No MOre Trash! Bash to run throughout April
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| Thousands of Missourians will scour highways and streams statewide next month in the No MOre Trash Bash. Organizers expect the event to net tons of trash and leave the state cleaner and more attractive. (Missouri Dept. of Conservation photo) |
Public response and the need for more clean-up events led the Missouri
departments of Conservation and Transportation to expand the annual event.
JEFFERSON CITY--What started as a week-long effort to beautify Missouri
highways and streams has evolved into a month-long event involving hundreds
of groups and thousands of citizens.
The Missouri departments of Conservation and Transportation launched No MOre
Trash! in 2002 in cooperation with the Missouri Litter-Prevention Advisory
Board. Their goal was to focus public attention on the problem of litter.
Besides offering promotional materials to help citizens and civic groups
start grassroots efforts, the campaign ran ads on cable television networks
statewide. To motivate young Missourians, the agencies sponsored an
anti-litter video production contest and published winning entries on the No
MOre Trash! Web site.
Apparently the campaign has worked. During last year's one-week event
volunteers collected 13,500 bags of trash and truckloads of used rubber
tires and other items too big to bag.
This massive cleanup was the work of Stream Teams, Conservation Department
staff, Adopt A Highway and Boy Scout groups, Department of Transportation
crews, Missouri Division of Corrections workers and other volunteers. To
encourage similar efforts on an even larger scale this year, sponsors
decided to hold a month-long No MOre Trash! Bash.
"Imagine tens of thousands of bags of trash," said Ginny Wallace, No MOre
Trash! coordinator for the Conservation Department. "That represents
hundreds of miles of clean, attractive rivers and highways across the state.
It is a huge contribution to quality of life, not to mention making us a
more attractive tourist destination, which benefits the state's economy."
To learn more about what is available to support local No MOre Trash!
programs and about the video contest, visit the No MOre Trash! Web site,
www.nomoretrash.org or contact Ginny Wallace, 573/522-4115, ext. 3294,
Ginny.Wallace@mdc.mo.gov.
- Jim Low -
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