On the heels of a record-breaking Love The Boot Week, the state is launching a brand-new beautification initiative. Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser and Keep Louisiana Beautiful have officially launched Love Our Waterways, which as the name suggests, focuses on cleaning up litter and debris from the state’s waters and shorelines. Keep Louisiana Beautiful Executive Director Susan Russell says dirty waterways are a nationwide problem.
“Our country’s coastlines have an average of almost 17,000 items of litter per mile, most of which is trapped in our marshes and our mangroves; and about 1,300 pieces of litter per mile in our waterways,” Russell explained.
Colonel Stephen Clark, the superintendent of law enforcement for the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, says cleaning up litter from Louisiana’s waterways is vital to the state.
“The health of our waterways affects our communities: Our economy, certainly our wildlife and fisheries resources, and the outdoor opportunities that millions of residents and visitors enjoy each year here in the State of Louisiana,” Clark said.
The Love Our Waterways initiative will take place throughout the month of September; and already, there are 60 events registered. Russell says you don’t need to register for an event to make a difference.
“This could be cleaning out the ditch or the storm drain in your neighborhood. It could be working to remove litter from a retention pond, or it might look like cleaning up a bayou,” Russell said.
More information can be found at LoveLaWaterways.org.
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