Volunteers Needed For This Year’s Litter Sweep

By Meghan B. Minton

Volunteers grab your bags and head to the roadsides; it is time for the bi-annual Litter Sweep beginning Saturday, April 14th through April 28th. All are encouraged to participate and help beautify the community with the North Carolina Department of Transportation. “Just last year, volunteers removed more than two million pieces of trash from roadside across the state,” reports George Kapetanakis, a NCDOT representative.

Items range from the usual fast food containers and cans to TV antennas and toilet seats according to Kapetanakis. These items can be entered into the “Unusual Litter Contest”, sponsored by the NC Beverages Association, for cash prizes of $250 for first place, $100 for second and $50 for third. “One year the winner found a knife from a crime scene,” says Kapetanakis.

Some of the trash along the highways comes from items that have not been properly secured down and these can cause serious safety hazards according to Kapetanakis. Other hazards can be caused by fast food containers and even apple cores. “Though items such as apple cores and banana peels are not considered litter by DOT standards they can create hazards by attracting animals to the roads.”

Kapetanakis stress the importance of safety along the highways for drivers and volunteers alike. He indicated that the local NCDOT maintenance office has a safety video available for volunteers and offers tips such as wearing appropriate clothing including the orange safety vest, walking facing traffic flow and staying a good distance from the shoulder. More tips can be obtained from the local maintenance office or online at www.NCDOT.org/~beautification.

During the statewide litter sweep, NCDOT maintenance crews, Adopt-A-Highway groups, N.C. Department of Correction inmate crews, community service workers and other volunteers will take to the highways to remove roadside litter.

“Roadside litter is an ongoing problem throughout North Carolina, and litter sweeps play an important role in our efforts to maintain the condition of our highways,” said Transportation Secretary Lyndo Tippett. “The efforts of all our crews and volunteers to make North Carolina a cleaner and safer place to live are greatly appreciated.”

NCDOT’s Office of Beautification Programs will coordinate the work of volunteers from Adopt-A-Highway groups, garden clubs, civic groups and other community organizations during the two-week cleanup. Anyone who wants to participate is asked to contact their local NCDOT county maintenance office in advance for supplies such as safety vests, gloves and orange trash bags.

The N.C. State Highway Patrol will also be on alert and policing the roadways for those who litter during the sweep. Littering is an illegal, fineable offense that can entail community service work and a point on the offender’s driver license upon conviction. Fines can cost up to $2,000 and may double upon a second conviction.

Participants are reminded to warm up by stretching before picking up litter and to drink plenty of water during the cleanup. Litter Sweep is a statewide bi-annual clean-up program sponsored by the NCDOT in the spring and fall. The division reminds “everyone’s participation in Litter Sweep is needed in order to clean up the increasing amount of roadside litter”.

Spring Litter Sweep 2007 will run through the 28th of April. For more information call the Litter Sweep Hotline (800-331-5864) or to obtain supplies as trash bags, orange safety vests and gloves contact the local DOT maintenance office at 336-246-5287.