by

Dave Hardin

Public Information Officer

Twice each year, Catawba County works with the North Carolina Department of Transportation on our version of "Litter Sweep ". It's our part of a statewide effort to encourage citizens, businesses, civic groups and volunteers to clean up public areas such as roads, highways, lakes, streams and parks.

The next Litter Sweep runs from Saturday, September 20 through October 4, 2008. Two different kinds of bags, blue for recyclable materials and orange for other kinds of trash, will be available at the Utilities and Engineering Offices on the second floor of the Government Center in Newton; at the Cooperative Extension Office off Highway 321 Business in South Newton; at the North Carolina Department of Transportation's County Maintenance Office on Prison Camp Road between Newton and Maiden; and at Garbage Disposal Service's office at 4062 Section House Road in Hickory.

Everyone who brings these bags to the County's Blackburn Landfill, or one of our five convenience centers, will be able to dispose of the trash free of charge during the Litter Sweep. You may also call the N.C. Department of Transportation's county maintenance office at 828-466-5519 to arrange for someone to come and pick up your orange bags.

Volunteers will need to insure that the items they collect in blue bags are properly recycled. You may take them to any convenience center and staff will help you get them properly recycled. Or you could place them in a recycling bin you may have at your home. But be aware that the N.C. Department of Transportation will not come to pick up blue bags.

The County’s five Convenience Centers are located at the Blackburn Landfill entrance on Rocky Ford Road off Highway 10 west of Newton; on Lookout Dam Road in the Oxford Community; on Sherrills Ford Road; at the old Newton Landfill on Bethany Church Road; and in the Cooksville Community on Rhoney Farm Road.

Because some people have tried to take advantage of this program to dispose of trash from their homes free of charge, everyone who stops by to get a bag will be asked to specify which roadside or common area they will be working to clean up.

Thanks to the hard work of dedicated staff and citizens working with the relatively new Keep Catawba County Beautiful organization and its predecessor, the Catawba County Litter Task, the number of persons participating in Litter Sweep has been on the increase! We're hoping this momentum, which is beginning to build through the involvement of more clubs, groups and individuals, will continue with the next Litter Sweep in late September and early October.

A lot of your neighbors are taking action to make the parks, lakes and roadsides in their community more beautiful. Won't you consider joining them?

If you'd like to help make the Litter Sweep from September 20 through October 4 the most successful yet, please call Kelly Groves at 828-465-8246 for information on how you or your group might get involved.