Trash Talk: Birmingham’s Litter Problem
Christopher Burts shakes open a trash bag as a litter patrol begins pickup along I-459. He’s the litter patrol supervisor for Sweeping Corporation of America. That’s an Ohio-based private company contracted by the Alabama Department of Transportation. The company’s job is to clear highways of trash and debris.
Burts oversees a cleanup crew of six people, and he says the trashiest part of his route is between Birmingham and Fairfield.
“It’s a lot of trash out here,” Burts says. “Cans, bottles, and cardboard boxes. You got items from 18-wheelers that’s flying off, we have to pick that up,” he says.
William “Dee” McDaniel, ALDOT’s operations engineer for the Birmingham region, says the crews cover a lot of ground — nearly 18 miles a day. But it feels like their work is never done.
“I’ve seen several instances where within 24 hours we go back out there and it looks like we haven’t picked anything up,” McDaniel says.
“So picking up litter, unfortunately, will be a never-ending process for us. That’s just one of the things we have to budget for and schedule on a regular basis.”
McDaniel says ALDOT spends $1.9 million a year on litter pick-up across the Birmingham region. He says of all the cities in that area, Birmingham is the trashiest.
In a recent meeting, some city council members accused Mayor Randall Woodfin of not doing enough to keep the city clean. But Woodfin says residents have to do their part.
“You got a whole bunch of folk who instead of holding things in their car, they just throw it outside their window,” he says. “We don’t have a problem enforcing but we got a problem with folk who don’t wanna take care of their own place,” Woodfin says.
Councilman Steven Hoyt says Birmingham’s public works department, which oversees sanitation, is understaffed. Hoyt says the city is filthy, and he blames the mayor.
“The mayor has the sole responsibility of keeping this city clean. It’s his responsibility. If he has initiatives that he thinks would work, he wouldn’t have a problem with the council supporting those initiatives,” Hoyt says.
Birmingham has an ordinance that imposes fines on people who litter, but Hoyt says no one is enforcing the law.
McDaniel hopes a solution is in place soon. It’s a busy time of year for trash.
“As spring and summer months get here and more people are on the road of course traveling through and so forth, obviously we have an increase in litter that we usually have to pick up,” he says.
Burts, who supervises the highway litter patrol, says drivers will throw almost anything out of the window — even dirty diapers. But he says that’s not the nastiest thing the patrol picks up.
“The lil bottles that sit on the side, they might have pee in it,” Burts says. “And you don’t know until you go to sticking it and put it in a bag and you’ll be walking like …” what is that smell, he says.
It’s times like this he remembers being a kid, and his mother would tell him “quit throwing stuff out the window” because you never know who has to pick it up.
The DOJ sued the federal district bench in Maryland. A judge just dismissed the case
A district judge in Virginia was specially tapped to oversee the unusual case after DOJ named all 15 federal district court judges in Maryland as defendants in a lawsuit related to deportations.
This week sees a number of new books from seasoned heavy hitters
A number of seasoned veterans with a taste for big swings and clever premises have new novels out this week, including stories of gothic horror and dark academia from the likes of R.F. Kuang, Leah Stein and Helen Oyeyemi.
Whatever happened to … the optimist who thinks games and music can change the world
On a planet that can feel increasingly challenged, we asked activist Edgard Gouveia Jr. about his latest efforts to improve life on Earth, what "artivism" is — and what he dreams of.
You’ve heard of a senior prom. How about a prom for senior citizens?
Fitness instructor Tracy Williams has a passion for this age group. She's planning a "senior" prom for those who never had a chance to go to their proms or would like a do-over.
How plants and fungi trade resources without a brain
Fungi and plants have something to teach humans about global trade and cooperation
A lesson learned after pets were left behind in Hurricane Katrina: Save the animals
People were forced to leave their pets behind during Hurricane Katrina, creating an unprecedented animal welfare crisis that has shaped the country's disaster response ever since.
