Volunteers Help Put Pasco Litter in its Place

If you've driven through Central Pasco lately and have noticed a lack of litter on some roadways, that's likely thanks to volunteers who scoured the Land O' Lakes area during last month's Coastal Cleanup.

Among those volunteers were members of the GFWC Lutz-Land O’ Lakes Woman’s Club. All told, the Sept. 15 event drew 454 volunteers, according to a media release from co-Land O’ Lakes site coordinator Betsy Crisp.

“Land O’ Lakes was just one drop-off site where 34 teams and 454 volunteers pre-registered (33.4% of the 1,361 total volunteers countywide) to participate to clean designated lakes, creeks, roads, ditches, and drainage retention areas in central part of the county,” the release said. “After several hours of hot, sweaty work, volunteers returned to the SunTrust Bank where they filled the dumpster provided by Waste Management with 1.27 tons of trash (out of 14.58 collected countywide).”

While Land O’ Lakes isn’t a coastal area, it has participated in the event for decades. Crisp has co-chaired the event with Kurt Conover of Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point for years. In addition to woman’s club members, volunteers included Boy and Girl Scout troops, families, school groups and more.

“Our teams are extremely dedicated but very competitive,” said Crisp, who works for the Pasco County Extension.

Volunteers didn’t just find soda cans, cigarette butts and candy wrappers along the roadways either.

“The most interesting things found this year: (a) table top, hospital bracelet, plastic signs (mostly political), a cell phone, 3 rusted-out/empty propane tanks, 5 large tires, parts to a TV and computer, easy chair, sofa, mattress/box spring, shopping cart and a boat,” Crisp wrote in the release.

Do you have photos of the cleanup? Add them to the gallery on this story!