Inside your county government
Community Cleanups: Keeping Charles County beautiful
April is here, and the outdoors will soon be filled with blooming flowers and budding trees. This month we celebrate not only nature’s beauty, but also Charles County Beautification Month. We invite you to help maintain our county’s beauty and make a difference by joining or organizing a community cleanup. Residents, businesses, civic groups, nonprofits, schools, churches, adopt-a-road groups, and volunteer organizations can get involved, lead, and/or help to spread the word about community cleanups. This is a great opportunity for students and scouts to earn community service hours.
Your county government is dedicated to ensuring Charles County remains a clean and livable community. Keep Charles County Beautiful, a program run by the Department of Public Works, Environmental Resources Division, is working toward the mission of beautifying and creating a sense of pride in Charles County by actively encouraging a litter-free environment through education, community improvements, enforcement, and support. Program activities include litter enforcement in residential and commercial areas, adopt-a-road and adopt-a-highway initiatives, capital improvement projects, watershed cleanup days, and community cleanups.
Cleanups benefit the community at large by improving the appearance and functionality of public areas, including parks, shorelines, schoolyards, sidewalks, and playgrounds. Gather your friends, families, co-workers, and neighbors today. Together you can help clean and improve neglected, vandalized, or misused public spaces.
Safety is another benefit of community cleanups. Crime is less likely to occur when a neighborhood is clean, welllit, and used frequently by residents. By reclaiming an abandoned park or playground, eliminating tall weeds and debris, or sprucing up sidewalks, areas are less attractive to criminals and more attractive to residents.
Remember, we are here to help you. As a part of the Beautification Month initiative, the Department of Public Works has identified 12 organized cleanup events to receive supplies, such as trash receptacles, mulch delivery, gloves, and trash bags. To join a community cleanup near you or for information on how to get involved, contact the Environmental Resources Division at 301-9323599, or visit www.CharlesCountyMD.gov/LitterBug.
We want to see your cleanup team in action. Document your group’s cleanup efforts with before and after photos, and submit them via email to PressRoom@CharlesCountyMD.gov for the chance to be featured on the Charles County Government Facebook and Twitter pages.
Beautification Month ends in April, but cleaning the community is a year-round effort. The success of this effort depends on your involvement. Roll up your sleeves, and put on garden gloves and sunscreen, as we clean our community, improve our county’s waterways, and combat litter together. Thank you in advance to our partner agencies, and all of the individuals and group volunteers working with us to “Keep Charles County Beautiful.” We appreciate you dedicating your time and effort towards keeping our community a clean and safe place to live, work, and play.
Bill Shreve is the Charles County director of Public Works.