Traditionally scheduled for the last two weeks of April and September, Litter Sweep is the N.C. Department of Transportation’s biannual statewide roadside litter removal initiative. Residents throughout the state participate in local efforts to help clean up North Carolina’s roadways.
In addition to volunteers, NCDOT maintenance crews devote one week of their time to pick up litter and collect orange bags placed on the roadsides by volunteer pickups.
NCDOT’s Macon County Maintenance Engineer Kenny McCourt reported that during the sweep 3.82 TONS of litter were picked up in just one week. The week project resulted in 944 bags of trash and large items such as tvs, dishwashers, mattresses, couches, and recliners, all being removed from Macon County roadways.
According to David Uchiyama with the NCDOT, compared to previous events, last week’s Litter Sweep was successful and the amount of trash collected was significant considering the geographical size and population of Macon County. With an average of 1 million pounds of trash collected annually during the Spring cleanup across the entire state of North Carolina, for Macon County to produce nearly 8,500 pounds as a small rural county is substantial.
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