On a brisk and breezy New Year’s Day morning, intrepid festivalgoers gathered at the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum to listen to the sound of trash. That’s right. The Litter Bell, a new bell cast entirely from reclaimed and salvaged metals, was commissioned by the National Bell Festival and unveiled as part of the sixth-annual celebrations.
Thankfully, the museum opened its doors to all and welcomed inside those gathered to hear brief remarks by Melanie A. Adams, the Roger Ferguson and Annette Nazareth Director of the Anacostia Community Museum, and Paul Ashe, the Director of the National Bell Festival. After recounting the astonishing collection of objects that went into making the bell, festivalgoers braved the cold once more for the opportunity to hear the Litter Bell resound for the very first time.
Image: Melanie A. Adams, the Roger Ferguson and Annette Nazareth Director of the Anacostia Community Museum, speaks to assembled festivalgoers inside the museum on Jan. 1, 2025, while standing next to a photograph of assorted metals collected to make the Litter Bell.
After that initial ring, festivalgoers young and old were invited to sound the bell themselves, and to warm up with a cup of coffee, cocoa, or tea, compliments of the museum. It was a poignant reminder of mankind’s impact on the environment – and a powerful way to ring in the New Year!
Image: Festivalgoers ring the Litter Bell during the sixth-annual National Bell Festival at the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum on Jan. 1, 2025.
Origins of the Litter Bell
Throughout 2024, environmental nonprofits and community organizations across the D.C. metro area, including Anacostia Watershed Society, Casey Trees, Community Forklift, Ward 8 Woods, and others, culled discarded trash from green spaces and waterways. Among the collected materials, 168 lbs. of brass and 11 lbs. of copper were recovered.
Included in the haul were keys, bullet casings, light fixtures, doorknobs, water taps, wire, pipes, a sounding rod, brackets, a spigot, and a bedframe. These metals were disassembled, sorted, and cleaned by National Bell Festival volunteers before being shipped to the Verdin Company, a six-generation family of bell makers, in Cincinnati, Ohio. There, the metals were smelted to form an alloy and poured to cast the aptly-named Litter Bell. It is engraved with the words, “DO NOT LITTER.”
To cast a new bell, bell foundries melt approximately 15% more metal than what the bell is expected to weigh because the molten alloy fills the gates, vents, and pour basin in addition to the bell’s carefully-crafted mold. For this reason, the final weight of the Litter Bell is nearly 150 lbs., while measuring 18.75” in diameter.
Returning to Washington, the bell was installed at the entrance to the Anacostia Community Museum, home of the Center for Environmental Justice – a research hub that raises awareness of systemic injustice, crafts community-driven solutions for environmental issues, and encourages others to see their own power in creating a more equitable, healthy, and just environment.
A newly-set 940-lb. boulder sourced from the Potomac basin anchors the bell in the surrounding gardens. The Litter Bell is sounded by the quick swing of a removable internal clapper. Together, the assemblage offers an interactive experience for museum visitors. As long as the Litter Bell rings, it speaks to the importance of adhering to that age-old maxim: reduce, reuse, recycle – and don't litter!
Cover image: Melanie A. Adams, the Roger Ferguson and Annette Nazareth Director of the Anacostia Community Museum, and Paul Ashe, the Director of the National Bell Festival, lift a red satin cloth to reveal the Litter Bell at the entrance to the museum on Jan. 1, 2025.
