Littering is illegal!
We shouldn’t throw things from
our cars.

Make
Morris County
Glitter
Can the Litter!

Many school, church and scout groups have benefited from participating in the mini-grant program.  For more information about Morris County Clean Communities, please call Liz Sweedy at 973-285-8393 or email her at lsweedy@mcmua.com.  For more information regarding New Jersey's clean communities program go to the following link: www.njclean.org. 

• The Program - The Morris County Municipal Utilities Authority (MCMUA) Clean Communities Program is part of a statewide strategy to prevent the accumulation of litter on streets, beaches and waterways, parks, recreation sites and vacant lots, and to clean up litter.
   
• The Goals - There are three goals: education, enforcement, and cleanup.
   
• Funding - It is provided by the state through a user fee on 15 kinds of litter-related products. This fee is assessed at the manufacturer, wholesale and retail levels. The funds can be used to pay for programs that educate about litter abatement, as well as for litter cleanups.
   
• Mini-grants - Funds are available for non-profit agencies or groups to clean up public areas that are maintained by the County of Morris. The maximum amount of the grant is $500.00, to be awarded for cleaning up two miles of a county road (on both sides) with a minimum of 10 people participating.  Countywide roadside litter removal takes place from March until the end of November, depending on the weather. The Clean Communities Program reserves the right to determine what area(s) will be cleaned, although most requests are approved. Proof of insurance coverage is also required. Opportunities also exist for removing litter from non-county roads; for more information call your municipal Clean Communities coordinator.

What is litter? - Litter is a garbage or trash that is out of place. It’s the kind of trash found on our streets, highways, lakefronts, parks and school grounds.

Litter takes many forms:

• paper
• plastics
• metal cans
• cigarette butts
• food packaging
• tires

Where does litter come from?

There are many sources of litter:

• pedestrians
• motorists
• overflowing household garbage cans
• overflowing commercial containers
• loading docks
• construction sites
• uncovered trucks
• Litter is often wind-blown until it is trapped somewhere or goes down a storm drain.

How does it affect us? - Even small amounts of litter are unsightly, unhealthy and dangerous:

Litter may cause:

• fires
• pollution
• accidents
• low morale
• diseases in people and animals
• declining tourism and industry

Why do people litter?

People tend to litter:

• when an area is already littered
• when they don’t feel a sense of ownership or community pride
• when they think someone else will clean it up

What can we do to clean up litter?

We can get involved:

• organize a cleanup day
• purchase anti-litter signs for our town
• sponsor contests in the schools
• help the elderly or disabled to clean up their yards
• raise awareness about litter through a public education campaign
• donate trash receptacles to the town
• empty trash receptacles on a regular basis
• conduct a litter survey to find the worst spots
• publicize our efforts in the local media

Clean can be contagious!
Let’s take the time to care for our communities,
to pick up litter and plant flowers, trees and shrubs!