Battling litter

The best way to win a battle is to know how strong your enemy is. In the battle against litter in Southeast Missouri, the scope of the problem is measured by taking regular litter surveys. There was good news last week as the latest survey indicated there is less litter along the roads in rural Cape Girardeau County than the last survey in 2006.

The survey along rural roads -- along with other surveys being conducted in Cape Girardeau, Jackson and Scott City -- is one of the requirements of affiliation with the Keep America Beautiful program. The local group is known as Keep Southeast Missouri Beautiful.

Litter is scored, with 4 being the worst littering and 1 being no litter. The rural county survey scored 1.32 this year, down from 1.88 two years ago. Volunteers doing the survey said heightened awareness may be the reason for the improvement.

The surveys rely on volunteers. If you would like to help with this project, contact Tim Arbeiter at the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce, the staff liaison for Keep Southeast Missouri Beautiful.

You also can do you own informal litter survey. How does the trash stack up in your neighborhood? Along the route you take to work or school or church?

Have you seen and/or reported any flagrant littering? You can do so anonymously by calling Crime Stoppers of Southeast Missouri at 332-0500. You can leave a voice-mail message with details.

Eliminating litter is everybody's problem. Here are opportunities to help.