Communities like ours want businesses to invest in our area. One way to ensure that is to have a positive community attuite to keep Liberty County clean, green and beautiful.

The organization, Keep America Beautiful (KAB) started in 1953 when a group of corporate and civic leaders met in New York City to bring the public and private sectors together to develop and promote a national cleanliness ethic.

Keep America Beautiful is one of the leading environmental education organizations in America. Together with over 700 affiliates, like Keep Liberty Beautiful, work with KAB to create solutions in our local communities that:

• Create clean, beautiful public places.

• Reduce waste and increase recycling.

• Generate a positive impact on the local economy and economic development.

• Inspire generations of environmental stewards.

Have you ever thought about what makes a positive and thriving community? One definition of a positive community is an environmentally healthy place, which is the stepping stone to creating a vibrant community. We work on the assumption and research that positive and thriving communities are rooted in individual responsibility and action. That means taking ownership and having a lasting change that happens when people connect and work together.

Keep Liberty Beautiful tries to recruit local residents who will commit to preserving the natural beauty, protecting the environment, preventing blight, improving public lands and green spaces, and making communities safer and happier. Improving the environment and the quality of life of communities begins with that personal responsibility and behavior change, individuals becoming engaged stewards of their community.

It starts with volunteers who are locally concerned and locally active. Their efforts combine to become part of KAB’s more significant national movement. The next step in creating a positive community is awareness about the issues and engaging the community’s residents to help make change happen. We must also involve partners like organizations, businesses, local governments, churches, and schools. Then we can join together and work on changes for the community. Volunteers are a powerful group. Their enthusiasm is also contagious, which means their numbers grow! The other element needed for a positive community is measuring results and providing positive feedback.

The first step in any community is addressing the litter problem. Litter is defined as misplaced solid waste.

• Litter costs the U.S. almost $11.5 billion annually; businesses pay $9.1 billion of that total.

• About 85% of littering is the result of individual attitudes. The individual (e.g., individual “behavior”) is the most critical factor in whether littering will occur. If they think littering is wrong, they won’t do it. They won’t do it if they feel social pressure not to litter.

• Nearly one in five, or 17%, of individuals observed disposing of waste improperly (i.e., littered). Moreover, 81% of the littering occurred with notable intent.

• That means that it was not an accident. They did it on purpose.

By addressing the physical aspects of our community, such as neighborhoods, playgrounds, business areas, landfills and recycling facilities, medians, plazas, streets and highways, and our natural spaces (public lands, waterways and shorelines, trails, greenways, and state parks), we can positively affect the built environment and create a community that is positive, vibrant, and that we are proud of. If you are not volunteering yet with Keep Liberty Beautiful, we still have room for you.

Join us for our next Great American Cleanup on April 22, 2023 (National Earth Day). The cleanups will be held at Flemington City Hall, Gum Branch Ball Park, Riceboro Fishing Pier, and Walthourville City Hall from 9 a.m. to noon. You can find more information on our website. You can also volunteer with us every second and fourth Friday of the month at the KLB office from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. You can sign up from our Facebook page or on SignupGenius. com. For more information, contact Keep Liberty Beautiful at (912) 880-4888, klcb@libertycountyga. com, or www.keepliberty beautiful.org.

Help us Keep Liberty Beautiful!