By: Claire Tribble
Secure Your Load: Help Keep Limestone County Roadsides Litter Free
A clean community starts with each of us—and one of the easiest ways to help keep Limestone County beautiful is to Secure Your Load.
Every day, trucks and trailers travel our roads carrying household trash, construction debris, yard waste, furniture, cardboard, and other materials. When these loads are not properly covered or secured, items can blow or fall onto the roadway. What may begin as one piece of trash can quickly become a roadside litter problem.
Secure Your Load is a simple campaign with an important message: If you are hauling trash or debris, cover your load and make sure everything is securely fastened before you leave.
Why Does Roadside Litter Matter?
Roadside trash is more than an eyesore. Litter can have lasting environmental, economic, and safety impacts on our community.
Trash that falls from vehicles can create dangerous driving conditions. Drivers may have to suddenly swerve or stop to avoid debris in the roadway. Large objects can cause vehicle damage or even contribute to crashes.
Litter also affects our environment. Plastic, Styrofoam, paper, cans, and other debris can wash from roadsides into storm drains, streams, and waterways. Wildlife can become tangled in litter or mistake trash for food. Over time, some materials break down into smaller pieces and microplastics that can remain in the environment.
Roadside litter also takes away from the beauty of Limestone County. Clean roadsides contribute to a community that residents can be proud of and that visitors want to enjoy. Litter cleanup requires volunteers, organizations, and local governments to spend valuable time and resources removing trash that could have been prevented in the first place.
Preventing litter is always better—and less expensive—than cleaning it up.
KALB Has Free Tarps Available! Keep Athens-Limestone Beautiful (KALB) is encouraging residents, businesses and anyone who transports trash or debris to take an extra minute to secure their loads.
Thanks to a TVA Cares grant funded by TVA and Athens Utilities, KALB has tarps available at no charge to help residents cover loads being transported.
The tarps are available at the KALB office:
Keep Athens-Limestone Beautiful
125 East Street
Athens, Alabama
Monday–Friday, 9 a.m.–4 p.m.
Because supplies are limited, please call ahead to make sure tarps are still available before coming by.
Call KALB at 256-233-8000.
It Only Takes a Few Minutes
Before heading down the road, take a moment to walk around your truck or trailer. Make sure trash and debris are contained and that your tarp, straps, ropes, or other securing materials are properly fastened.
Don’t assume a load is secure simply because it looks stable when you leave. Wind created while traveling can lift lightweight materials and send them flying from a truck bed or trailer.
Whether you are taking a small load to the landfill, hauling debris from a home project, or transporting materials for your business, cover it, secure it, and keep it from becoming someone else’s roadside litter.
Be Part of the Solution
Keeping Limestone County clean is a community effort. KALB works throughout the year with volunteers, schools, businesses, community organizations and local governments to reduce litter and improve our environment. But litter prevention begins before trash ever reaches the roadside.
Secure Your Load. Protect our roads. Protect our environment. Keep Limestone County beautiful.
Stop by KALB for a free tarp while supplies last—and help make sure what you haul arrives where it belongs.
By: Claire Tribble – Executive Director,
Keep Athens-Limestone Beautiful
