What is the easiest way to know Louisiana has an endemic litter problem? Just look at the side of our highways and roads. And when you see litter alongside a state scenic byway as you drive by a Department of Transportation and Development office/maintenance yard, then you realize that Louisiana is not serious about the beauty of our state, and that we are really known for litter-strewn highways.
There have been many hardworking people and organizations dedicated to cleaning up litter, but other citizens just continue to toss out soft drink cans, fast food cups and beer cans as if the roads are trash cans. Louisiana needs a long-term, consistent anti-littering campaign using radio, newspaper, TV and social media advertising. It also needs to be implemented in the schools, just like we did with seat belt usage and cigarette smoking.
It may take a generation to change this habit, but with a constant focus on the problem, we can turn around the litter problem. We need to use our many state celebrities to promote keeping the state litter-free. We should feature Shaquille O’Neal, Peyton Manning, Master P, Seimone Augustus, Kim Mulkey and many other well-known names in the marketing campaign.
We all travel to other states and see clean roads. Why do our roads continue to be filthy and littered? How embarrassing for our beautiful “Sportsman’s Paradise.” Let’s go, Gov. Jeff Landry and Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser. If we cannot clean up the litter, let’s remove Sportsman’s Paradise from our license plates.
Sportsmen do not litter, and paradise has no litter.