Keep Aiken County Beautiful litter group celebrating two years

Holly Kemp, Aiken Standard, S.C.
·2 min read

Jun. 13—Much discussion and activity related to the litter situation in Aiken County over the years led to the creation of Keep Aiken County Beautiful, which is celebrating its two-year anniversary this week.

To address the local litter problem, the Aiken County Council first created a task force to research, collect data and formulate possible solutions, according to a news release from Darlene Rittel, a board member with Keep Aiken County Beautiful.

"Out of the task force came the Keep Aiken County Beautiful (KACB) affiliate with Keep America Beautiful (KAB) — with lots of help from Palmetto Pride," Rittel said in the release.

Keep Aiken County Beautiful is now two years old and is celebrating the milestone with several activities this week.

The schedule of events will kick off with the planting of a butterfly garden at the Brothers and Sister's Club of Aiken County on York Street on Monday.

On Tuesday, an event will be held from 10 a.m. to noon about Palmetto Pride anti-litter curriculum for educators and Keep Aiken County Beautiful volunteers. Registration is required.

Also on Tuesday, there will be a Trash Talk Roundtable at 5:30 p.m. This will be held at the Aiken County government building on University Parkway. It is free and open to the public and will be an opportunity for community brainstorming about litter solutions.

On Thursday, from 9-11 a.m. a pop-up cleanup event will take place at 449 Rutland Drive.

On Friday, an invitation-only luncheon and awards event for Keep Aiken County Beautiful volunteers will be held. Registration is also required for this event.

"It certainly is something worth celebrating looking back over the hundreds of local volunteers, the thousands of pounds of litter picked up and the efforts to beautify our county," Rittel said.

For more information, contact Keep Aiken County Beautiful program coordinator Kandace Cave at kcave@aikencountysc.gov.