Roadside litter continues to be a problem in Brownwood on both main entries and side streets. Brownwood is TRASHED OUT! The litter problem can be addresses in a number of ways, but the most important aspect is community involvement. We, as a community, need to take on the challenge of cleaning up Brownwood.
Keep Brownwood Beautiful (KBB) is declaring war on litter and the community’s help is needed. We need groups, families, individuals, businesses, and churches to step forward to clean Brownwood up. Winter is a great time to clean up. The litter is highly visible since grass is dormant.
The cycle of litter is the following: an item that is no longer needed or wanted is discarded into the environment, intentionally and unintentionally. That item is then displaced to areas such as fence lines and waterways and there it will sit until somebody picks it up. In the meantime, the piece of litter is a potential hazard for animals and contributes to water pollution. The presence of litter in a community takes a toll on quality of life, property values, and housing prices. Keep America Beautiful’s 2009 National Visible Litter Survey and Litter Cost Study found that litter in a community decreases property values 7%.
This is the year to clean up our community and take pride in community environment and appearance. KBB has supplies (litter tongs, Bagringers, garbage bags, patches for the scouts, disposal sites) for cleaning up, now we need the community to step up to the challenge. There are a number of options:
1. The Adopt-A-Spot program is a litter reduction campaign designed to remove debris and litter from city streets. The city-wide program takes the Don’t Mess With Texas Adopt-A-Highway program to the local level. This program requires a commitment of cleaning up the spot two times a year.
2. Litter Pickers- Once a month get together at a selected site where we pick up litter.
3. Independent Choice- You decide and KBB loans supplies.
Litter is ugly and an indicator of community pride and commitment. We are all in this together. See the job, do the job, and avoid the misery. Let’s clean up our act. Keep Brownwood Beautiful can be contacted at 641-0533 and kbwdb@verizon.net.