They're trying to change their little corner of the world one piece of trash at a time.
Bicky Goldszer, 83, Barbara Glover, 66, Ann Rose, 63, and Ceci Sommers, 71, can be found most mornings combing the streets and sidewalks of Squirrel Hill for litter.
Armed with gloves and old shopping bags, they pick up cigarette butts, fast-food cups, water bottles and scraps of paper in the business district and residential areas.
"I just want to leave this place a little better for my children and grandchildren," said Goldszer, who wakes up at 5 a.m. to work in her garden before beginning her quest for litter.
It is a 24-hour-a-day job: If she walks to the movies, she picks up litter along the way.
Goldszer said she has a passion for the neighborhood where she has lived for 65 years.
"Squirrel Hill is a jewel. We have to keep it shined up," she said.
These dedicated volunteers have recruited about 20 other people to their cause.
"We think it's really important. It's not just aesthetics: This can be a serious health hazard and environmental hazard," Glover said. Litter can wash into storm drains and wind up in local waterways, she said.
While some merchants appreciate the group's efforts, others have a mistaken idea about the volunteers' mission.
"A couple of business owners said they didn't want us to clean up because they thought the lady who does it would lose her job," said Glover, a retired educator.
Rose is perhaps the most visible member of the litter patrol. She cleans up both sides of Forbes between Murray and Shady avenues.
"If I had a dollar for every cigarette butt I've picked up, I would be so rich," she said.
A retired librarian, Rose is usually out each morning between 6:30 and 7 looking for litter. Her route covers 2 to 3 miles.
"I like order. I also pick up litter around the neighborhood," she said.
Her partner, Peter Dworkin, 59, picks up litter in Frick Park, where an increasing number of litter-pickers are joining him.
"The ethics are changing. People are less likely to litter where there is a daily effort to keep it clean," he said.
Merchants such as Jessica Learish, 24, manager of Coffee Tree Roasters, welcomes the litter-pickers.
"It's nice to see a clean sidewalk," she said. "It's a huge help."
The group concedes it's been a struggle to keep the area clean.
"I was shocked at how littered Squirrel Hill was," said Sommers, the retired head of WQED-FM. "We just decided to start doing it ourselves."
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