Leadership in Greenwood and Leflore County will come together to address a litter problem that is getting “worse and worse and worse,” says Leflore County Board of Supervisors President Robert Collins.
Representatives from the city and county will participate in a Keep Mississippi Beautiful session from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Greenwood-Leflore County Chamber of Commerce.
The goal of the gathering is to “get a game plan that everyone feels comfortable with,” said Mayor Carolyn McAd-ams.
The meeting will determine the members of a committee to address littering everywhere in the county. Responsibilities, the size of the committee and membership will be determined as well.
The meeting is open to the public, including those who don’t want to serve on the committee but want to help.
McAdams said she wants to create motivation and awareness to keep the city and the county clean.
She recalled that a former program of the Chamber of Commerce, Community Pride, would occasionally organize community trash collections.
“I think we’re going to have to pick those programs up to get people interested in the fact that the city employees cannot keep the whole entire city clean, especially when (the litter) is on private property,” she said. “You can drive around in these neighborhoods, and you can see in the yard or in the ditch or along the perimeter of their home all of this litter.”
She said there isn’t a day that goes by on her morning walks that she doesn’t see a discarded beer bottle or a thrown-away fast food bag.
“If I don’t pick it up, who is going to pick that up?” she asked. “It’s going to be my responsibility even though I certainly did not put it down there. People are going to have to get on the same page here and help us keep our city clean.”
Beth Stevens, executive director of the chamber, said the community’s cleanliness can have an impact on whether businesses choose to settle here.
“People get that first impression of a community,” she said. “A lot of times, that first impression doesn’t come from the people they meet. It comes from what they see.”
She said how a city handles its litter is “very telling” to prospects.
“It tells people either we care about our community or we don’t care about our community,” she said. “A lot of times we have business prospects looking at the community, and we never know they’re here looking. We always need to be vigilant about what our community looks like.”
Collins said the county is “overwhelmed with litter and garbage” but added that he hopes “good people who care about their community” will be put on the committee.
“Anything that we can get to help us out, man, we’re going to be so proud we won’t know what to do,” he said.
- Contact Kevin Edwards at 662-581-7233 or kedwa-rds@gwcommonwealth.com.
