Officials seek solutions

Some area officials are taking steps to reduce litter along roadways, but others say the problem might not be an easy one to solve.

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Annette M. Drowlette/Staff

Litter was thrown onto the roadside along Washington Road in Evans.

"I think it comes down to human nature," Richmond County marshal's Capt. Teresa Russell said. "Either you're environmentally friendly enough to know that you shouldn't throw trash out your window or you're of the mind-set it really doesn't matter."

Keep Columbia County Beautiful, an affiliate of Keep America Beautiful, recently posted 50 street signs and two billboards in Columbia County to remind motorists not to use the environment as a garbage can.

"It's difficult to measure the impact of those signs," said Columbia County sheriff's Capt. Steve Morris. "It's difficult to measure the impact of education. I think it's safe to say it all helps. It's certainly not going to hurt."

But Capt. Russell said some will empty a car ashtray and think nothing of it.

"I don't know that reading a sign going down the road will change that," she said.

Regardless, authorities say they're doing what they can to quell littering.

In Richmond County, the marshal's office employs a five-man squad dedicated to catching incidents of illegal dumping and littering, among other things. In 2007, the squad issued 26 citations for littering.

In Aiken County, litter-control officers issued 21 citations for littering and illegal dumping from June to December.

The Columbia County Sheriff's Office handed out 16 littering tickets last year and have issued one so far this year, Capt. Morris said.

"We have too many people throwing trash out of their vehicles," he said. "Our inmate work detail cleaned 873 miles of roadway in Columbia County last year."

Aiken County Detention Center inmates removed 11,775 pounds of garbage from roads from June to December, said Rodney Cooper, the county's chief litter-control officer. Since the holidays, litter in Aiken County has worsened, he said.

"It's a very big problem," he said. "Here in the last three weeks or so it appears that the highways have gotten real trashy compared to what they were before Christmas."

On average, the Georgia Department of Transportation collects about 2 million bags of trash along interstates each year, according to www.litteritcostsyou. com. During a 2004 highway cleanup held by Palmetto Pride, a South Carolina affiliate of Keep America Beautiful, 21,000 volunteers picked up 2.2 million pounds of roadside trash.

Aiken and Richmond counties do not have affiliates listed with Keep America Beautiful.

Metro Augusta Clean and Beautiful, a former area anti-littering group, folded shortly after police launched an investigation into the organization's finances in November 2004, city officials said.

Chief Cooper said Aiken County volunteers meet once each three months to clean litter from streets as part of an Adopt-A-Highway program. Also, he is developing an anti-litter education program targeted at second- and third-graders.

"Before I got into this (litter prevention), back when I smoked, my daughter got on to me for littering," he said. "That's where I got the idea from to focus on the kids. Smaller children are paying more attention than we give them credit for."

Reach Donnie Fetter at (706) 868-1222, ext. 115,

or donnie.fetter@augustachronicle.com.

ANNETTE M. DROWLETTE/STAFF