2024 Litter Index

It’s a summer tradition – the Litter Index survey by Keep Martin Beautiful, our county’s nonprofit steward of litter prevention.

With their clipboards and copies of the Community Appearance Index, our Litter Index volunteers drove around the county for a full eight hours on a hot July day – through residential areas, along beaches and major thoroughfares, through commercial plazas, and into more rural areas off the beaten path.

They scored each area on a scale of 1, for “little litter,” to 4, “very littered.” 

“I expected to find a lot of trash,” our volunteer Cassia told us. “It’s so easy for people to toss trash from a car window or drop food wrappers and cups where they walk. But to our great surprise, that’s not what we found.”

Instead, our volunteers scored almost all areas as 1, “little litter.”

“Honestly,” our volunteer Kenzie told us, “we only found piles of litter in a few places, usually in swales or along fences in out of the way areas.”

So, congratulations, Martin County! Our efforts are paying dividends. In 2022, our Litter Index Score was 1.504. Last year it was 1.439. And this year it’s 1.358.

That’s a reassuring and positive trend in litter reduction in Martin County.

Still, litter is an ongoing battle. There are several hot spots in Martin County and always more work to be done. You can help maintain a litter-free Martin County by being a part of our Adopt-A-Road and Adopt-A-Street programs. Volunteer groups commit to a one-year contract, pay an annual fee, and six times a year, pledge to clear litter and trash from their designated mile-long section of roadway. 

We’ve got a few roads that long to be adopted and putting out a call that “I’m available!” Your family, neighbors, business, or organization may be just the right ones to answer the call. There are more than a dozen roads still available. Check out the list here.

For more information about the events and programs that help to keep Martin County beautiful visit keepmartinbeautiful.org or email info@keepmartinbeautiful.org.  And don’t forget there’s still time to volunteer for the International Coastal Cleanup on September 21. Click here to register.