MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Drive down Elvis Presley, Winchester, Rains Road or Shelby Drive and one would notice all of these Whitehaven streets have one thing in common - trash.
“It was never like it is now because we were getting awards for city beautiful,” said Glenn Rogers Sr.
Rogers is a retired educator and has lived in Whitehaven for 47 years.
Rogers, who attended the last ABC24 Let’s Talk community listening session said Whitehaven certainly wasn’t always littered with trash the way it is today.
“I’ve seen people pull up at a light [and] empty their garbage right there at the light,“ Rogers said.
Rogers said he sees City of Memphis crews cleaning up the streets on a daily basis but says not all Memphians share the same respect for our roads and walkways.
“I wish I knew exactly what it would take to get everyone involved but it’s gonna take work to change the atmosphere as far as cleanliness is concerned,” Rogers said.
Memphis City Beautiful's Eldra White said roadside litter in Whitehaven is a result of people not handling their waste properly.
White's organization works to engage people to clean up their own community, while also trying to educate Memphians about the importance.
“We have a community tool bank, where we loan out rakes shovels bags gloves you name it to help folks with their cleanup effort," White said.
White said with Memphis City Beautiful's adopt a trash can program, communities can get up to five city can, the only requirement is emptying those cans when they’re full.
“People will tend to use trash cans if they’re accessible,” White said.
Rogers said with the sheer size of the city of Memphis, the community has to not only take responsibility, but also take charge.
"We’ve got to do more as a community," Rogers said. "We’ve got to do more as citizens of Memphis."