Kristiana Young likes to help her community by picking up trash along the roadside. "This is something I just started; I thought, while I'm walking, why not pick up some trash," said Young.

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Are you tired of seeing litter along roadsides? Do you cringe when you see someone throw trash out a car window? If so, then join the N.C. Department of Transportation’s spring Litter Sweep to help fight litter in North Carolina.

Litter Sweep is scheduled for Saturday, April 13, to Saturday, April 27, and encourages volunteers to clean up North Carolina roadsides. Those who come across a unique piece of litter could even win a cash prize in the Keep NC Beautiful Unusual Litter Contest. Volunteers were essential to the 2012 spring Litter Sweep, removing more than 1.7 million pounds of roadside litter.

Spring Litter Sweep volunteers will be joined by NCDOT maintenance crews, Adopt-A-Highway groups, N.C. Department of Public Safety inmate crews and community service workers.

Additionally, the N.C. State Highway Patrol will be on alert and policing roads for motorists with unsecured loads and others that intentionally and unintentionally litter. Littering is an illegal offense. Upon conviction, the defendant can be fined up to $2,000, receive a point on their driver license and be sentenced to community service work. Fines can double upon a second conviction.

Interested Litter Sweep volunteers should contact their local NCDOT county maintenance office to obtain cleanup supplies. Children between the ages of 12 and 18 must be accompanied by an adult. Participants are required to watch a safety video and wear safety gear. Volunteers are reminded that safety is always the number one priority when working on the roadside.

Litter Sweep participation does not stop with cleanup events; motorists are encouraged to participate in the NCDOT Swat-A-Litterbug program throughout the year, especially during the biannual Litter Sweep events. It’s easy to promote clean roadsides by participating in this program – simply record the littering offense and report it through the Office of Beautification Swat-A-Litterbug website.

The bi-annual Litter Sweeps are administered by the NCDOT Office of Beautification. For more information, call 1-800-331-5864 or visit the Office of Beautification website and click on “Litter Sweep.”