Good folks cleaning up after ‘litter bugs’
Published 6:00 am Friday, April 2, 2004
The Great American Cleanup is now under way.
Unfortunately, it’s more than needed here.
Take a walk in downtown Brookhaven; you can’t help but noticethe litter.
Cigarette butts and empty cigarette packages, potato chip bags,soft drink bottles, cans and cups, fast food containers and sacks– chances are good you’ll see all those downtown.
I’m not saying litter is piled up on every street corner, butit’s there, and it’s ugly.
As a supporter of Habitat for Humanity of Lincoln County, I knowwhat a problem the organization has keeping its property on GrennStreet clean.
The lot sat vacant for many years before it was purchased byHabitat. Volunteers picked up hundreds of beer bottles, about thatmany whiskey bottles, old tires, discarded furniture and toys andat least one of just about everything else imaginable. It took hardwork to clean that site.
Today, even with one house completed and another being built,some folks still toss their beer bottles, chicken boxes, dirtydiapers and old clothes onto the property. I wonder how they wouldlike it if somebody threw garbage on their front yard?
A drive on just about any road out in the county will show thatlitter is not just a city-related problem. If anything, the problemis worse outside the city limits.
The Great American Cleanup, which began April 1 and continuesinto early May, is the current anti-litter effort.
According to Jane Kees, chairwoman for the project, the annualGold in the Litter campaign also began Thursday and continuesthrough April 18. In this campaign, gold eggs that contain couponsfor prizes are hidden in littered places around the county.
This year’s prizes include two $50 savings bonds, dinners tolocal restaurants and coupons for gifts at other local businesses.About 40 eggs will be placed around the county and in the city.This is an extra incentive for citizens to participate in thecleanup.
I hope all the prizes are claimed. Those who are willing to getout and pick up somebody else’s mess should be rewarded for theireffort. I appreciate them and what they do.
Civic groups, church groups, schools and citizens are beingencouraged to select an area and clean it during the campaign.Dumpsters will be placed in designated areas in each of the fivesupervisor districts on weekends in April and early May for trashplacement. Trash bags are available at the District Two county barnon Old Highway 51, and trash-filled bags can be dropped off at thecounty barn.
Last November, a survey by Keep Lincoln County Beautifulofficials said both the city and county were making gains in thefight against litter. In the county as a whole, the survey showed a23 percent drop in litter. City results showed a 38 percentimprovement.
That was good news, and KLCB officials should be commended fortheir hard work.
Those who keep them in business should be ashamed ofthemselves.
Write to Nanette Laster at P.O. Box 551, Brookhaven, Miss.39602, or send e-mail to news@dailyleader.com.