Angelina County non-profit helping with litter issue

ANGELINA COUNTY, Texas (KTRE) - An East Texas non-profit is bringing awareness to a littering in Angelina County.

Despite signs across the county that read, “Purple Pride, Do Not Litter, City Ordinance 4018, Up to $500 fine," Adam Renfro with Angelina County Environmental Control said that there is a litter problem.

Angelina Beautiful Clean was started 30 years ago with one mission, to educate and empower East Texans to take responsibility for enhancing their environments.

“Before it became what it is today, it was actually just a small beautification committee that started in the chamber and it grew to be such a big need that it expanded to what it is now,” said Jennifer La Courte, Executive Director for Angelina Beautiful/Clean.

Currently they are a free standing non-profit that does more than just beautification, they do recycling and litter reduction.

“We have seen a lot of growth in the amount of communities that we service at some of our events that we take that ton of information," said La Courte.

"So such as household hazardous waste day, our tire collection days, our shredding days. There are people that will drive an hour and a just to come utilize those.”

While ABC can’t reach everyone, the county has Purple Pride signs up as a reminder to not litter.

“So when you put a sing out there that says, you know, purple pride, or the one in Huntington or the one in Diboll, and people see that, it’s less likely to happen,” La Courte said.

She said when people move into the area and see current residents keeping their city clean, it offers hope.

“Seeing how much people care for the community already, it really makes you take pride in the growth, continued growth of the community and what you want to see happen,” La Courte said.

ABC is holding a quarterly Adopt-A-Highway cleanup on January 11th.

“So we go out on the two-mile stretch that we have adopted and we’re gonna clean up the highway and see how much we can get,” La Courte said.

Groups wanting to organize cleanup events can visit the chamber for bags, gloves, and grabbers.

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