More than 445k pounds of litter picked-up along Cape Fear area roadways this year

LELAND, NC (WWAY) – Litter costs millions to clean up and it can have a negative impact on tourism.

According to the North Carolina Department of Transportation, a mess along highways could push them to pick another place to visit in the future.

According to the DOT, the first step to prevent littering is awareness and getting people involved in Adopt-A-Highway, Litter Sweep, Sponsor-A-Highway, and Swat-A-Litterbug programs.

Since the start of the year, more than 445,000 pounds of litter have been picked up along Cape Fear area roadways.

Data broken down from January 1, 2022, to November 3, 2022, for the following counties show:

Brunswick- 197,295 pounds of litter picked up

Bladen- 15,945 pounds of litter picked up

Columbus – 47,385 pounds of litter picked up

New Hanover- 73,440 pounds of litter picked up

Pender- 110,970 pounds of litter picked up

According to NCDOT spokeswoman Bridgette Barthe, most litter is unintentional.

“Unsecured loads are maybe one of the most unintentional littering that we see because people don’t think, they go, oh, I’m only going a few miles down the road. I don’t need to tie things down in the back of my truck and that causes things to fly out,” she said. “Pay attention to what you throw out in the back of your truck because you never know what’s going to fly out.”

Barthe said items that end up on the roadway result in more than debris on the side of the road

“You never know how it’s going to impact the other drivers around you,” she said.  “So just really re-iterating, don’t litter, North Carolina is beautiful.”

Another way you can help is by buying a “Do Not Litter” specialty license plate, which costs an additional $20 fee on top of the regular fee. Those funds go to the state’s litter reduction efforts.

North Carolina’s litter laws can be found here.