Coming together: CITY AND COUNTY CREATE JOINT INITIATIVE TO CLEAN SUMTER
BY SHELBIE GOULDING The most common litter items can take the longest to decompose: 20 years for a plastic bag, 50 years for a tin can, 200 years for an aluminum can, 450 years for a plastic bottle and 1 million years for a glass bottle. Litter not only affects a community by clogging waterways and storm drains, creating road hazards and decreasing property value, but it also affects the wellbeing of the people who live and drive through it. Last year was a year to take charge in Sumter County. Both city and county governments began an initiative to clean up the community, one bag and volunteer at a time.
City of Sumter
The City of Sumter began its Litter Prevention initiative in August 2020. In that first year, the city hired its first litter officer, Glenn Button, and organized community clean-up days as well as other educational and hands-on programs. The impact? A total of 108,980 pounds of trash was collected in 2021 compared to 7,000 pounds in 2020.
Sumter County Government
Last summer, county government officials implemented a 2-mill increase in its fiscal 2022 budget to fund its $318,000 litter program. The money came after the community’s cry for a solution to the litter. Although it won’t necessarily solve the problem, it’s something that can mitigate the issue, thanks to volunteers, a litter rake machine, education pushes and enforcement measures; the program’s threelegged stool format focuses on cleanup, enforcement and education. The rake machine, a tractor to pull it and a dump truck for the litter cost $350,000. Although it’s not a vacuum truck, it can collect litter from roadways and shoulders with the help of a county-employed crew. The cleanup leg will consist of the machine,
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2022-20 2 3 L I F E I S G O O D IN S U M TER
