We here at Keep Liberty Beautiful believe that litter is a severe issue to our community, so it saddened us to postpone the March Great American Cleanup events due to the ever-evolving COVID-19 situation.  We have not scheduled the new dates for the cleanups as of yet, and the safety of our volunteers is our number one priority.  We will keep you updated as information is made available.    

We do want you to know that litter is something we all can help control in Liberty County.  In the article, Five Reasons Why Littering Is Bad, by Ian Farquharson, points out that not everyone deals with litter responsibly, and the adverse effects that discarded candy wrappers, cigarette butts, drink cans, and larger items have on any community.  Littering spoils the attractiveness of roadways, as well as urban and rural landscapes, while creating severe health and safety issues that potentially impact humans and wildlife, as well as the global environment. The five reasons why littering is bad are listed below: 

1. Appearances

2. Human Health and Safety

3. Impact on Wildlife

4. Fire Hazard

5. Cost

Litter cleanup actually costs the United States more than $11.5 billion each year.  Municipalities spend more than $790 million, and counties $185 million. That’s all according to a Keep America Beautiful survey.  

 Here are some quick and easy ways to prevent litter: 

• Keep a litter bag in your car. 

• Hang on to litter until you can dispose of it in a garbage receptacle. 

• Report litterbugs even the ones who are ‘oblivious’ and let trash blow out of their truck beds. Make sure your trash cans and recycle bins have tight-fitting lids.

• Encourage others to dispose of trash properly.

• Encourage your neighbors, clubs, co-workers, or families to join together and adopt your neighborhood or your street or join you in an area cleanup, like the upcoming Great American Cleanup events. “Adopting” an area can significantly reduce future litter because people litter less in maintained areas. For Adopt Liberty or more Great American Cleanup information, contact us at Keep Liberty Beautiful.

• Look for ways to beautify your neighborhood and community, including landscaping and repairing fences. Attractive, maintained areas are littered less, and research shows that they are usually safer, too.

• Don’t forget your workplace!  Provide plenty of containers with good lids for garbage and recycling bins.

Cleaning up litter, planting green spaces, cleaning up neighborhood eyesores, removing graffiti, and planting a flower or even vegetable gardens in our neighborhoods and public areas are all ways to improve the places where we live.  

For more information on litter prevention and our upcoming Great American Cleanups, contact Keep Liberty Beautiful at (912) 880-4888 or klcb@libertycountyga.com.      

Bell is director of Keep Liberty Beautiful.