South Carolina Laurens County volunteers pick up over 11K pounds of trash in April

The April Upstate Team-up to Clean-up Challenge, supported by Palmetto Pride, a friendly competition between upstate Keep America Beautiful Affiliates, closed with grand success. Keep Laurens County Beautiful (KLCB) reported 206 participating volunteers, with an impressive total of 11,281 pounds of trash picked up from Laurens County roadways.

Upstate counties, including Anderson, Greenwood, Greenville, Laurens, Newberry, Spartanburg, and Pickens participated in the Challenge. This initiative was organized to honor Earth Day and raise awareness about the importance of keeping our environment clean and healthy.

EARTHDAY.ORG has partnered with Keep America Beautiful to encourage communities across the nation to participate in the Great Global Cleanup during the month of April and early May.

Across the Upstate, a grand total of 60,000 pounds of litter was collected and removed. Greenwood County collected the most litter to win the April Upstate Challenge. 

“This year's Earth Month Cleanup was our biggest and most successful clean-up to date,” said Courtney Stonell, KLCB Affiliate Coordinator. “We saw a tremendous response from individuals and groups across the county who came forward to support our mission of creating a cleaner, greener, more beautiful Laurens County.”

In addition to the many roadside and waterway cleanup activities, 150 trees were planted through a donation from Michelin of Spartanburg. A recycling program was launched in collaboration with Joanna-Woodson Elementary and four storm drain artwork sites were selected and the artist recruitment began with hopes of project completion in July. These partnerships are part of the ongoing effort to promote environmental sustainability.

“We wholeheartedly believe that when we invest in educating our youth, we're actually investing in a future that's not just greener, but also more sustainable,” said Tanya Towne, director of the Joe Adair Center, who incorporated the clean-up challenge within Laurens and Clinton school districts.

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