Anti-Litter Campaign Aims to Increase Awareness, Empower Students

By Holly Lynne Killian | Special to The Times “Littering is stupid! Be a litter quitter!” This is the blunt but honest message that the Litter Quitters Committee is hoping to leave with Jefferson County high school students and its citizens. Now in its seventh year, this anti-litter campaign aims to increase awareness about the negative effects of litter and empower students to become more actively involved in clean water promotion. Based on a Keep America Beautiful study, young adults aged 18 to 35 are three times more likely to litter than older adults. That is why the Committee has chosen to focus their attention on high school students, stopping bad habits before they are formed. As part of the Litter Quitters Campaign, the Committee hosts a 12-day anti-litter video competition inviting all public high schools within Jefferson County, AL to submit one video.  To add a layer of stormwater education, schools only competed against other schools in their stormwater drainage basin. This splits Jefferson County into 3 basins – Locust Fork, Valley Creek, and the Cahaba River. The videos with the most “likes” win 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in each of the 3 watershed drainage basins.  “It is...