With all the beauty, history, and so many activities around us, it makes sense that all of us want to keep it clean and beautiful to share with others, right? Well…not everyone. Some people still toss trash, (fast food wrappers, plastics and cigarettes butts, to name just a few). Some people still have massive piles of trash around their property and even on their porches. Some have old cars among other large items sitting in their yards with weeds covering them. Do we want to share these kind of sites with those who visit here? It’s not just the public places, but our own that we must take some pride in and keep them looking the best we can. This will not only be more acceptable for outsiders to see, but instills a sense of pride in those who help keep our town and county beautiful. Try it if you haven’t…

Today we are not going into all the ways litter and trash can harm us and our environment, we’ve already done that. It is to encourage people to clean up their property and take pride in what they have achieved. If there are old cars and junk, some money could be made! It is to remind everyone of the importance of retaining the beauty of our area to share with others. It is to help every citizen have pride in his or her own space. It is so we can hear from people who visit,“How clean it is here” or “there is no litter here.”

We can do this, Carter County. I have met some remarkable people here and have faith that we can make this wonderful place even more appealing to those who come here to enjoy it.

We have a great chapter of Keep America Beautiful: Keep Carter County Beautiful or KCCB, a hard working group of people who have worked very hard in the past few years to clean up and maintain the beauty we enjoy here. They will help citizens learn the laws concerning litter and ways we all can help our county become litter free and, you can believe it, more beautiful ever! Visit Keep-CarterCountyBeautiful.org for times of meetings, events and becoming a volunteer. You can also find KCCB on Facebook.

With the thousands of visitors East Tennessee has in the fall to enjoy the colors in these beautiful mountains, we need to help KCCB get ready for them so they will share with family and friends at home what a beautiful place we have here. So, pick up a piece of litter today! And spread the word about everyone pitching in to help us keep visitors coming back!

You are in my prayers,

E.J.