A little effort by everyone will make a big difference for nation’s 250th birthday

If tens of thousands of volunteers do that, 50 billion pieces of litter will be removed across the United States, according to Keep America Beautiful.

“As we are leading up to our nation’s 250th birthday celebration, we want to make sure that America is as clean and green and beautiful and safe as possible,” says Mallory Coffey, KAB’s national director of affiliate development.

So KAB is sponsoring “The Greatest American Clean-Up” and aiming to recruit 25,000 communities across the nation to participate.

Among the first 100 communities in the United States to be invited to participate are Orangeburg County and its communities, Coffey said.

“Orangeburg County has been part of the Great American Clean-Up for decades,” Coffey said.

Each October, residents are encouraged to “clean where you live, work, and play,” and afterward, they can call county employees to pick up and dispose of the filled bags.

So “you’ve already got the tools: the grabbers, the vests, the buckets, the bags, and now, the carts,” Coffey said. New this year is a device that holds the bags open.

“These are things you can reuse over and over every day,” she said. “We want to make sure that our volunteers are fully equipped to complete this mission. That is key.”

Coffey spoke on Thursday, Aug. 15, at a gathering that was hosted by the Orangeburg County Soil and Water Conservation District Commission, which also serves as the Keep Orangeburg County Beautiful Board.

Commissioners in attendance were Chair Jackie Fogle, Harold Donnelly, Louise Hughes, George Ulmer, and Associate Commissioner John Cuttino Sr.

The County Council members were invited. Janie Cooper-Smith was present.

The mayors of all 17 municipalities in the county were invited to attend or send representatives. Eutawville, Livingston, North, Norway, Springfield, and Vance were represented.

KOCB Executive Director Lisa Rigden and Education Coordinator Diane Curlee and volunteers Pat and Roxanne Milhouse also attended.

Members of the County Legislative Delegation were also invited.

“Look at all the diversity in this room today,” Coffey said. “We’re all coming together because we believe the same thing: that littering is wrong. Everyone can be a part of this. We just want all of us to work together to do something beautiful.”

She clarified that a “community” doesn’t have to be a governmental entity. It can be a neighborhood, a social or civic group, or a church congregation.

“I don’t want you to ever think your community is not beautiful. It definitely is,” Coffey said, adding that litter can divert people’s attention from that beauty.

Each participating community is being asked to pledge to sponsor three community clean-ups and host two waste-reduction and/or beautification events. “If you want to do more, do whatever you have the capacity to do,” she said.

“If no one has asked you to volunteer, I am asking you now,” Coffey said. “You’re going to make new friends and meet neighbors you never knew. We’re asking everyday people to do simple tasks. Together. you can do this.”

“And we want to end it with a giant celebration showing how proud we are to live in a clean, green, beautiful country,” Coffey said.

Another special guest was Sarah Lyles, the executive director of PalmettoPride. One of its divisions is Keep South Carolina Beautiful, which is the state affiliate of KAB.

Lyles said PalmettoPride has set a tentative date of Wednesday, Sept. 18, to kick off “The Great South Carolina Clean-Up” with 10 clean-up events – hopefully including one in Orangeburg County – in conjunction with the nationwide initiative.

Also addressing the group was Mernard Clarkson, who was hired as Orangeburg County’s litter and animal control code enforcement director about two and a half years ago.

“We’re out there doing everything we can with what we have,” Clarkson said. “We are making cases. We are enforcing the laws. But we can’t do it alone. We’ve got to have community involvement. If you see something, say something.”

People who encounter litter should either dispose of it in a legal manner or “leave it where it is, and call us. We know how to secure it and dispose of it properly,” he said.

It’s tempting to rummage through bags of trash left alongside a road or at an illegal dumping site, looking for names and addresses, or to carry the bags to a police station, Clarkson said.

But “then we’ve got a problem: evidence has been tampered with,” which impedes the ability to file charges, he explained. “Our judges don’t want litter in the county, either. They support what we do. But they want us to do it right.”

A lot of folks in Orangeburg and Bamberg counties know Coffey, the national KAB official, by her maiden name: Mallory Biering.

More than a decade ago, Bamberg County hired her to establish Keep Bamberg County Beautiful. That’s when “I fell in love with this mission,” she said.

Three years later, she accepted a state-level position at PalmettoPride. She began her present national-level duties about two years ago.

“KAB has more than 750 affiliates,” she said. “We’re coming together as a nation to take care of our nation by picking up litter and planting trees and flowers. It’s inspiring work. I feel blessed and fortunate,” she said.

For more information:

Keep Orangeburg County Beautiful: Lisa Rigden at lrigden@orangeburgcounty.org or 803-534-2409, ext. 8903 or Diane Curlee, dcurlee@orangeburgcounty.org or 803-534-2409, ext. 8918.

Orangeburg County Code Enforcement: litter@orangeburgcounty.org or 803-533-6162 or 803-531-8787.

Keep America Beautiful: kab.org