What is Litter? 

Litter is more than just a blight on our landscape. Litter is costly to clean up, impacts our quality of life and economic development, and eventually ends up in our waterways and oceans. The U.S. spends 11.5 billion dollars on litter clean up every year. You can help by doing these few things. Don't be a a person that litters. Volunteer for programs in your community like Keep America Beautiful’s annual Great American Cleanup. Volunteer your time at a local park to do a park cleanup or even if your walking down the street and see some litter, pick it up and throw it away, every little bit helps. Doing your part also inspires others to pitch in and do theirs.  Together we make a huge impact.

Education - Learn About Litter

1. Litter is misplaced, abandoned, or discarded waste.
   
2. Litter impacts our quality of life, destroying the state's natural beauty, harming or killing wildlife, diminishing water quality and causing increased costs to treat it for public consumption, and is a contributing factor to several motorist deaths a year.
3. Cigarette butts are litter.
4. The most commonly littered items found during roadside cleanups are fast food wrappers, cigarette butts and aluminum cans.
5. Georgia market research has shown that the most likely person to litter, regardless of race, income, and education level is a male between the ages of 18-25.
6. Litter is everyone's responsibility.  Individuals must accept responsibility for litter prevention.
7. Littered recyclable items are a lost resource.
8. A clean community welcomes economic growth and development.

Enforcement - Stop Litter

1. Littering is a crime.  Anyone caught littering in Georgia can be ordered to pay a fine of as much as $1,000 or more for serious littering violations.  Convicted litterers can also be ordered to clean up a littered area in a community.
   
2. Littered neighborhoods can result in property values being lowered by as much as 15% and often lead to more serious crimes.
3. Georgia's litter laws can be enforced on both public and private property.
4. Public perception is "I won't get caught," and if I do, prosecutors and judges don't consider littering a serious crime and will not prosecute or enforce a littering citation.
5. Anything leaving a vehicle and falling on the roadside is litter. The driver of the vehicle is guilty of a misdemeanor.
6. Successful litter prevention programs are the result of bringing civic organizations, local government officials (including enforcement personnel) and businesses together to identify the issues and implement solutions.

Eradication - Clean Up Litter

1. The Georgia Department of Transportation annually removes litter from 1,245 interstate miles and 18,000 state route miles. Cities and counties are responsible for litter cleanup along 96,818 miles of local roads or 84% of the total road miles in the state.
2. Nearly 400 organizations participated in the April 2006 Great American Cleanup activities, picking up almost 4 million pounds of litter and debris.  During this effort, an estimated 270,000 volunteer hours - the equivalent of 130 full-time workers - were devoted to cleaning up litter.
3. Local governments and other community partners conducted litter reduction activities in 85% of Georgia's counties in 2006.
4. Litterers feel free to litter when they see someone has littered before them . . . like in vacant lots, along rural dirt roads, or at the end of a dead-end street.
5. Litter prevention is more than cleanup activities. Eight out of 10 Georgians feel someone else will pick up the litter they throw out of a vehicle.
6. People litter when they don't feel a sense of ownership of an area . . .  like parks, playgrounds, or abandoned lots. 
7. Adopt-A-Highway, Adopt-A-Road and Adopt-A-School are active programs in many communities. More than 400 organizations are active in Georgia's Adopt-A-Highway program and there are 67 Keep America Beautiful affiliates serving 75% of the state's population. 
8. In 2006, the Georgia Department of Transportation spent almost $14 million to pick up litter on state highways alone. This does not include local government, nonprofit and corporate cleanup efforts.

---

Litter Cleanup Assistance Program

Do you want to make an impact on your community? Would you like to organize and hold a litter clean-up event? We hope you will consider organizing a cleanup in your neighborhood, near your business, at a local park or on a littered roadway.  Cleanups can be of any size, but remember the more people that are involved the bigger the impact you can make.
KTCB can help promote your event on social media and would also highlight your clean-up event and recognize your efforts in our Leaders Against Litter Spotlights on Social Media and our Website.
KTCB can provide guidelines and support to help ensure a safe and successful event that benefits our community and natural environment.   Supplies we can provide for your cleanup include garbage/recycling bags, bag holders, gloves and safety vests.   We can also assist with coordination of pickup of the litter you collect with the City of Thomasville, Solid Waste.  Contact the KTCB Office at [email protected] for additional details and planning.

---

What Can I Do?

Did You Know?

• Carry a bag in your car for litter.
• Be an example for others and teach your children that littering is wrong.
• Don't put loose trash in your curbside yard debris piles.
• Make sure your trash bin lids are closed and secured.
• Encourage local groups or organizations to "adopt" a location in your city and maintain it regularly
• When hauling trash in the backs of trucks or trailers, make sure to 'Cover Your Load'.
• Report areas of illegally dumped garbage to your local public works.
• Volunteer to help clean-up an area.

Did you know that there are seven primary sources of litter?

1. Household trash scattered before or during collection.
2. Commercial Refuse - dumpsters used by businesses
3. Construction & Demolition Sites
4. Trucks with unsecured / uncovered loads on local roadways.
5. Loading Docks with inadequate waste receptacles.
6. Motorists who do not use ashtrays or car litter bags.
7. Pedestrians or cyclists who do not use proper receptacles.

You may be surprised to learn that pedestrians and motorists account for less than half of all litter..

Community Appearance Index

​The Community Appearance Index (CAI) is intended to help quickly and reliably assess the litter situation in our communities and to assist in achieving long-term, sustainable results to help end littering. There are three ways to volunteer:

1. Drivers (must be a licensed/insured driver with own vehicle)
2. Navigator (maps and directions provided)
3. Scorer (rates how much litter is on the road).