Dr. Karen Bell
Keep Liberty Beautiful
Three hundred trees — that’s how many Keep Liberty Beautiful (KLB) staff, Advisory Board members, and dedicated volunteers gave away in celebration of 2026 Arbor Day in Liberty County. The trees are now finding new homes in yards, neighborhoods, churches, and community spaces throughout the county.
We are excited to see 300 new trees take root across Liberty County. Each tree planted represents cleaner air, cooler neighborhoods, and a long-term investment in the beauty and environmental health of our community. We can’t wait to see all the photos of these trees growing for generations to come.
The Arbor Day celebration was just one of many recent efforts to protect and enhance the local environment. On February 21, volunteers and several recycle-minded citizens turned in an impressive amount of household items and shredded paper for recycling, reuse, or safe disposal.
Every pound collected is material that won’t end up in our landfills, ditches, or waterways. When residents take the time to recycle responsibly, they are directly protecting our soil, water, and wildlife.
Meanwhile, Keep Liberty Beautiful’s Adopt Liberty groups continue to make a visible difference throughout the county. So far, volunteers have cleaned 15 miles of roadway during weekend cleanups, removing bags of litter and debris that would otherwise contribute to pollution.
“We are incredibly proud of our Adopt Liberty volunteers,” said Amanda Jeffers, volunteer coordinator for Keep Liberty Beautiful. “Fifteen miles of clean roadway is a huge accomplishment, but we still have more roads and ponds to clean. It takes all of us working together to maintain the beauty of Liberty County.”
Residents still have an opportunity to get involved by adopting a roadway or participating in the 2026 Greatest American Countywide Cleanup, which runs from March 21 through June 30, 2026.
One area that continues to need attention is Liberty County’s ponds, including those at Bryant Commons in Hinesville. These ponds act as collection points for litter and debris flowing from city storm drains. Volunteers routinely remove cigarette butts, plastic cups, bottles, cans, fast-food wrappers, and other trash discarded on sidewalks and streets.
All of that litter doesn’t just disappear. It travels through storm drains and ends up in our ponds, creeks, and rivers. What many people don’t realize is that this is part of a larger issue called nonpoint source pollution.
Nonpoint source (NPS) pollution is one of the most significant environmental challenges facing local waterways. Unlike pollution from a single identifiable source, nonpoint pollution arises from everyday activities in homes, backyards, roads, businesses, farms, and heavily populated areas.
When rainfall or irrigation water moves across the ground, it picks up natural and human-made pollutants and carries them into creeks, lakes, rivers, wetlands, coastal waters, and even underground sources of drinking water. This is why it is often referred to as stormwater pollution, because even small showers can wash harmful debris and contaminants into our waterways.
These pollutants can include:
• Oil, grease, and toxic chemicals from urban runoff and energy production • Sediment from improperly managed construction sites, crop and forest lands, and eroding stream banks
• Salt from irrigation practices and acid drainage from abandoned mines
• Bacteria and nutrients from animals, pet waste, and faulty septic systems
• And, of course, litter According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), nonpoint source pollution is the leading cause of water quality problems in the United States. It harms drinking water supplies, damages wildlife habitats, and threatens aquatic life. As urbanization continues, these impacts only increase.
Nonpoint pollution is challenging because it comes from all of us. But that also means we all have the power to reduce it. Simple daily habits, like properly disposing of trash, reducing fertilizer use, recycling, and volunteering for cleanups, make a measurable difference.
There are many opportunities this spring for residents to become part of the solution. Several city-wide cleanups are scheduled from March through June 2026, along with neighborhood and street cleanups throughout the county.
Keep Liberty Beautiful provides all cleanup supplies, including garbage bags, safety vests, work gloves, litter reachers, and water. Local cities also partner by providing snacks and drinks for volunteers after cleanups in appreciation of their hard work. All registered volunteers receive official Keep Liberty Beautiful T-shirts.
“Our goal is to make volunteering easy and rewarding,” Ashley Roberts, program assistant for Keep Liberty Beautiful, said. “When people see the immediate results of their efforts, cleaner streets, clearer ponds, greener spaces, it inspires them to continue caring for their community.”
Residents can register their group or neighborhood for a cleanup by visiting www.keeplibertybeautiful. org. Information is also available on the Keep Liberty Beautiful Facebook page, including details about the 20th Annual Earth Day Celebration scheduled for Saturday, April 18, 2026.