Dr. Karen Bell
Keep Liberty Beautiful
When a cigarette butt is tossed to the ground, it sets off a chain of events that harm our environment. Cigarette litter is nasty, unnecessary, and entirely preventable.
Keep Liberty Beautiful (KLB) continues to remind our community, “Don’t flick it — dispose of cigarette butts responsibly.” Workers maintaining public venues, parking lots, streets, parks, and local business owners often spend time cleaning cigarette litter. Together, we can ease their burden and show community solidarity. Although more cigarette receptacles are appearing in public spaces, Liberty County residents and business owners can request free wall-mounted or stand-alone receptacles from KLB. Providing convenient disposal options is one step toward changing behavior and reducing litter. Because cigarette butts are so small, some people don’t think they are littering. But when thousands of them collect along sidewalks, parking lots, and storm drains, the impact on our community and waterways is significant.
There are still some communities that have not considered the consequences of tossing a cigarette butt on the ground.
Those small filters add up quickly. At nearly every cleanup event, at least one volunteer who happens to be a smoker expresses surprise at the sheer number of butts collected in a short period of time.
For 18 years, local groups have participated in cigarette litter awareness programs throughout Liberty County. Targeted areas have included downtown Hinesville, historic and tourism sites, busy commercial corridors, and major entry points to Fort Stewart.
During litter scan days, volunteers not only pick up cigarette butts but also count them. These scans help KLB determine whether awareness campaigns and receptacle placement are successfully reducing cigarette waste on roads and sidewalks.
“It is tedious work to pick up and count cigarette litter,” said one longtime cleanup volunteer.
“But when you see the difference before and after a cleanup, you realize how important this effort is for our community’s appearance and pride.”
Through the Liberty County Proud and Beautiful initiative, KLB also promotes recycling cigarette butts. The recycling process is simple. Empty the contents of your cigarette receptacle or collected butts into a resealable plastic bag, a disposable plastic container, a plastic shopping bag, or a garbage bag. Make sure all cigarettes are fully extinguished. Do not dump cigarette waste directly into the shipping box, and do not use paper bags or envelopes. Affix the free shipping label provided by TerraCycle and drop the package off at a FedEx or UPS location, or contact KLB to arrange pickup.
All of our roads and streets should be cigarette litter-free. The ground is not a dumping site.
Being an environmentally responsible person means taking a few extra seconds to use a trash can or ash receptacle.
Residents and community groups are encouraged to participate in the 2026 Greatest American Cleanup from March through June. Volunteers can visit the KLB website for details on city and county cleanup events, pre-register for an official T-shirt, and learn how to get involved. All cleanup equipment is provided, making participation simple and accessible for individuals, families, civic groups, churches, and businesses.
KLB also invites the community to celebrate Earth Day at the 20th Annual Earth Day Celebration on April 18, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Bryant Commons. This fun-filled afternoon will feature educational, earth-friendly activities for all ages.
Businesses, social groups, churches, and schools are encouraged to host booths that share environmental information and interactive activities. All booth activities must be earth-friendly.
Volunteers who assist with the event will receive a free T-shirt and the supplies needed for environmental activities. Organizations interested in hosting a booth should provide their group or business name, point of contact, phone number, email address, and a brief description of their activity when registering through the KLB website or by email.
Cigarette litter is preventable. Each butt properly disposed of is one less piece of trash on our sidewalks, in our storm drains, or in our waterways. The responsibility ultimately lies with each of us. Contact KLB at 912-880-4888 or email klcb@libertycountyga.gov for more information.
Don’t flick it! Do your part to Keep Liberty Beautiful, Clean, and Proud!