In January 2020 at the Georgia State Capitol, the Keep America Beautiful Foundation (KGBF) announced the kick-off of its statewide litter awareness campaign. Ending litter is one of the primary initiatives of KGBF and its 70+ city and county affiliates across the state. Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful is proud to be included among them. Designed to bring attention to the issue of litter throughout Georgia, the campaign will educate and inspire Georgians to take action every day to improve and beautify the environment in their community.
According to the Georgia Department of Transportation, litter costs the state $10 million per year in cleanup efforts, not including the costs incurred on the local level by cities and counties. Litter has a negative impact on economic development, health, and safety across Georgia, and it also harms wildlife and the environment. The Keep Georgia Beautiful Foundation’s customizable campaign slogan, “Consider ____ before you litter”, and hashtag, #reconsiderlitter, ask the public to contemplate these effects and join the fight to reverse them.
“The first step to ending litter is to stop it before it starts,” said Schelly Marlatt, Executive Director of Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful. “While it’s an awesome effort on everyone’s part, it’s not enough to simply host cleanup events every few months to pick up AFTER people litter. Instead, we want to become that voice in the back of someone’s head that says, ‘don’t throw that napkin on the ground – find a trashcan.’ We want them to reconsider their actions, stop littering and start taking pride in their community. For us, that begins right here at home in Gwinnett. In our county alone, the cost to clean up litter has been estimated at roughly $1.6M.”
Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful was one of the members of the KGBF network that helped collect over 2 million pounds of litter, cleaning 30,795 miles of public land and 931 miles of rivers, lakes, shores, and wetlands in 2019 alone. Schelly and the rest of the team at Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful encourage you to #reconsiderlitter, while urging others to do the same.
“Let’s show our fellow affiliates, Keep Georgia Beautiful Foundation and the great State of Georgia what Gwinnett County is capable of once we set our minds to something,” added Marlatt. “Let’s make great strides this year towards the eradication of litter in our community and put Gwinnett on the #reconsiderlitter map!”
>Take the KGBF Pledge to End Litter<
Learn How YOU Can Do Your Part to Stop Littering:
http://www.gwinnettcb.org/help-the-environment/litter-prevention/
