DESOTO COUNTY, Miss — Both Memphis and DeSoto County are taking steps to revamp their cities, making them more livable and greener.
Leaders in the area said it's going to take a community effort to give the Mid-South the facelift it needs.
DeSoto County District 4 supervisor Lee Caldwell is taking the lead on a DeSoto County cleanup.
“Just reminding everybody, most of our creeks and tributaries – they flow into our lakes and they flow into our Mississippi River. This may impact many of us so we want to be environmentally safe, we want to be good stewards of our earth and our community. This is something everybody can participate in,” Caldwell said.
The cleanup happening in DeSoto County will consist of 14 additional dumpsters added to the community at the end of October.
“Citizens can take items such as household furniture, old lumber, bricks, old building materials,” Caldwell said.
She’s hoping the dumpsters and community cleanup will prevent illegal dumping as people start to see cleaner areas.
“We think that providing outlets for citizens whenever they do want to clean up and clean out will certainly keep this off the side of our roads and out of our creeks,” Caldwell said. “I don’t know why people would want to throw things in our creeks but they seem to want to.”
Not knowing what can be taken from your home for you, or where to dispose of things, can also play a major role in littering.
“You see tires on the sides of the road because people don’t know what to do with them but they can actually put it right there by their dumpster and we’ll come to pick it up,” Caldwell said. “It’s gonna take all of us and it’s making everybody aware as citizens are traveling. They’re not just staying in DeSoto County they’re going to Memphis, they’re going to West Memphis and vice versa and the most important thing is don’t litter.”