Contact your community’s sanitation department (check with the public works department or the city secretary) or the county judge’s office to tell them about your cleanup plans.

One of these departments will likely be able to tell you who is responsible for hauling the waste collected during the cleanup.

If your local sanitation department cannot handle the job or your cleanup is not within its jurisdiction, you might be told to contact private waste haulers.

Be sure to coordinate a complete schedule of trash bag pickups that includes each cleanup location.

A bag of trash has an average weight of 20 pounds.

Trash Drop-Offs

You will need to arrange for trash drop-off spots that are accessible from the water trail and from a road for pickup by truck. Good spots are water trail-side businesses that depend on the water trail in some way for their business. Restaurants with water trail-side patios, fishing shops, canoe liveries, marinas or boat shops are all good prospects for drop-off spots. Property owners, who evidence a respect for the water trail by keeping their water trail-side area neat and tidy, are also good prospects. State, county or local facilities (e.g. fish hatcheries, parks, fair grounds, etc.) along the water trail are excellent candidates. Of course, there are the usual bridge access areas.

Trash Tipping Fees

Landfills and some transfer stations charge for disposal. This charge is called a tipping fee and is based on weight.

Occasionally, these fees are waived and considered the landfill operator’s in-kind contribution to your program.

Other times, the local government may pay the fees or a hauler may cover the fee as a donation to the program.

You should determine as quickly as possible who will pay this cost.

Recyclables

Hauling of recyclables might have special needs based on the requirements of the recycling collection center.

If you are collecting a material that is not regularly collected by your community, you will need to make arrangements for these materials to be collected or dropped-off.

Check with the waste hauler or regional council of government for possible recycling collectors.

What To Recycle And How To Prepare It

Glass: Bottles, jars, and jugs. Remove tops and rinse out. Separate by color (green, brown, and clear). Labels do not need to be removed.

Bi-metals: “Tin and steel” food cans in all sizes should be rinsed out for return. Labels do not have to be removed.

Papers: Recycle by grade. Computer, office file stock, newsprint, and corrugated cardboard.

Plastics: There are two common types of recyclable plastic. Containers need to be cleaned and flattened. Tops have to be removed, but labels do not.

PETE (polyethylene terephthalate)—soda and other “soft plastic” bottles.

HDPE (high-density polyethylene)—plastic milk, water, juice, and some other “hard plastic” bottles.

Metals: Aluminum cans, radiators, appliances, and scrap metals (iron, aluminum, brass, copper, zinc, lead, stainless steel).

Auto Batteries: Batteries are a hazardous waste and are illegal to landfill in most areas. Take old batteries to a buy-back center, service center, or auto parts retailer. Do not ever throw batteries away!

Used oil: Used motor oil should be taken to a local service station or oil collection center. Do not contaminate the oil with any other substances.

Organic wastes: Vegetable scraps, leaves, yard brush, and grass clippings can be composted for soil conditioning or mulching instead of taking up valuable landfill space.

Trash Setting Up A Tracking System

Before your cleanup project begins, it is important to set up a system for tracking the amount of litter collected.

Knowing the results of every cleanup event helps us promote our accomplishments in the local and national media and to our national and state sponsors as we continue to expand the program.

Item Collection Data Sheet