“Litter: It’s everybody’s problem”

PICKENS COUNTY — Pickens County officials revealed a multi-faceted approach to combating the County’s growing litter problem last week, with an emphasis on community pride and involvement.

“Pickens Proud” was introduced by County Administrator Ken Roper at a press conference on Wednesday who said the plan began with County Council a few months back. Roper said Council’s goal was to enhance and protect the County’s unique nature and to create a culture of public service.

“Council set the vision, but they also put their money where their mouth is,” Roper said, referring to the two new litter control positions created, filled by Officers Lee and Chapman.

“In days gone by, Pickens County has identified litter as a problem and we tried to do things like volunteer clean-ups,” said Roper. “We’ve created the Five on Friday social media campaign, which I’ve participated in; we did Team Up and Clean Up events where we even shut down certain parts of county government and re-tasked county workers to picking up trash one day. We did that three times.”

Still, the litter is … well … everywhere.

According to reports, 80% of the litter along roadways is intentional. That means, someone is driving along, rolls down their window and throws it out. On purpose, Roper said. Following that number, it’s unsurprising then to find 76% of roadway litter originates from motorists and pedestrians.

“It’s (the litter) not blowing in,” he said.

Twenty one percent of the litter is from uncovered loads — something the county said they are cracking down on — and 15% of littering is directly affected by the environment, they said.

Sticking with stats for a second, Roper said the benefits of picking up the trash are well-documented in studies including deterring criminal activity; making communities healthier, friendlier and safer; litter removal strengthens small towns; and finally, makes an impact.

“What we have spent some time doing as a county staff is not just looking at what we can do with one event — what can we do with writing one ticket — but instead, what can we do to address this entire problem, and address it in multi-faceted ways,” said Roper.

In tackling the problem the County has implemented a series of measures designed to come at it from all sides including participation in programs such as Keep Pickens County Beautiful (an official Keep America Beautiful affiliate) and Adopt-A-Highway (which the County wants to take over from SCDOT).

Also included is more enforcement on uncovered loads and illegal dumping, cracking down on proper usage of the recycling centers, and a partnership with the Pre Trial Intervention Program (PTIP) to have litter collection counted as community service hours. Educational resources for the public include an online tool for code enforcement and litter reporting, QR codes on the dumpsters at the recycling centers to ease confusion on what can (and can’t) be recycled, and an online resource library to help with setting up and organizing volunteer clean-ups.

“Ultimately, the responsibility for the trash is not the inmates, it’s not volunteer groups, it’s not our Solid Waste Department, it’s not our Roads and Bridges Department. The ultimate responsibility for litter on our roads, litter on our trails, litter in our community — is you and me,” Roper said. “We are the folks that will solve this problem.”