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The time is now to clean up Chilton County’s litter problem, and that is just what Commissioner Jimmie Hardee seeks to do with his Clean Up Chilton County Campaign.

Hardee introduced the idea during the Commission meeting on Jan. 23 and hopes to make an impact as soon as possible.

“We’re trying to take ownership of our county again,” Hardee said.

According to Hardee, he spent a lot of time traveling throughout the county during his recent campaign and he continued to notice trash on the sides of the road, no matter what part of Chilton County he was in.

The initiative calls for involvement from everyone in the community from residents, schools, churches, businesses and Commissioners.

“I want people to share the same passion that I have,” Hardee said.

Libby Ratliff is the county’s Litter Control Officer and as a result will have a hand in organizing citizen and volunteer groups, as part of an adopt a mile/road program to clean up areas that are in most need of help.

Hardee mentioned the possibility of using inmates to participate in the cleanup process when available and approved by municipalities.

However, Hardee stated that even the use of inmates cannot keep up with the amount of miles that make up Chilton County.

“We need to educate people that we have a problem,” Hardee said.

Hardee explained how the concept of “unintentional” littering was brought to his attention, which is caused by people throwing trash or debris in the bed of their truck and having it fly out at some point down the road.

“If we are going to attract and acquire new businesses, we need to clean up,” Hardee said.

One of the goals of the campaign is to have quarterly “cleanup days” that would stretch countywide and be sponsored by local businesses by donating supplies, such as bags, gloves, vests and t-shirts.

“We’re not asking the people to do it on their own,” Hardee said. “We’re [Commissioners] there to help.”