The City of West Point is a wonderful community to live, work, play or just to visit. We have so much to be proud of, but like many communities across America, litter can be found along our city streets and local waterways.
We know this is not just an issue in our area. Last year, more than $16 million was spent statewide on removing litter from Georgia roads. These taxpayer dollars could go towards schools, parks, and other services.
What can I do?
Keep Troup Beautiful
Keep Troup Beautiful was organized in the early 1990’s by a group of LaGrange/Troup County citizens interested in recycling and beautification. The group hosts special events throughout the year, provides clean-up kits, has special programs with the local schools, and conducts research. You can contact them to:
- Organize a Clean-Up
- Get free gloves, trash bags and other supplies
- Get help choosing a location to clean up
- To adopt a street or roadway
Adopt-A-Highway
The GDOT Adopt-A-Highway Program is always looking for businesses, neighborhoods, church groups, and other organizations to adopt a street.
Secure your load
Trucks carrying unsecured loads dump litter onto the Georgia’s roads every day. Truck owners often use their truck beds as mobile garbage cans. Sure it’s handy, but the trash doesn’t always stay put. At highway speeds, with vehicles passing and bumpy roads, empty containers and other bits of trash easily become airborne and turn into litter.
- Don’t rely on the weight of items to keep them in your truck.
- Consider buying a cover
- All trash or recyclables should be in sturdy bags and covered by a strong tarp or cargo netting.
Visit the Department of Community Affairs for more information on securing your load. https://dca.ga.gov/sites/default/files/unsecuredloadsbrochure.pdf
Contact Us
If you see a road with an excessive amount of litter on a roadway or you see one of our trucks releasing litter. Call our Public Works Department at 706-645-3545 and let us know can send someone over and we can let our drivers know their load is not secured.
What is the City doing?
In February 2018, County and City Leadership sat down to discuss litter. From that conversation, the group decided to focus on education and awareness before enforcement. The City of West Point and City of Hogansville joined the Anti-Litter Campaign to educate and encourage residents not to litter.
Videos
Educational videos were created to create awareness about litter in our community.
I Love My Town
2018 Anti-Litter Campaign
Why does it matter?
We know litter, costs the Cities, the County and the State money, but there are also indirect costs our residents pay for litter. The indirect costs include property value, tourism, businesses, and development.
Keep America Beautiful surveyed homeowners, realtors, and business development officials nationally and released the following statistics:
- 93% of homeowners say a littered neighborhood would decrease their assessment of a home’s value and influences their decision to purchase a property
- 36% of business development officials say that litter impacts a decision to locate to a community.
- 55% of realtors think that litter reduces property values by about 9%.
- 60% of property appraisers would reduce a home’s value if it was littered
- The presence of litter in a community decreases property values by a little over 7%, according to the National Association of Home Builders pricing model.
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