People cause litter and people can prevent litter. Twenty years ago, Transportation's Litter Grant Program collected 189,000 tons of litter statewide annually. In the past few years, the annual litter collected was 13,000 tons. Good litter reduction, but it is still too much litter!

Tennesseans are frustrated and angry about the litter. The Department of Transportation and Keep Tennessee Beautiful have responded with the new campaign, "Stop It, Stop Litter, Tennessee's Had Enough." This award-winning ad campaign includes TV spots targeted to prime litterers (males ages 16–34), outdoor advertising, radio public-service announcements and grass-roots action.

The www.stoplitter.org website receives thousands of hits each month.

• The state has established a toll-free number, 1-877-8LITTER, to report highway littering.
• The Adopt-A-Highway program is gaining new adopters each month.
• The 25 Keep America Beautiful affiliates had 316,000 volunteers working on litter prevention and beautification last year.
• This year, all 95 counties are participating in "The Great American Cleanup" in Tennessee.
• We anticipate more than 2,000 events and more than 150,000 volunteers by the end of May.
• Nearly 70,000 students were taught litter prevention, recycling and proper waste handling last year.
• Overall, 25 percent of Tennessee's population participated in events, attended workshops, and volunteered to keep Tennessee beautiful last year.

What does this mean? Tennesseans have had enough with litter and are ready for action.  See someone litter, throwing garbage out their window on the highway?  Then visit the official Tennessee website and report it using the interactive form on their website.