By Taylor Boyd
County and town officials are working to address an uptick in trash along roadways and other public areas, with cleanups scheduled.
The county received a Waste Management Grant and is planning “to take five different parts of the county, probably one in each district, and devote inmates to each different part of the county,” Patrick County Sheriff Dan Smith said.
Inmates from the Patrick County Jail are scheduled to perform 18-hours of trash pick-ups in each district, according to the sheriff.
The areas that will be cleaned up “will just be a drop in the bucket of what needs to be done,” Smith said, and added that his department will not accept requests of areas to target because there are too many.
However, he encouraged “each citizen to adopt the part of the roadway that they live in and clean up. If each citizen would just cleanup 200-yards on each side of their driveway or house, it would make a remarkable difference.
“It’s the only way we can combat it is everybody pitching in and unfortunately taking responsibility for the irresponsibility of others,” Smith said.
Noting that April is designated as the town’s cleanup month, Stuart Town Manager Terry Tilley said sanitation crews are scheduled to help with cleanup efforts.
“Anyone who has some trash and stuff that they’re cleaning out of their basement or whatever” is advised that “on Thursdays of every week we’ll come by and pick it all up,” Tilley said.
Town residents are asked to take their bags of trash to the curb, Tilley said, and added a call to the Town Office will help ensure the trash is picked up.
“As long as they get it in a trash bag,” sanitation workers will pick it up for free, Tilley said. Town residents also “can come by and pick up some of these orange trash bags to help” with the cleanup process.
The town does not accept furniture and bigger items for free, Tilley said.
“We have to charge them since they charge us at the landfill, but regular household trash or stuff that they clean up out of the yard, or whatever they can get into an orange trash bag, we’ll take it,” he added.
Tilley added the cleanup can be extended through until May 31, if needed.
Rebecca Adcock, vice-mayor of the Town of Stuart and executive director of the Patrick County Chamber of Commerce, said the increase in trash is common throughout the state.
“I have been communicating some with the development director of Keep Virginia Beautiful, who says they have seen an uptick of trash in the Richmond area,” Adcock said.
While Adcock can’t address the reasons in Richmond, she speculates that one reason for the increase in Patrick County is the difficulty sometimes encountered in getting trash to the Transfer Station.
“Getting to the Transfer Station is not always convenient for people. When they can go, they find the station is closed, which is why it would be nice to have dumpsters at spots around the county like in Floyd County, to make it more accessible for county residents,” Adcock said.
Like many, she also noted the COVID-19 pandemic has caused an increase in trash, with people using more antibacterial wipes, gloves, disposable face masks, and take-out food containers.
“Just with all of us staying at home more, we are creating more trash. Which is no excuse as to why it is ending up on the side of the roads, but household trash has definitely increased,” Adcock said.
A National Visible Litter Survey and Litter Cost Study in 2009 by Keep America Beautiful (KAB), a non-profit organization, showed that 15 percent of individuals self-reported littering within the last month.
“In 1969, 50 percent admitted littering. While self-reported littering rates have declined in the past 40 years, individual littering-and litter-persists,” according to the report that also found litter is primarily the result of individual behaviors, with nearly one in five, or 17 percent, of all disposals observed in public spaces being litter, and 81 percent of littering occurred with notable intent.
“About 85 percent of littering is the result of individual attitudes. Changing individual behavior is key to preventing litter,” according to the KAB, which also said the community environment influences littering behavior.
The prevalence of existing litter contributing to littering, and “most littering occurs at a considerable distance from a receptacle. At the time of improper disposal, the average estimated distance to the nearest receptacles was 29 feet. The observed littering rate when a receptacle was 10 feet or closer was 12 percent, and the likelihood of littering increased steadily for receptacles at a greater distance,” the report stated.
The study also documented the direct and indirect costs of litter to communities, schools, and businesses, and found that states, cities, and counties together expend $1.3 billion on litter abatement. “Educational institutions spend approximately $241 million dollars annually for litter clean up. Similar to local governments, litter costs are often not included as a budget line item, making it difficult to determine the time spent on cleanup in hallways, cafeterias, and sports facilities,” according to the agency.
The group said that the trend of communities depending on volunteers to clean up litter is likely to grow, especially as “the U.S. – along with state and local governments – struggles economically, budget cuts may reduce tax-funded litter clean-up programs.”
The report said 93 percent of homeowners said a littered neighborhood would decrease their assessment of a home’s value and influence their decision to purchase a property, while 36 percent of business development officials say that litter impacts a decision to locate to a community.
Fifty-five percent of realtors “think that littler reduces property values by about 9 percent, and 60 percent of property appraisers would reduce a home’s value if it was littered,” according to the report, which added that the presence of litter in a community decreases property values by a little more than 7 percent, according to the National Association of Home Builders pricing model.
