Please help Keep Carter County Beautiful by supporting our efforts.
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When you pick up trash/litter, please take a minute and tell us how much and where. We would like to include your efforts in our reporting to Keep America Beautiful. Click on the button below and you will be redirected to the reporting page:
Elizabethton Covered Bridge Days
This year’s Elizabethton Covered Bridge Days were a great success. Thank you to the City of Elizabethton, Elizabethton Parks and Recreation and numerous volunteers. Keep Carter County Board Members volunteered at the information booth, placed recycle bins in the park, picked up trash during the event, collected and sorted the recyclables. It is events like this that makes Carter County a great place to live, work and visit.
Carter County Stormwater Management Watauga Lake Cleanup
Keep Carter County Board Members participated in a Watauga Lake Cleanup. The Cleanup was sponsored by the Carter County Stormwater Management. The cleanup was a tremendous success. Thank you to all the volunteers, sponsors and coordinators. Volunteers Keeping Carter County Beautiful.
Keep Carter County Beautiful and Elizabethton Storm Water Management Storm Drain Tagging
Left to Right: Caleb Krebs – Storm Water Manager and Board Member, Don Hlavaty – KCCB Treasurer, Lisa Vezzosi – KCCB President, Ed Jordan – Founder and Board Member, Ed Basconi – Master Gardner and Board Member, Seth Hice – Board Member and Media consultant, taking picture Mary Hlavaty – Secretary
Thank you KCCB Board members for helping out the City of Elizabethton. Seven KCCB volunteers installed 42 Tags on the Downtown storm drains. These tags are a reminder that what you throw in the drain ends up in our drinking water. Hundreds of the tags will be installed all over Elizabethton so there will be plenty of opportunity for volunteers to help out.
Keep Carter County Beautiful and Carter County Landfill have successful Covered Load Law Tarp Giveaway
Keep Carter County Beautiful (KCCB) partnered with the Carter County Landfill for a Covered Load Law Tarp Giveaway. Thank you, Chris Schuettler, Solid Waste Director, and Tia, for helping us make this a successful event. Chris and his department are doing a great job for the community and provide KCCB with support throughout the year. Thank you to Keep Tennessee Beautiful (KTNB) and Keep America Beautiful (KAB) for their Affiliate Support Program. KTNB and KAB provided 200 Tarps for this event. Thank you to Lisa Vezzosi, Mary Hlavaty, Ed Jordan and Don Hlavaty for volunteering to hand out the tarps and help educate the community about this important law. The volunteers gave away free tarps for each vehicle that entered the landfill.
Every year thousands of motorists are injured or killed on our highways. Even under the best of conditions, driving can be hazardous. Add bad weather or poor road maintenance to the equation and it can be downright dangerous just to go out. One factor that increases the risk associated with driving is road debris. Anyone who has had to swerve to avoid an object in the road understands the danger.
Tennessee State Law requires: “Any motor vehicle that transports litter or any material likely to fall or be blown off onto the highways, shall be required to have such material either in an enclosed space or fully covered by a tarpaulin.” Were you aware that this includes Pickup Trucks? You should also know that violating this law is punishable by a $500 fine and community service. If you see unsafe loads driving our roads please get the license plate number and submit it to the Tennessee Department of Transportation by clicking on the button below.
Keep Carter County Beautiful and Elizabethton Parks and Recreation Wildflower Plots planted
Keep Carter County Beautiful and Keep Tennessee Beautiful team up to provide 11 beautiful wildflower plots in Elizabethton, Carter County. Thank you, Elizabethton Parks and Recreation for providing the plots and tilling the soil. Thank you, Keep Tennessee Beautiful for providing the wildflower seeds. Spring and summer are going to be beautiful in Elizabethton, Tennessee again this year. The plots don’t look like much right now but look at the flowers from last year. A little cooperation from Mother Nature and watch what happens. Thank you to the Keep Carter County Board members and their families for raking the plots, weeding and planting the wildflowers.
Keep Carter County Beautiful is working with the Roan Mountain Recreation Foundation, providing wildflower seeds so they can beautify their local parks. Wildflowers plots are not only great for birds and pollinators but help eliminate mowing all summer. The plots help labor and gas and reduce emissions from the lawnmowers.
Elizabethton High School AP Environmental Studies Program creates wildflower seed packets for distribution to Carter County residents
Keep Carter County Beautiful partnering with Keep Tennessee Beautiful provided wildflower seeds, envelopes and printing for the Elizabethton High School AP Environmental class. The class designed the labels and made wildflower seed packets. Thank you to all our students for learning the importance of saving our environment. Carter County Birds and Pollinators will be very happy this year. The wildflower packets are being handed out to residents at Elizabethton Parks and Recreation events, at the Northeast Community Credit Union Business spotlights, at local businesses, and to County and City officials. Hope everyone enjoys planting some beautiful wildflowers. Thank you Elizabethton High School AP Environmental Studies for beautifying Carter County and helping our pollinators.
Keep Carter County Beautiful and Elizabethton Parks and Recreation Tree Planting
Keep Carter County Beautiful and Elizabethton Parks and Recreation partnered to plant beautiful mature indigenous trees. It rained all week, but when Saturday came the weather cooperated and we had a warm sunny day. Twenty redbud, dogwood and service berry trees were planted at Kiwanis Park, Riverside Park, Mill Race Park and on the Tweetsie Trail. The trees will provide beauty, shade and homes to birds and pollinators. In all 14 volunteers over three days participated in digging the holes, removing rocks, planting and mulching the trees.
This event was made possible through the Keep Tennessee Beautiful Affiliate Support Program.
Keep Carter County Beautiful – TDOT Adopt-A-Highway Milligan Highway Cleanup Success
We watched the weather all night long hoping we could complete this event. On Saturday morning, the sky cleared for four hours allowing us to complete our work. Eight volunteers walked three miles of Milligan Highway picking up trash. Thank you to all the volunteers including City Councilman Mike Simerly who did not make it into the picture because he was already out picking up trash. Thank you TDOT for providing trash bags and picking up the trash after the event. It is great to have partners like TDOT. We removed 15 bags of trash, 1 Tire, 1 Lawn Mower Battery, a folding lawn chair and couch cushion.
If you travel on Milligan Highway please do not litter and if you see someone littering, get a picture and report it. Littering in Tennessee is a $500 fine and a $50 reward for anyone providing evidence leading to a conviction.
Trashercising the Tweetsie Trail Extension at the Old Tunnel
KCCB Volunteer Susette Clark was at it again. This time she was out Trashercising the Tweetsie Trail at the Old Tunnel in Hampton. Two of Keep Carter County Beautiful’s Board Members joined her on this cleanup. It took over 2 hours to remove the litter from just 1/2 mile of the trail. In that short distance, we collected 10 bags of trash. Unfortunately, while removing the litter, we noticed some significant dumping along the way. Ignorant people are pulling to the shoulder along Highway 19E and throwing furniture and trash down the ravine where it ends up in the Doe River. I will never understand why people dump like this.
Did you know dumping like we found can be a $3000 fine and 1-6 years in jail. Is it really worth the risk when the landfill is just down the road? Please stop dumping in our beautiful county. Anyone providing information leading to a conviction for dumping like this can get a $250 reward. Let’s all work to stop the dumping.
Daniel French receives Community Recognition for his years of service
Daniel French has been volunteering at Keep Carter County Beautiful events for years. His positive outlook on life is contagious. On December 14, 2023 the Elizabethton City Council recognized Daniel’s dedication to improving our community. Thank you, Daniel from the whole community. You make Carter County a better place to live!
Keep Carter County Beautiful and the Tennessee Department of Transportation “No Trash November” Tweetsie Trail Cleanup
Volunteers make our community beautiful! Keep Carter County Beautiful is a great place for students to fulfill their community service requirements.
Ever wonder what makes one community seem so much nicer than another. I think it has to do with the people. Some people see a need and complain that something should be done, or they think it’s someone else’s problem. Other people see a need and jump right in to help. I think what makes one community better than another is its volunteers.
Susette (Anna) Clark is one such volunteer. Since moving to Carter County a few short months ago. Suzette has been going out on her own and removing trash from the roads, parks and trails. She saw an issue and set about solving it. If you see Suzette out on the roads or in the parks in her safety vest picking up trash, please let her know how much you appreciate her support. Better yet follow her example and volunteer yourself.
This last week Suzette enlisted the support of her grandson and his friend, and they removed 9 bags of trash and a bunch of old cardboard around Unaka High School. Thank you, Joshua and Jacob, for improving our community.
If you are or have a High School student in your house be aware that working with Keep Carter County Beautiful can fulfill your community service requirement.
Keep Carter County Beautiful provides recycle bins for Parks and Recreation Events
If you attended any of the great Elizabethton Parks and Recreation Events this summer at the Covered Bridge Park, you may have noticed something new. KCCB volunteers have been handing out free swag and providing conservation information. They also have been setting up recycle bins and collecting them afterward.
Keep in mind the recycle bins are for Aluminum Cans and Plastic bottles. You can also place those plastics marked type 1 and 2 in the bins. You should not be placing glass, styrofoam cups, trash or food waste in the recycle bins. Please help us recycle responsibly.
Please stop and view this very important video from the Tennessee Clean Act. I urge you to act now!
Please do not ignore this issue. Litter and trash impacts all of our lives and only we can fix it. Keep Carter County Beautiful is not a political organization, but I urge you to call, write or email your local and state representatives. Act now to save our beautiful state. You can click on the logo below and the website will help you with your message.
Enjoy all Carter County Tennessee has to offer
