I live in the City of Poughkeepsie. Not in the finest neighborhood, and not in the worst. Somewhere in between. A neighborhood full of older Italians from the old days, college kids from Marist, and residents both middle class and poor. But I love my neighborhood and its mix of cultures.

Every year around this time, the snow starts to melt and it always leaves a pile of garbage in the streets. I came up with an idea. What if we set aside seven minutes where everybody just walks outside and cleans up the area around their residence? It might take some people eight or nine minutes, and some people could do it in three or four. But it's all do-able.  Maybe we all do it a on specific date and time, like four o'clock on a Sunday afternoon: Seven minutes away from cleaner streets.

I'm sure we couldn't get everyone on board, but we might be able to make a difference. I'm going to send my idea to the mayor and see what he thinks.

Either way, I'll be outside cleaning up my area. What do you think? Can we clean up the city in seven minutes? I think it's worth a try.

Mid Hudson Bridge
Kenneth Gabrielsen/Getty Images
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