphasis on prevention and enforcement. I hope to get a drone and a trail cam soon and begin some enforcement of my own starting this summer. Even if agencies refuse the evidence, that will not stop me from shaming the culprits, especially those coming from businesses (I am looking at you, Galindo Treecare).

Besides volunteering, I am also a member of Livermore’s Beautification Committee, where I work on more community involvement in environmentalism and longer-term solutions to abate illegal dumping. If the results of my ideas lead to some promises, I hope to share them with other municipalities. These include more PSA about free pickups, using trees and native plants to restore illegal dumping sites, optimizing pickups, and more.

I will be hosting a cleanup event on April 13th in Fremont and Oakland. More details will be coming.

At the end of the day, I can only do so much. There are pros and cons to my strategy, but my overall goal is to inspire and spread awareness of this issue. I hope to be the stepping stone for better things to come.

Some other things:

If you are curious about starting your own cleanup efforts, please read my guide here. I do make some changes to it monthly so that it is more readable and informative.

You can also make a difference by filing service requests tickets immediately after you spot illegal dumping. If you are able to take a picture of the perpetrators and their license plates without endangering yourself, please submit it to your local district or city attorney.

There are free services available to all Oakland residents. Take advantage of free bulky pickups, hazardous waste dropoffs, and more.

Tell your local Oakland politicians that illegal dumping is unacceptable and must be dealt with. Studies have shown that illegal dumping creates a multitude of safety and health hazards. Our combined voices cannot be ignored.

Thank you, Peng