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Thursday, March 29, 2007
A change of behavior needed to stop litter
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s always great to see a clean-up crew picking up roadside trash.
But Connie Wiggins had to be especially pleased to see a crew alongside Lawrenceville Highway Wednesday. After all, I was riding shotgun with her, and we had just spent an hour talking about trash, litter and garbage in the county.
We were headed to Oakland Road in Lawrenceville, one of two “hot spots” that will be the focus of a community clean-up next month. More on that later.
As we drove by the workers, Wiggins, the executive director of Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful, tossed out figures that only someone whose mission it is to help combat litter would likely know.
Five years ago, Gwinnett County spent $100,000 a year on road clean-up details. Now it’s half-million a year.
“If the trash weren’t there to begin with, that money could be used for a variety of things,” Wiggins told me. “Schools, police officers. We, as individuals, could do a lot of this ourselves.”
When it comes to litter, Wiggins refers to a biblical parable. You know the one about teaching the hungry to fish rather than simply giving them fish to eat. Contrary to what you may think, it’s not the GCB’s job to clean up roads and illegal dump sites. It’s here to empower us — residents, volunteers — with the tools and wherewithal to practice litter management and prevention.
Sure, the county could contract to put more street sweepers on the job. And by 2008, the county will likely mandate that all households have garbage pick-up service.
But there’s a lot we can do, too. And when paired with the GCB’s education, enforcement, resources and strategies, the impact could be notable.
If you want problematic roads or spots cleaned up regularly, adopt them. There are more than 100 active Adopt-a-Road groups in the county.
Say you see a motorist tossing cigarette butts, as Wiggins did Wednesday morning on her way to work. Jot down the tag number. Report it to GCB, something about 20,000 people do yearly. The police will send a “nasty gram” to the litterbug that advises them of their slovenliness, Wiggins said.
“If an individual sees something and can take care of it — that’s what we want to happen,” she told me. “For the more chronic conditions, we can provide a comprehensive process, with resources, to address it. It has to be more than just picking up the trash. You have to cause the behavior to change.”
A 2006 litter index survey documented trouble spots for trashy roads and illegal dumping. Norcross and the Stone Mountain side of Gwinnett are hot spots for illegal dumping.
When it comes to road waste, major corridors like Lawrenceville Highway, Buford Highway, U.S. 78 and Ga. 316 lead the pack, along with heavily traveled roads like Jimmy Carter Boulevard and Pleasant Hill Road.
Of course, other roads pose problems, too. Which brings me back to Oakland Road, and why Wiggins and I drove to it Wednesday as part of my weekly Badie Tour. It, along with Mitchell Street in Norcross, will be the site of a clean-up project on April 28.
Litter will be bagged and hauled off. Fences will be repaired and painted. Landscaping will be added to restrict access by graffiti taggers. Before that happens, though, GCB staffers and volunteers will go door-to-door in nearby homes to talk about the project, and explain how litter hurts.
“We just can’t keep coming out, painting a fence and picking up litter,” Wiggins said. “We still have to do education, enforcement and clean-up. It takes everybody. Littering is a behavior.”
To report a litterbug, request roadside clean-up or set up an Adopt-A-Road group, call Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful at 770-822-5187; online: www.gwinnettcb.org.
— Rick Badie’s column appears on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Contact him at 770-263-3875 or e-mail: rbadie@ajc.com.
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