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District 11
Monday, Mar. 3, 2008
Contact: Public Information Officer Ed Cartagena Phone: (619) 688-6670
Caltrans, Volunteer Groups Pitch In
To Help
Remove Litter From Area Highways
SAN DIEGO –Motorists can expect to see area highways dotted with orange and white trash bags Tuesday as the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) joins Keep California Beautiful in a statewide Litter Removal Day.
Caltrans maintenance employees, Adopt-A-Highway volunteers and contractors and crews from the California Conservation Corps and San Diego County Probation will be part of the statewide cleanup effort. This day will coincide with the official kick-off of the national Keep America Beautiful Great American Cleanup.
“We’re hoping that the sight of all the orange trash bags of litter picked up in a single day will help raise awareness and cause people to think twice before throwing that wrapper out the car window,” said Caltrans District Director Pedro Orso-Delgado. “Litter impacts all of us.”
He added that litter is a lot more than fast food wrappers and cigarette butts. “We remove a lot of large items like mattresses, washing machines and refrigerators – things that can create serious injury for motorists.” Caltrans removes a dozen household appliances, about 50 mattresses and 20 ladders from area highways every month.
Litter also adds up to a serious financial burden for taxpayers. It costs approximately $18 for each bag of litter removed from area highways. Caltrans spent more than $2.5 million last year to remove 140,000 bags, or 20,000 cubic feet, of trash from highways in San Diego and Imperial counties.
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