Charlotte County Cleaner/Greener Committee to Sponsor $1,000 Litter Contest

The Charlotte County Cleaner/Greener Committee is offering the chance for your favorite charity, civicgroup or church mission to win a $1,000 grand prize by helping to keep the county clean through trash pick-up efforts!

According to the official rules, each organization that wishes to participate must fill out the provided registration form and pick up 10 or more bags of roadside litter from Charlotte County to qualify for a chance to win the grand prize.  Specifically, the rules also state that “each citizen, group, or organization must designate a charity or civic organization that will receive the prize money should they win.  Church mission work and/or projects are also eligible.”

According to Chairman Dexter Andrews, although this is the fourth year that the Cleaner/Greener Committee has done a litter pick-up, this is the first time that a grand prize has been offered to participants.  Andrews explained that the motivation for the idea came as an attempt to offer an innovative approach to inspire individuals to pick up litter in the area.

The Cleaner/Greener Committee has a goal of making Charlotte County the cleanest county in the commonwealth.  Andrews noted that some of the areas typically requiring the most attention are located within a couple miles of fast food restaurants and convenience stores.  Other areas that are known to contain an excess amount of litter include places where speed is greatly reduced, cloverleaf interchanges and near waterways.

While littering may not seem like a major offense, Code of Virginia § 33.1-346 Section A states “it shall be unlawful for any person to dump or otherwise dispose of trash, garbage, refuse, litter, a companion animal for the purpose of disposal, or other unsightly matter, on public property, including a public highway, right-of-way, property adjacent to such highway or right-of-way, or on private property without the written consent of the owner thereof or his agent.” Additionally, “Any person convicted of a violation of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by confinement in jail for not more than 12 months and a fine of not less than $250 or more than $2,500, either or both. In lieu of the imposition of confinement in jail, the court may order the defendant to perform a mandatory minimum of 10 hours of community service in litter abatement activities.”

The litter contest will run from February 7, 2015 until March 21, 2015.  For every 10 bags of litter collected, an extra ticket will be received for a chance to win the $1,000 grand prize.  Registration forms may be obtained by emailing Dexter Andrews at dexter.andrews@southside.edu.  All forms must be returned to the Charlotte County Administrator’s Office before litter pick-up can begin.  The winner will be announced on April 7, 2015 in a drawing during the monthly Board of Supervisors meeting and prize money will be awarded at that time.