Roadside cleanup nets 150 bags of litter Saturday

About a dozen volunteer pick-up groups joined in and did their part to gather up 4,500 gallons of roadside trash from along Greene County roadways.

Greene County Solid Waste Management District Director Erek Wilson said the day-long effort netted 150 of the 30-gallon trash bags of litter.

"I was pretty satisfied. The weather wasn't the greatest and it was fall break (for the students)," Wilson said. "A lot of these areas weren't necessarily spot dumps where you have a big pile of trash in one area. You would walk a quarter of a mile in some cases to get a bag of trash because it was just bottles, cans and fast food wrappers and that kind of stuff."

Wilson noted that turnout was not as large as he would have like to have seen, but progress was made in getting a sizable amount of roadside litter picked up.

"It went pretty good," Wilson said on Monday morning while he was tallying up the results. "We didn't have a big response from the eastern side of the county. The main areas that were picked up were from Jasonville, to Midland to the Linton area. From the Recycling Center (near Switz City) toward the Goose Pond Fish and Wildlife Area there were some groups were out cleaning up."

Among the organized groups that were out were Worthington Garden Club, SAIC, CALO (Citizen's Academy Legacy Organization), a Bloomfield-based garden group, Greene County Community Corrections, a Bloomfield Junior-Senior High environmental group and several student groups from Shakamak Junior-Senior High School. There were also several individuals who regularly volunteer to pick up trash in designated areas who participated as well as several other individuals who came to just pick in and help, according to Wilson.

"We had several people who just called in. They are just people who pick up trash on a regular basis in front of their roads and they used that to take advantage of our program," Wilson said.

Four drop-off points were established where dumpsters were available to dispose of gathered litter:

* Wright Township Volunteer Fire Department, State Road 59 at Midland.

* The Goose Pond Fish and Wildlife Area barn, south of Linton, just past Weaver's Curve on State Road 59.

* The Center Township Trustee's office at Little Cincinnati.

* The Recycling Center, on Baseline Road, just west of State Road 57.

The Greene County Recycling Center partnered with Utilities District of Western Indiana REMC, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources' Goose Pond Fish and Wildlife Area, the Greene County Foundation, Citizen's Academy Legacy Organization (CALO), and the Shakamak High School Agriculture Department to coordinate and promote this roadside litter clean-up project.

UDWI-REMC provided a $500 grant to the Recycling Center to help defray some of the costs involved with the dumpster rentals and supplies, Wilson pointed out.

The Greene County Commissioners also had adopted a resolution proclaiming the day Greene County Roadside Clean-Up Day.

Wilson said there are plans to stage another organized roadside clean up in the spring close to Earth Day (April 25, 2010).

"It seems like with Earth Day and the national coverage of that event, it kind of gets people sparked up and more aware of environmental type causes so we are going to try kind of work hand-in-hand with that and see what we can do there and try to get more people out and involved. Hopefully, the spring weather will help too," Wilson concluded.