By Holly Lynne Killian
Special to The Birmingham Times
“Littering is dirty. Littering is stupid!” This is the blunt but honest message that the Litter Quitters Committee is hoping to leave with Jefferson County high school students and its citizens. Now in its fourth year, the committee aims to educate students and citizens about the negative effects of litter while also impowering students to become more actively involved in clean water promotion.
The Litter Quitters Committee was formed by a group of like-minded organizations who wanted a more involved approach and public awareness campaign encouraging everyone, but more specifically high school students, to stop littering. Based on a Keep America Beautiful study, the most frequent culprits of littering are teenagers and young adults aged 18 to 35. This demographic is more than three times more likely to litter than older adults. That is why the committee has chosen to focus their attention on high school students, stopping bad habits before they are formed.
As part as the Litter Quitters Campaign, the committee hosts a video competition allowing students to become change agents by creating an anti-litter video message. Each participating school submits one video into the competition that runs for 12 days while students urge their friends, family members, and community to watch and vote for their video on the Litter Quitters website (www.litterquitters.org). The county is split into three competition zones.
The videos with the most likes win 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in each of the 3 zones. The committee invites all public schools located in Jefferson County to participate; however, the COVID-19 virus impacted the participation of all the schools this year given all the obstacles of remote learning and following all state and local regulations.
Given all the complications and setbacks for this year’s competition, the committee was pleased that some schools were able to submit videos for this year’s competition and participate in the PSA portion of the Litter Quitters Campaign. Each school also chose one student to be featured in the Committee’s professionally produced public service announcement to be aired on local news channels starting in May.
This year, the Litter Quitters Committee is happy to announce this year’s 1st place winners. North Zone: G.W. Carver High School, East Zone: Shades Valley High School, West Zone: Oak Grove High School. G.W. Carver High School was also awarded the “Best Overall” award for their video.
Ultimately, the Litter Quitters Committee hopes to see less litter collected at yearly cleanups, which in turn can wash to the nearest creek or stream. Not only does this impact our drinking water, but it dirties our environment and puts wildlife at risk. The Committee also aspires to leave a lasting impression on these students, empowering them to not only change their behavior, but educate those around them helping them to become a Litter Quitter.
Those interested in learning more about the Litter Quitters Campaign or how to get involved in local cleanups efforts, visit www.litterquitters.org . You can also watch out 2021 Public Service Announcement on the website too.
