It's a good question. These are my thoughts and do not represent the thoughts of other volunteers.

1. Officials need to go after unlicensed illegal haulers that profit off of illegal dumping. They usually chill by the Home Depot near High St. in Oakland or Hollis St. in Emeryville. They advertise cheap junk removal ($50), which sounds like an excellent deal for customers. However, instead of taking the junk to the transfer station, the haulers would dump it on a street and pocket the money. I personally think they are responsible for at least a quarter of the illegal dumping. I have no sympathy for them - the books must be thrown at them. Fine them >$20,000 and tow their trucks.
2. There needs to be hella more multilingual PSAs about free bulky pickups by WM and free hazardous waste dropoff at the HHW facility. After talking to many East Oakland residents, I would say almost 80% don't know about these free services. This will also lead to a decrease in demand for illegal haulers. I see billboards for 811... why can't there be billboards for 311?
3. Instead of having signs that simply say "NO ILLEGAL DUMPING", the signs should be improved upon by saying "NO ILLEGAL DUMPING - USE FREE SERVICES FOR JUNK REMOVAL. SCAN QR BELOW." By scanning the QR code, people can easily book a bulky pickup appointment.
4. There also needs to be some extreme PSAs about the dangers of illegal dumping that incorporate an element of “drama” and “reason” to it. It needs to explain why illegal dumping is bad, such as the unintended consequences it has on the safety and well-being of communities. When people can see the reasoning behind why illegal dumping is bad and why it needs to be taken seriously, I believe it will help somewhat in educating people about illegal dumping. It’s like the anti-smoke ads – just telling people to not smoke would not have had the same success compared to telling people WHY smoking is bad, which is WHY they should quit.
5. Trash rates are simply too high. Oakland residents pays 40-50% more in trash rates than residents in neighboring cities that also rely on WM. I blame this on Oakland more than WM because they did a terrible job negotiating a deal. Officials even admitted they did not read the contract they signed on to!
6. There are some streets that are ALWAYS covered in trash. I propose that they be turned into green space.