ATHENS, WV (WOAY) – There was no better way to ring in Spring Saturday than with the launch of the Keep Mercer Clean Campaign project, a yearly project organized by the County Commission to educate community members on why it’s important to keep the county clean, as well as to actively work to make it look a little nicer. The project launched Saturday with a pop-up litter pick up along Eades Mill Road from Pikeview High School down to Brush Creek Falls.
“We don’t take care of our properties and our lands as well as we should, and this was really an opportunity to give back to our community in a way that most people don’t get a chance to do,” says County Commissioner Greg Puckett. “This is an award-winning program that really focuses on getting several community-members out to say, it’s not my trash but it is my problem.”
Many different events revolving around the general theme of cleaning up the community are scheduled throughout the 40-day span the campaign will run, not only focusing on litter pick-up but free community dumpster days as well, along with other kinds of clean-up events. The Keep Mercer Clean Campaign has been an annual, ongoing project for several years now, and is an important asset to the community, and the environment at large.
“From an economic standpoint, Mercer County is really trying to draw in tourism, and trash on the roadways is not a very good draw for tourism,” says Joshua Parks, a Mercer County litter control officer. “And besides the economic impact, this litter pick-up is just beneficial overall to environmental health.”
With the help and cooperation of the Day Report Center and the West Virginia Turnpike, members of the campaign plan to really focus their efforts on cleaning up the roadways. And already, through these various roadside clean-ups, progress is being made.
“It takes a team effort. It would be nice, however, if you could tell people not to litter it up so bad, we wouldn’t have this problem, because it does make our resources a little thinner,” says Puckett. “But, hopefully, thanks to volunteers, we get a chance to get it cleaned up and looking nice for the Summer.”
There’s no better time than now to start cleaning up the environment, and the Keep Mercer Clean Campaign encourages everyone to get involved.
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