Georgia targets litter

On Tuesday, Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue announced that the state is launching a new three-pronged program to tackle litter. Employing the tagline “Litter. It Costs You,” the campaign will focus on education, enforcement and eradication. The announcement came during the two-day Governor’s Litter Summit, which was created to raise awareness about littering and illegal dumping, to provide training for law enforcement officials and to showcase communities and organizations with successful anti-litter programs.

“Litter is ugly, it costs money to clean up and gives the impression that we are not proud of our communities,” said Perdue in a press release. “We need to make a commitment that we care about our how our state looks. We are going to start early with Georgia’s youngest citizens. We’ll harness their enthusiasm to fight litter and then encourage their parents and grandparents to be good examples, too.”

In addition to educational and community outreach components, the campaign will include television advertisements, a Web site, and a mascot, the “Brown Trasher,” inspired by the Brown Thrasher, Georgia’s state bird.