Help needed to clean up county

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GREENVILLE – Do you want to help Darke County look it’s best? Join the Darke County Solid Waste District in its 12th annual Darke County “Trash Bash” Community Clean-up Day on Saturday and Sunday, April 18 and 19.

By participating, you help create a good impression on prospective employers, retail businesses, professionals, and others who visit our “clean” county.

A recent survey conducted by Keep America Beautiful, Inc. indicated that 48 percent of Americans admit to littering in the past 10 years. What’s worse, a separate poll showed that 30 percent of youths, aged 8-14, said they don’t care about litter. There are solutions to the litter problem. An aggressive approach towards keeping an area clean is a simple and effective measure. Everyone deserves to live in a community that is healthy, safe, clean and beautiful, and we all have a role to play in achieving this goal.

Through volunteer efforts, clean-up will be focused on approximately 600 miles of Darke County’s most traveled county and township roads. These roads were chosen with the help of Darke County Engineer James Surber and County Highway Garage Superintendent Shane Coby.

“Litter brings more litter,” Krista Fourman, Solid Waste District director, said. “The cleaner you keep a place, the less chance it will be littered. I think you pick up less litter if you keep an area clean. It’s easier for people to throw litter where they see tons of other litter.”

How can you participate? The Darke County Community Clean-Up day is scheduled for April 18 and 19, rain or shine. The collection is set to begin at 8 a.m. The district is looking for numerous groups of 4-6 to “pound the pavement” at their assigned two-mile locations picking-up bags of trash and recyclables. Clean-up groups can be started with friends from school, work, church, and volunteer organizations or clubs and there’s no age limit for volunteers. Call the district at 937-547-0827 to for more information.

Sign-up forms can also be found on the district’s website: www.co.darke.oh.us/solidwaste. Forms must be turned in by March 6, 2020.

Each group will be given black bags for trash and clear bags for recyclables. For separating the recyclables from the trash, each group will be awarded $75 (per 2+/- mile section) for participating. Awards will be given to Darke County non-profit organizations only. There is no limit to the number of groups that an organization can enter. County highway employees will follow assigned routes and will pick-up bags left on the targeted collection roads on April 20, 2020.

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