TDOT Continues Their Fight Against Highway Litter With No Trash November

Tennessee Department Of Transportation continues its fight against highway litter with its 3rd annual No Trash November.

The month-long statewide initiative attached to Nobody Trashes Tennessee encourages citizens to participate in local cleanup events. The program last year included over 1,300 volunteers participating in 95 events and collecting over 48,000 pounds of litter off roadways. Highway Beautification Office Manager Mike McClanahan said his main focus is educating citizens on how much litter there is, and how expensive it is to clean.

“We had focus groups tell us during our 2016 research, we asked them ‘how much do you think we spend on litter?’ And they raised their hand and said ‘Oh you know, $15,000, $20,000,’” McClanahan said. “And then we said ‘no, try $20 million.’ And they were just gobsmacked.”

McClanahan said in 2016 TDOT found 100 million pieces of litter in Tennessee, since decreasing to 88 million pieces last November. McClanahan said though there has been improvement, the cost of cleaning up the litter has also steadily risen throughout the years.

“That number, that 23 million dollar number is not going down anytime soon,” McClanahan said. “We feel like we’re doing more pickup maybe than we have in I don’t know how long at the department.”

McClanahan said that TDOT is looking at different strategies regarding its messaging to motivate citizens not to litter.

“That is at our forefront, we’re constantly thinking about that,” McClanahan said. “Hopefully if the messaging’s right, if we’re reaching people and they care, they’re littering less and hopefully it’ll turn into a cycle of we’re spending less and picking up less.”

McClanahan said citizens often don’t realize the damage natural items such as apple cores and banana peels can have on highway litter. McClanahan said compounding litter hurts the environment, and can even contribute to a higher crime rate. McClanahan said that compounding litter can also affect state tourism, as visitors often don’t want to stay somewhere that looks unkempt.