Slam Dunk the Junk - Put Litter In Its Place! Morris County's Clean Communities program now provides two new grant opportunity for public schools, grades 6-12, in Morris County.  Click here for more information on the grant and how to apply.

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

Make
Morris County
Glitter
Can the Litter!

Announcement! - Mini-grants and Adopt-A-Road Cleanups No Longer Available
Due to a recent safety assessment, mini-grants and Adopt-A-Road cleanups are no longer available through the Morris County Clean Communities program. We extend our deepest appreciation to all of the volunteers who have tirelessly cleaned up litter since the program’s commencement. Please contact your municipal Clean Communities coordinator about local cleanup opportunities. Click here for a list of municipal Clean Communities coordinators. Thank you for caring about planet Earth!

• 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, in 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.
   
• What is litter? - Litter is garbage or trash that is out of place. It’s 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 through your municipality
• 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!

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.