DeKalb County conducting a countywide cleanup initiative to improve the community’s appearance ahead of the tourism season.
DeKalb County Solid Waste Director Chris Chapman said the department is using advertising and community outreach to encourage residents to participate in the effort. Chapman said the county is providing dumpsters in different locations and coordinating with local volunteers to ensure the cleanup is effective across the region.
“DeKalb County is my home and a lot of folks home around here who were born and raised around here,” Chapman said. “If we can all do our part to keep it clean, you know, overall it’s going to bring more people in, more money in. It’s just everything, just a better, clean DeKalb County’s better for everybody.”
Chapman said starting the cleanup process now allows the county to set a standard for how the community should look before the peak travel months arrive. Chapman said the visibility of the project is intended to influence public behavior and encourage residents to take more pride in their surroundings.
“Maybe if we, you know, let people know that we care,” Chapman said. “We do care how stuff looks around here. We do care, you know, that there’s trash on the roads and stuff like that. And just just just to show people that, you know, we are very interested in in keeping the DeKalb County clean and and making it the the best we can make it.”
Chapman said while many new residents have moved into the area recently, he hopes everyone who calls the county home will contribute to the effort. Chapman said the task does not have to be time-consuming, suggesting that residents can help simply by picking up litter while they are out walking.
“I just think that, you know, if they love this county as much as I do, they should do everything they can to try to keep it clean,” Chapman said. “I’m not saying, you know, just go out of your complete way to just do everything because everybody’s busy and they have stuff to do and I understand that, but it don’t take no time to to pick up some trash.”
Chapman said the goal is to show both residents and visitors that the county is an amazing place that is well-maintained. Chapman said that while every area deals with litter, a collective effort from the community can significantly improve the local environment.
“I would just like them to know that, you know, we’re trying our best,” Chapman said. “We are trying our best to clean this place up and it’s I mean, you know, I’m not talking about DeKalb just to be just dirty and this and that, but everywhere has trash, everywhere has litter. And you know, if we can get everybody on board to to just attempt to clean up, if everybody just attempts to clean up and we get a bunch of people on board, you know, this place will be great.”
Chapman said he is interested in coordinating a second cleanup event during the fall. Chapman said a future event could potentially include a collection for hazardous materials such as old paint.