Anti-Litter group picks up its pace
TEXARKANA — The Texarkana Regional Chamber of Commerce and various members of the Texarkana community met Thursday morning to determine the best ways to create a cleaner city. It was the anti-litter group’s third meeting.
The focus was on identifying and utilizing assets among within the group and its connections to figure out the best way to use those assets to achieve a common goal.
This meeting focused on creating a 90-day action plan to achieve the goal of uniting local organizations and community members in the fight against litter.
The correlation between litter and crime rates in cities was noted by the group and was established as an action point in the group’s overarching message to the community. Another issue brought up was how to create a sense of urgency for renters in certain neighborhoods to keep their areas clean, despite not having an ownership interest.
Leaders from the Chamber of Commerce said combining new efforts with existing ones would also be an advantage to the overall mission.
The media/communication group decided on creating a graphic with a unifying message and bullet points to share with 10 local organizations in Texarkana within the next 90 days. Creating a common language throughout all of the groups was a key factor mentioned by Ruth Ellen Whitt, executive director of Leadership Texarkana.
“If we don’t have a common language, we’re dead in the water,” she said. “The whole principle is that this isn’t 100 different efforts — it’s one effort.”
Other initiatives from groups included a plan for a neighborhood clean-up, setting up an educator meeting to convey to teachers and students to get them involved and a business effort to network and create a wider range of helping hands.
This was the first day of goal-setting for each group, and they plan to review the first 30 days worth of progress on those goals at the next meeting, which is currently planned for July 22 with the location yet to be determined.