WOMAN STARTS CAMPAIGN TO PREVENT... THE BRUNT OF THE LITTER

At the Bellevue Bed & Breakfast, owner Marsha Toll pulled out pictures she has taken of Cape Girardeau's dirty little secret.

Unfortunately, litter isn't that much of a secret.

A member of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce Beautification Committee, Toll has started an anti-litter campaign that could lead to an affiliation with Keep America Beautiful Inc., the non-profit environmental education organization that sponsored the famous Iron Eyes Cody ads of the 1970s.

The way to curb littering is through education, Toll says.

"Our effort is to stop it before it hits the ground."

KAB provides school curriculum for teachers, teacher training and a Litter Index communities can use to gauge their anti-litter progress. Before the affiliate is certified, members of the community attend a one-day training workshop teaching them how to use KAB's methods.

Educating children eventually results in educated parents, Toll says.

The Chamber of Commerce will put up the $2,000 KAB certification fee, and Mayor Al Spradling III has indicated the city would be willing to pay the annual $250 fee. If Cape Girardeau became a KAB affiliate, it would be Missouri's first. Five hundred KAB affiliates are operating in 40 states.

Cape Girardeau already is accomplishing two of KAB's goals recycling and beautification, Toll says. But litter seems to be more difficult to corner.

Blowing from other places

Most of Cape Girardeau's litter problems are caused by people throwing things out of car windows and leaving trash can lids off, says Pam Sander, the city's solid waste coordinator. "A lot of it is just blowing from other places," says Sander. Public education is part of her job, and she is helping Toll form the steering committee that could evolve into a KAB affiliate.

The area around Central High School, near Southeast Missouri State University, downtown and the areas near some of the city's largest retailers are some of the worst spots for litter, she says.

But, Toll says, "it's a citywide problem."

One problem is that litter seems to breed more litter. "When people see it out there, it just gets built up," Toll says.

The city's nuisance abatement department handles extreme litter and dumping cases but often can't identify the offenders, Sander says. "There's no way to know who's causing it."

Cape Girardeau already has an adopt-a-street anti-litter program. The program is not actively promoted and interest seems to come and go, says Tim Gramling, the city's assistant public works director.

Currently, only two organizations are sponsoring a street -- the Social Work Club of SEMO and the NAACP. The SEMO club maintains an area near West End Boulevard and Jefferson Street. The NAACP has been cleaning up a section of South Middle Street.

Leola Twiggs, who lives on the 200 block of Middle Street, was involved with the NAACP effort. The local branch is in an inactive phase and hasn't conducted a cleanup since November, though it plans to resume the work. Meanwhile, Twiggs and some of her neighbors and family members have continued picking up litter on the street.

"We're keeping it up," she said.

Organizations that do three cleanups qualify to have their name put on an adopt-a-street sign. The sign will stay up as long as the organization continues to clean the section of street a specified number of times a year. The city provides trash bags and picks up the bags afterward.

Problems areas worked

The city's Public Works Department is in charge of picking up litter in the city except when it occurs in parks. Some areas known to be trouble spots are regularly worked, but Gramling points out that these are the same workers who repair the city's streets. "As there's a need we do it," he says.

KAB was formed in 1954. The nonprofit organization claims that every $1 in municipal funds invested in an affiliate program returns $10 to the community in reduced clean-up costs and donated goods and services.

Peggy Malone, the KAB director in Carbondale, Ill., will speak at an organizational meeting at 5 p.m. April 30 at Bellevue Bed & Breakfast, 312 Bellevue St. Anyone interested in learning more about KAB or joining the steering committee is invited. For more information, phone Toll at 335-3302.

The KAB format provides for an executive director, but Toll says the work could be done by volunteers.

Even if a decision is made not to become a KAB affiliate, Toll says she hopes enough like-minded people will become involved to work on the litter problem.

"If KAB never happens, that's OK," she said. "The main goal is to get Cape clean."