Cooperation puts litter in its place

e-mail this story discuss this issue in our forums Guest column • Joey R. Preston: Citizens are picking up the tab for the state (01/26/04) • Phil Leventis: A four-year university in Sumter would benefit entire state (01/26/04) • David Shi: Author struck out as ballplayer, but he's a good sport about game (01/25/04) • Joe Erwin: Choosing to vote is the most important primary decision (01/25/04) • John Kerry: America needs a candidate to fight special interests (01/23/04) More details Alvin Wright is a colonel with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Division. He holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of South Carolina. Wright is the chairman of the PalmettoPride Enforcement Committee.

I can't say that one kind of litter is worse than another — it's all ugly. It's all expensive to clean up and it all casts South Carolinians in a negative light. And there's one more thing: littering in any form is against the law.

To combat the problem in South Carolina, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and PalmettoPride have made a real effort over the past year or so to team up with other enforcement agencies and environmental organizations, pooling our resources and manpower to form an effective, efficient anti-litter task force.

Last May, working with PalmettoPride's Enforcement Committee, we assembled a team made up of some 30 agencies from six counties around the state to conduct a Zero Tolerance for Litter Weekend. The task force included local, county, university and state law enforcement agencies, refuse control officers, the Litter Control Association and agents from the Forestry Commission. Specifically targeting high-litter areas, dumping sites, forests and illegal dumping areas, and monitoring for illegal transport of litter, the task force made an impact.

During the Zero Tolerance Weekend, local and county task force officers issued 63 summonses for littering violations ranging from throwing trash from vehicles, carrying uncovered loads, dumping at illegal sites, and throwing trash on the ground at green box locations. Twenty-one warnings were issued for transporting uncovered loads, and DNR officers issued another 213 litter citations statewide during the three-day campaign.

Since then, the number of task force participants has more than doubled with dozens more police departments coming on board along with agencies as diverse as DHEC, the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism (SCPRT) and the U.S. Forest Service. During September and October we focused on a variety of areas identified as "litter trouble spots" — state park and Forest Service lands, highways near recycle centers, land around lakes, mountain rivers and boat landings, and other identified sites. We also increased surveillance of commercial garbage services. Working as a team, task force members made nearly 50 significant cases over the past two months.

If the numbers surprise you, they shouldn't. Litter is a significant problem in South Carolina but we can beat it by working together. DNR is continuing to meet with other law enforcement agencies, and coordinating efforts to recruit more agencies. In time, we want to have task forces set up in every county and, ultimately, to adopt a "Zero Tolerance for Litter Everyday" policy statewide.

But I want to make another thing very clear. None of us want to be chasing down litterbugs and issuing tickets for littering. We would much rather see everyone comply with the law, but as long as there are individuals who insist on trashing our "home," we will keep doing whatever it takes to stop them.

And, because I believe that the solution to the problem lies in teamwork — our successful task force efforts are proof of that — I urge everyone reading this to join the team.

The first step is simple: don't add to the problem! And even if you don't join an organized clean-up group like PalmettoPride or Keep America Beautiful, you can help in other ways. Pick up one piece of trash every day. And, coming up soon, you can even help support our anti-litter task force by checking the box on your state income tax form to contribute one dollar to PalmettoPride to help pay for law enforcement efforts.

People say "every litter bit hurts." I'll just add that every little bit of cooperation helps.