Drawing incentives from the coming Olympic games, the city of Athens is launching a four-year effort to clean up its streets and image through a campaign to address chronic garbage problems. Officials feel garbage and pollution prevent the city from taking full advantage of its historical and cultural heritage and are asking the populace to get behind the campaign. Authorities will more than double the number of garbage trucks, add 235 light clean-up vehicles and 5,000 new garbage bins, build cisterns for hosing down the streets where markets are held, and remove thousands of abandoned vehicles. The Athens mayor hopes this will spur residents to change their mentality about garbage and improve their quality of life.
