Annual Spring Litter Sweet is April 6... Volunteers needed to keep area beautiful

Keep Rutherford County Beautiful's 10th annual Spring Litter Sweep will kick off on April 6 and run through April 30. Each spring, community members, families, neighbors, and co-workers lead litter sweeps across the county. The 2026 Spring Litter Sweep is an unified effort to enhance the cleanliness and beauty of Rutherford County.

From parks to parking lots, roadsides to trails, volunteers collaborate with our ongoing cleanup programs and the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) to remove litter and debris, rejuvenating our outdoor spaces for everyone to enjoy. The Spring Litter Sweep coincides with other litter sweeps statewide, and supports the North Carolina Department of Transportation's (NCDOT) litter initiative.

Participants leave their collected bags on roadsides and report them to Keep Rutherford County Beautiful (KRCB) for NCDOT or local municipalities to pick up. KRCB supplies safety gloves, vests, pickers and NCDOT trash bags to any team willing to collect.

Teams pick up supplies from the Woodrow Jones Building at 146 North Main Street in Rutherfordton and leave the collected litter on the roadside. Participants must use NCDOT bags and submit a collection report through the website. Contact the KRCB team at 828-289-3260, email allie@rutherfordoutdoor.org, or visit KeepRCNCBeautiful.org/sign-up-for-a-sweep to register and get supplies.

Spring Litter Sweep is a great way for families, co-workers and neighbors to give back to their community and care for the environment. It is the hope of KRCB to inspire the next generation to take care of the spaces where we live, work and play.

Keep Rutherford County Beautiful began as an Earth Day litter pickup and has transformed into a movement throughout Rutherford County. Neighbors, industry leaders, business owners, schools and municipalities joined forces to change the way we define community, leading programs and initiatives to propel Rutherford County's beautification forward. As of 2023, KRCB became an affiliate of Keep America Beautiful, the nation's largest community improvement organization. This milestone is a testament to the work the organization has put in since 2017 and the progress they have made. Together, we are taking action to love where we live, work and play.

For more info visit KeepRCNCBeautiful.org or email KeepRCNCBeautiful@RutherfordCountyNC.gov.