TEAM UP TO CLEAN UP YOUR COMMUNITIES
More than 1,500 pounds of litter were collected in 2018 during the Erase the Waste cleanup days, and not all the trash was paper and plastic.
Fort Payne Middle School Builders Club collected 50 bags of litter last April while learning the importance of recycling.
PICK IT UP The first Erase the Waste cleanup day was in 2009 on the National Day of Service, which is on Martin Luther King Jr. Day each year. Cleanup days continue on that holiday and also on a few Saturdays in the spring and fall. “It’s easier to see when the grass isn’t grown up so high, and we don’t have to worry about bugs and snakes,” Shugart says. Erase the Waste has worked within the TVA service area to clean up area waterways and the roadsides leading to those waterways. In previous years, some of the focus has been on South Sauty Creek, which runs through DeKalb County near Matheny’s Bridge and through Buck’s Pocket State Park before emptying into the Tennessee River near Morgan’s Cove. This year’s cleanup events focus on Allen Branch and the headwaters for the Fort Payne Reservoir and the Little River Canyon area. More organizations and businesses are now involved, and more community outreach includes educational information from Erase the Waste. “This has helped to begin to build momentum on the campaign,” she says. The litter campaign can make a lasting impact on water quality, Shugart says. “If we focus on cleaning the roadways leading to our waterways, we can help prevent pollution in our drinking water,” she says. “Our goal is to make a positive and lasting impact in the environment, one bag of litter at a time.” Farmers Telecommunications Cooperative
This year’s Leadership DeKalb class, a group of local leaders in communities from across DeKalb County, designed their service project to help educate and bring awareness to the litter issues among our communities. Their first initiative was to get in the schools to educate our youth. Every fourth-grader in DeKalb County was presented with an anti-littering video about the importance of cleaning up their community. “We quickly realized that helping eliminate litter is a huge undertaking and requires every community in the county to step up and help,” says Jennifer McCurdy, Leadership DeKalb participant. Leadership DeKalb partnered with DeKalb County Tourism to present the videos. In addition, each student was asked to submit a poster idea to promote an anti-littering message. The winning artwork from each school will be made into posters that will be posted in the communities to help build awareness. Leadership DeKalb will also work with the schools to participate in the Clean Campus initiative by PALS Alabama. “After showing the videos in schools across the county, we hope to continue through a partnership with PALS to keep schoolchildren engaged,” McCurdy says. The group is working with all the local cities, towns and civic groups to help coordinate cleanup efforts. Many areas in DeKalb County already have some initiatives in place to address litter in their community, such as communitywide cleanup days and dumpsters around town. Leadership DeKalb has a goal of every community taking initiative for their area and having cleanup days and dumpsters placed in convenient locations. That will at least be a start. A communitywide cleanup day is scheduled for April 27 from 8 a.m. to noon at First State Bank in Rainsville — 246 Main St. E., Rainsville, AL 35986. A shred truck, chemical disposal truck and medication disposal will be available on-site for anyone to use that day. To learn more or volunteer to help with cleanup initiatives in your community, contact your local municipality.
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