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Article published Jul 6, 2003
Statewide litter program aimed at interstates first of its kind

Gary Henderson
Staff Writer

An innovative program to wipe out eyesores that litter is leaving on South Carolina's interstates will be launched next week in the Upstate.
Called Prideways, the initiative will partner businesses, several state agencies and prison inmates in a first-of-its-kind effort to rid the interstate highways of trash.
This program to combat litter is part of Palmetto Pride, The Governor's Council on Beautification and Litter.
Prideways works this way:
Corporations, local businesses or private groups of individuals purchase the sponsorship of a two-mile section of interstate. A Palmetto Prideways sign, with the sponsor's name, is erected at both ends of the 10,000-foot stretch.
At least twice each month, inmates from the South Carolina Department of Corrections will pick up and bag the trash from both sides of the roadway and from the median.
Becky Barnes, Palmetto Pride campaign coordinator, said the Prideways trash pickup effort is unique.
"We're the first state to do it this way," Barnes said. "Some states have gone to contract out-sources. We looked at that, but it was too expensive."
The program is modeled after a similar cleanup effort in New York City. There, entertainment celebrities acted as sponsors.
Prideways should not be confused with the volunteer Adopt-A-Highway program that's already in place on streets and roadways.
Safety regulations prohibit volunteer pickup projects on interstate highways.
Barnes said inmates could pick up the litter because DOC officers provide protection from traffic while they work.
Prideways started only a few weeks ago. Five companies in the Midlands already have signed contracts for stretches of the interstate highways in and around Columbia.
Sponsors pay $365 per month
and a one-time $700 charge for the signs that are erected on the interstate.
Barnes said corporations have liked the program because it "gets their name into areas where auto traffic counts are high.
"The money only pays DOC for the supervisors, vans, equipment and gas. The inmates are not paid," Barnes said.
Barnes said about 15 other companies have committed to support the program and are waiting to complete their contracts with the state.
Jon Ozmint, director of the South Carolina Department of Corrections, said the financial support of the partnerships is important because of state and local cutbacks.
"This program is a significant benefit to the Department of Corrections," Ozmint said. "Budget cuts have severely impacted our agency's ability to continue programs such as inmate litter pickup. It is good to see private businesses and organizations willing to step forward through programs such as Palmetto Prideways."
Barnes said some sponsors have chosen a mile segment on either side of the interstate exit near their business, providing customers a litter-free approach to their locations.
Officials plan to expand Prideways at a later date to include some primary and secondary roads as well.
The Sticky Fingers Restaurant chain in Columbia was the first sponsor to sign up.
Shelly Wolford, with Sticky Fingers' marketing department, said the chain's owners were ready to sign on as soon as they knew the Prideways program was in development.
"Our owners came here in 1992 to open their first restaurant (in Mt. Pleasant)," Wolford said. "Since then, they've seen a lot of development, and I think they wanted do their part to keep South Carolina the way it was when they came here."
Lexington Memorial Hospital, Budweiser of Columbia and Greenville, Sysco Foods and SCANA Corp. have joined up as well.
Starting Monday, Upstate businesses will begin receiving information packets about Prideways. Representatives also will call on others that have been targeted as potential partners.
Palmetto Pride started in 1999 as an anti-litter program of education, enforcement, awareness and pick up.
Last year, the Keep America Beautiful program named the South Carolina initiative the best in the nation.
Barnes said the new Prideways plan will help make the state's roadways more attractive, but it also will lessen the impact South Carolina has already felt because of its litter-strewn highways.
"We hear county and state economic development people say all the time that litter is a big problem (with potential new businesses)," Barnes said. "They tell us it has a very big impact on tourism."
Gary Henderson can be reached at 562-7230 or gary.henderson@shj.com.