No MOre Trash! Bash Scheduled for April
JEFFERSON CITY –April is the month when many people spring clean their homes, but the Missouri departments of Transportation and Conservation are urging Missourians to turn their attention outside to roadways, streams and yards with a month-long litter-prevention celebration. The No MOre Trash! Bash is scheduled for April and encourages volunteers to clean up Missouri and work toward a litter-free state.
“Ending Missouri’s litter problem requires more than just picking up trash,” said Stacy Armstrong, MoDOT roadside management supervisor. “Many people think nothing of tossing cigarette butts, empty fast food wrappers and bottles and cans onto the ground. We have to do more than just pick up trash -- we have to change the way people think.”
Last year’s first month-long No MOre Trash! Bash was a huge success drawing 10,244 volunteers. Together, the volunteers picked up 60,294 bags of trash off Missouri roads and out of Missouri streams. In addition to the bags of trash, groups picked up untold numbers of tires and other items too big to place in trash bags.
Many people chipped in last April to pick up trash, including MoDOT crews, Missouri Department of Conservation employees and Stream Team members, Adopt-A-Highway volunteers and incarcerated crews.
Each year, MoDOT alone spends approximately $5 million to clear litter along highways throughout the state – mostly litter that people have thrown out vehicle windows. The Missouri Department of Conservation spends an additional $1 million a year to clean up waterways and conservation areas.
The 3,700 Adopt-A-Highway groups and hundreds of Stream Team volunteers spend countless hours on litter cleanup, but litter continues to line our roads and streams, Armstrong said. The money spent on litter cleanup could resurface many miles of roads, replace and repair bridges, improve habitats for wildlife and people and enhance parks and playgrounds.
“We want people to realize littering isn’t good for anyone,” Armstrong said. “It costs Missouri millions of dollars each year – money that could be spent improving Missouri roads.”
A Web site, www.nomoretrash.org, offers information on how you can pitch in during the April No MOre Trash! Bash. It also gives Missourians a forum for sharing what they’re doing in their schools, communities and businesses – to learn from each other and to spread the idea of litter-free living.
“We urge you to schedule a litter pickup during April to raise awareness for the No MOre Trash! Bash,” Armstrong said. “Volunteers who report their activity will be recognized with a lapel pin.”
Watch for further details at www.nomoretrash.org.
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Editor’s note: Recorded comments on this topic are available on MoDOT’s sound bite service at www.modot.org/newsroom.
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