The waves that Shadyside resident Boris Weinstein has made with his Citizens Against Litter campaign have reached the U.S. State Department.

From stewarding his own neighborhood's cleanup, Mr. Weinstein has built a "redd-up" network that the State Department chose among four across the country to feature in a film. The purpose is to raise public consciousness among the people of Kosovo, said Jay Richter, a TV production officer with the State Department.

A film crew from a Pristina station will film in Pittsburgh during the April 17-21 cleanup. Mr. Weinstein has 80 city neighborhoods committed so far, plus 63 boroughs and townships in Allegheny and Beaver counties.

		For more information about joining the cleanup network, Boris Weinstein can be reached at boris.weinstein@verizon.net or 412-688-9120.

The other cities on the film crew's itinerary are Portland, Ore., Austin, Texas, and the Baltimore/Washington, D.C., area.

Mr. Richter said the State Department brings TV crews -- generally public-funded ones -- from developing countries to film on topics of concern.

"Kosovo is almost a country," he said. It is part of Serbia. Both were part of the former Yugoslavia.

Mr. Richter said State Department officers in Kosovo have been appalled by the proclivities the residents there have for littering their streets and dumping garbage in the open.

"There was a feeling that if they could do something as basic as getting people to start taking care of the environment, that would help spur other initiatives that would start to bring their society back," he said.

Fighting in the region in the 1990s destroyed municipal systems, he said.

"There was so much destruction to the fabric of society. Some people take care of things; not everything is a disaster," Mr. Richter said. "But from what I've been told, there's not a lot of motivation.

"People sometimes dump their trash on a yard of an abandoned house."

As he was researching anti-litter campaigns on the Internet, he said, "Boris and Citizens Against Litter popped up. I have yet to find any other example that's so well organized and motivated." He said the initial plan was to come last fall, but that "Mr. Weinstein's Citizens were the only ones who were ready" and the crew needed more cities.

He said he specifically wanted one segment of filming to be on Mount Washington "because I knew about the inclines and I thought it would be interesting footage."

Mr. Weinstein, who also chairs the Clean Pittsburgh Commission, chose three other neighborhoods whose efforts have been consistent and effective: Greenfield, Uptown and the Central North Side.

Greg Panza, program manager of the Mount Washington Community Development Corp., said his neighborhood's cleanup efforts have been unique for having the help of rappelers from the Explorers' Club. They secure themselves to the railing at the overlook and clean debris from the hillside.

Mount Washington also funds a "Green Team" through an annual $4,000 gift from Citizens Bank. The CDC bought trash receptacles with recycling components and, among other projects, the Green Team collects the recyclables and delivers them to the city.

Uptown's steward, Luci-Jo DiMaggio, works at the Spiritan Campus Ministry at Duquesne University. The ministry forged a cleanup partnership with the student-run Evergreen Group for regular cleanups besides the sweep on Earth Day weekend.

For that event, she said, about 450 people turn out and spread out to help the Hill District's and South Side's cleanup teams.

That the State Department took notice, said Mr. Weinstein, "obviously I'm thrilled, probably as much for the city as anyone. I just think it's a tremendous compliment to us all."

Seizing on the late Mayor Bob O'Connor's "redd-up" message, Mr. Weinstein had built a network of stewards in 89 of the city's 90 neighborhoods by last fall. He said he has been unable to tap a steward in East Hills to complete the city's participation.

He forged his first bonds between neighborhood groups in Homewood and Squirrel Hill. In the process, he rallied school principals to organize students in the cleanup.

By last fall, his network had included 17 boroughs and townships, and he had garnered technical support from environmental nonprofit groups and the city's Department of Public Works.

Mr. Weinstein said he wants neighborhood stewards to replicate his system "so it isn't necessary to do big cleanups." The method he started in Shadyside began with volunteers taking consistent responsibility for assigned routes. Most of his volunteers do weekly rounds.

Mr. Weinstein himself bags litter daily.

"I'm driven," he said. "My goal for the fall cleanup -- and I'm waiting to find out what the Steelers' bye week is to schedule it -- is 250 groups" to commemorate the city's birthday. In the meantime, he said, "I'd love to hear from East Hills."