EVERETT — A Snohomish County crew known as the Litter Wranglers has started its third year picking up tons of candy wrappers, soda bottles and other roadside waste.
In the past seasons between April and October, the crew gathered more than 10,500 bags of trash and cleaned 1,050 miles of roads.
The second year saw a 25 percent increase in the number of roadside miles cleaned. And already this year, they’ve collected 1,000 bags of trash, said Scott Taylor, an operations supervisor with Snohomish County’s Solid Waste Division.
The team — six workers and a crew leader — depends on drivers and residents to report places where litter has become a problem. Often they have cleared sites within a week of the report.
“This is a collaboration between the Litter Wranglers and the residents, in an effort to maintain Snohomish County’s natural beauty,” Taylor said.
The team also proactively goes to known hot spots for illegal dumping.
They’ve picked up many tires and couches after litterbugs have pulled over in the dark to get rid of junk. Sometimes it’s weird random stuff, like antlers pulled from someone’s wall.
Two flaggers and four pickers rotate job duties throughout the work week. Their training helps them to work near blind corners and around traffic — places that might not be safe for volunteers in, say, the Adopt-A-Road program.
Snohomish County funds the Litter Wranglers with about $120,000 a year.
The crew allows Public Works to focus on other aspects of maintaining the roads: drainage, encroaching vegetation and the street itself.
Caleb Hutton: 425-339-3454; chutton@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @snocaleb.
To report roadside litter, call 425-388-7500, or email Litter.Wranglers@snoco.org.
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