What do the citizens of northeast Louisiana deserve?


  • A clean community which will attract businesses that thrive and grow.
  • A clean community where people want to buy homes and raise their families.
  • A clean community that is safe and nurtures families in neighborhoods where everyone belongs.

    Can we have all these qualities in Ouachita Parish? Most of our heartiest boosters would say Ouachita Parish is all that and more. However, as many recent letters to the editor have pointed out, we fall short in a few ways. I’m talking about the clean community part. Come walk with me down one of our city streets and look around.

    Quality of Life Means Clean
    On a recent Saturday walk down a high traffic street I found broken beer bottles, fast food restaurant wrappers, foam packing peanuts, remnants of foam cups, and a bazillion cigarette butts. Yuk. And I was picking stuff up as I went. Two hours later I drove down this street and it was full of litter again. Can you imagine my disappointment and disgust? Yes- I was sad, disappointed and disgusted. At first glance, it seemed I had wasted my time. But I know that any time any one spends making their city cleaner is time well spent. We can all do something to help.

    Zero Tolerance for Litter-call (888) LIT-R-Bug (1-888-548-7284)
    Carry your trash to a trash can. Keep one of those plastic store bags in your car; toss your stuff in that. When it’s full, tie it up and put it in a dumpster or your home garbage bin. If you don’t want to dirty up your car ash tray, carry a 20 ounce plastic soda bottle with a screw on lid in your car. Leave some liquid in there and slide your cigarette butts in the bottle, screw on the cap and no odor or spillage.

    If you see trash blowing out of a truck bed or tossed out a window, call (888) LIT-R-BUG and report the tag number, location, date and time. The offender will get a note telling them they have been seen littering.

    You can make a difference!
    Stash your trash in appropriate receptacles. Tie your bags and put litter in its place. Join Keep West Monroe Beautiful and Keep Ouachita Parish Beautiful Saturday March 3 for our kick-off event, 2007 Great American Cleanup. Call 323-5700 for more information.


    Beth Betz is Program Manager for the Community Development Department, City of West Monroe and Coordinator of Keep West Monroe Beautiful.

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