Keeping communities clean is not only beneficial to residents and the environment, but helps attract visitors and businesses to the area. That is why citywide cleanup initiatives are planned, such as the Cabot Clean-Up Day later this year.
Residents in Cabot will gather to pick up litter and dispose of hazardous waste at the annual citywide spring cleanup from 9 a.m. to noon March 19. The Cabot Clean-Up Day, co-sponsored by the city of Cabot and Cabot City Beautiful, is being held in conjunction with the national Great American Clean-Up Campaign and the statewide Keep Arkansas Beautiful Month.
Matt Webber, co-coordinator of the event and a Cabot City Beautiful member, said this is a great time for residents to get rid of hazardous materials such as latex paints, oil-based paints and thinners, motor oil, antifreeze, fluorescent bulbs, pesticides and herbicides, household cleaners, household batteries, and automotive batteries and tires.
“It’s basically an amenity day,” Webber said. “They can get rid of anything. We get a private contractor to come in and collect and dispose of hazardous material.”
Electronic equipment — including computer components, televisions and VCRs — will also be accepted. Scrap metal will be collected by a local Boy Scout troop, and anything containing Freon must have documentation stating that the Freon has been legally removed.
Lonoke County does not have a regular place to dispose of hazardous material, Webber said, and hiring a private contractor is expensive. Cabot City Beautiful tries to bring out a private contractor to dispose of the waste once a year.
“Every year, we get people calling two weeks after the cleanup asking when it’s going to be,” he said. “We want to get the word out so they can be ready.”
The March 19 event has two components: the electronic and hazardous waste drop-off and the volunteer litter pickup. There will also be an award presentation for the Keep Cabot Beautiful poster contest. Students in Cabot elementary schools submitted posters, and the winner’s art will be featured on next year’s volunteer shirt for the event.
“We get some amazing artwork,” Webber said.
Volunteers are asked to meet at Cabot Junior High School South on the Panther Trail no earlier than 9 a.m. and to check in at the registration canopies. They will be assigned routes by event coordinators, and orange safety vests and garbage bags will be available.
“Cabot is an amazing community. We all have a responsibility to keep it clean and attractive,” Becky Boyett, president of Cabot City Beautiful, said in a press release. “If Cabot is littered and ill-kept, our potential to attract industry and tourism can be significantly impacted. Simple steps can greatly affect economic development. A fresh coat of paint, a few new flower plantings, roadsides and waterways free of litter — they all can make a big difference in Cabot’s future. We need volunteers to come help us keep Cabot beautiful.”
For more information, call Cabot City Beautiful at (501) 920-2122.
Staff writer Angela Spencer can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or aspencer@arkansasonline.com.