Well, here it is, October again, and I admit I am just a little preoccupied with things like winning football games. But I just learned that Saturday is national "Make a Difference Day," and I suggest we use that day to do something thousands of South Carolina schoolchildren have already done. Let's all take the Palmetto Pride Promise and make a big dent in our state's litter problem. It goes like this:
I promise to 1) Pick up one piece of litter every day. 2) Remind friends, neighbors and relatives never to litter. 3) Participate in at least one cleanup every year. 4) Do my part to keep South Carolina litter-free.
Litter is more than just an eyesore. It's spoiling our reputation as caring, thoughtful people in a friendly, welcoming state. And, worse yet, it's bad for our economic future. We would all love to see more jobs, better jobs, higher-paying jobs in our state, but trash on the roads and in our cities and towns makes South Carolina a lot less appealing to new business and industry, and that's where new, better jobs come from.
Many people remember me making a comment a few years back about this otherwise lovely state having unsightly roadsides: "We must have the cleanest cars in America, because all the trash is out along the highways." Apparently plenty of people agreed. The state immediately created an anti-litter organization -- Palmetto Pride -- that has done a good job of getting the message into schools, businesses and neighborhoods throughout the state. Keep America Beautiful named Palmetto Pride's 2002 anti-litter television campaign the best in the nation. Working together, Palmetto Pride and Departments of Transportation and Corrections have reduced litter on our Interstates by 33 percent.
If you want to make a difference and want more ways to help, log on to www.palmettopride.org where you'll find a list of 50 ways you can help fight litter. It includes simple things like "don't litter" and "pick up one piece of litter every day" and more involved opportunities like joining your local Keep America Beautiful affiliate and becoming an anti-litter volunteer all year around.
South Carolina is an exceptional place and my wife and I are proud and happy to be living in this beautiful state with such caring people, and I mean all the people.
LOU HOLTZ
Palmetto Pride
P.O. Box 50217
Columbia, S.C. 29250
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