Litter crews made up of more than 450 participants deployed across St. Charles Parish Saturday, as the parish hosted its 13th annual Trash Bash event.
Each year the Trash Bash is planned to promote the removal of litter from parish streets.
“It is important to keep our parish clean and free of litter and debris for both our quality of life and to protect the environment,” St. Chares Parish President Matthew Jewell said. “Not only does litter make a bad impression for residents, but it does for businesses as well. We hope that residents … keep St. Charles Parish a clean place to live.”
Local industry partners, including Shell and Valero, pitched in at the beautification effort.
Approximately 75 Valero volunteers, including Valero Energy’s Vice President and General Manager Jerry Stumbo, and more than 35 Shell volunteers, including Shell General Manager Tammy Little, joined forces with the We Are New Sarpy civic group and the Norco Civic Association to clean up the parish.
Small family groups who live in the same household were encouraged to participate as one group to keep volunteers safe and socially distanced while participating in the clean-up effort. All volunteers were provided with pickup sticks, gloves and trash bags.
After completing the litter removal, Trash Bash participants dropped off their equipment at the Edward A. Dufresne Community Center, where they were provided with lunch to-go.
United Way of St. Charles, an event sponsor, offered prizes for the groups that collected the most trash. All Trash Bash participants were also entered to win an iPad and an Apple Watch courtesy of Entergy. The drawing for the raffle prizes will take place at the parish council meeting on March 15.
Trash Bash 2021 follows another parish clean-up effort earlier this month, where Jewell and Jefferson Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng teamed up to clean up litter along Hwy 90, a highly-traveled corridor between the parishes. Staff from each parish, council members, the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office and the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office all worked to remove trash from the area.
“Keeping our parish clean and free of litter is important to our environment as well as our economy and drainage infrastructure,” Jewell said. “The appearance of our parish will leave a lasting impression on all those who live, work and play in St. Charles Parish.”
Jewell noted that litter negatively affects the environment and can prevent water from properly draining if it enters drainage conveyance systems, which can then lead to flooding issues.
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