“Everyone in America deserves to live in a beautiful community,” Keep America Beautiful asserts on the litter page of its website, www.kab.org. I certainly agree, even if that statement is not in the same league as our freedoms spelled out in the Bill of Rights. A lack of litter is a key ingredient for a “beautiful community”. As a local affiliate Keep Alliance Beautiful (KAB) conducts our own annual Litter Index survey. Last week’s process showed a commendable 1.25 point average for Alliance and Hemingford.
KAB Executive Director Kathy Worley reviewed the results and the process behind the survey on the last day of July after taking a volunteer to gauge rubbish levels in Hemingford that morning. Although data gathered is valuable when organizing cleanups, she explained, “It is something we do to satisfy Keep America Beautiful to keep in good standing.”
Kathy and volunteers split Alliance into four areas. Hemingford is its own area. The former is quadrants on either side of Box Butte Avenue and Tenth Street. Further, the surveyors consider 10 neighborhoods (except for seven in Alliance’s northeast) in each area to rate cleanliness: 1 = “no litter”, 2 = “slightly littered”, 3 = “littered”, and 4 = “extremely littered”.
Of course my ears are burning. I know the objection: How about the area around the recycling center? We have our fair share of trash that escapes while transporting recyclables outside. The wind also likes to carry items from what people drop off after hours, including full, untied bags. “We know KAB’s rented lot is not always pristine,” Kathy said, adding employees are focused on daily operations with a concerted cleanup effort every couple weeks.
Overall, Keep America Beautiful paints a dirty picture of our country. “According to our most recent Litter Study there are more than 50 billion pieces of litter on the ground. That’s 152 pieces of litter for every American,” their website states. That would be at least 1.44 million pieces on the ground last week in Alliance and Hemingford. I don’t think so. Nowhere close. Maybe if a person could somehow locate and count every piece of litter in both towns at the present time I would stand corrected, but with the highest area in our survey rated at 1.45 my estimate is we’re below the 152 average. On the other side Alliance and Hemingford host their fair share of the 64,000 clean-up events Keep America Beautiful logged in 2024.
Litter index surveys catalogue just that – litter. “We’re not looking at weeds or anything else or making a judgement about somebody’s property,” Kathy emphasized. As for the goal to see trash where it does not belong, she said, “We were presently surprised every time. You’re looking for it (litter) and it’s not there. In a lot of the areas we did there are empty lots – that’s where a lot of the trash tends to congregate (compared) to residential neighborhoods.” The process also included parks, where litter also tends to be.
Area scores have been higher in recent years, like a 1.6 and 1.7 during 2022, Kathy said, though “We’ve never come close to a 3 or a 4.”
When the index confirms a certain spot needs spiffed up “you also need to be prepared to do a cleanup,” Kathy said.
Looking back, Kansas Street between Cody and South Potash yielded the most trash during the clean-up events where I’ve helped within city limits. Bringing a targeted neighborhood, park or street to virtually zero litter, even temporarily, is a great goal.
KAB does not promote organized cleanups in rural Box Butte County due to safety concerns along rural roads. Stretches of highways are available for adoption through the
Nebraska Department of Transportation. If individuals, families or groups desire to coordinate with an upcoming cleanup or just examine a spot themselves they can stop by the KAB office (lower level on the northeast side of the Municipal Building at 324 Laramie) for a form and brief training to do their own litter index. For you competitive sorts it could be a contest between neighborhoods for the best score. Just a suggestion as we inch closer to what we deserve.