Keep the Midlands Beautiful started 36 years ago as a class project by a Leadership Columbia cohort. “They took a tour of the airport and were very disappointed by the amount of litter they saw. They understood the importance that litter has on our economic development, in particular. They also understood the importance of working to reduce litter,” said Keep the Midlands Beautiful Executive Director Traude Sander.
Today, the non-profit organization assembles thousands of volunteers each year who help to pick up litter, beautify towns, and clean trash from rivers and lakes. They aim to reduce litter, increase recycling, and enhance beautification through educating the public. “Last year, we had almost 6,800 volunteers. They spent over 18,000 hours removing 218,414 pounds of litter across two counties where we had 817 litter pickup events.”
Keep the Midlands Beautiful is one of 750 Keep America Beautiful affiliates and is unique in its responsibility to upkeep two counties. Other Keep America Beautiful affiliates usually oversee the upkeep of a lake, river, town or city, or a county.
“We’re one of 38 affiliates that report to Palmetto Pride within the state of South Carolina. They chose to establish us to oversee both Lexington and Richland counties,” said Sander.
Perhaps the largest clean up event for Keep the Midlands Beautiful is the Lake Sweep for Lake Murray – done annually in conjunction with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources’ statewide cleanup of all waterways. “Last year, 331 individuals volunteered and removed 15,170 pounds of litter from the lake along with 45 bags of recyclable material,” said Sander.
The Lake Sweep is a community effort sponsored by Lexington County, Dominion Energy, Palmetto Pride, and Eco Choice. “We partner with about 30 different organizations for that event. We have check-in and check-out points at three different locations around Lake Murray. We also have a dive team that participates with 40 to 60 volunteers and people clean up riverways across Lexington or Richland counties. It’s quite an event, our largest one-time event.”
In addition to the Lake Sweep/River Sweep, Keep the Midlands Beautiful also organizes monthly litter clean-ups. “We rotate each month and have cleanups in Richland and Lexington counties, the City of Columbia, and the Town of Irmo. We will have anywhere from about 40 to 60 people on a Saturday morning each month picking up litter.”
The non-profit also oversees Adopt-a-Highway and Adopt-a-Waterway, giving volunteers the opportunity to regularly upkeep these areas. “We manage the Adopt-a-Highway program, the Adopt-a-Street program, and the Adopt-a- Waterway program. So, we’ve got about 710 roadways and waterways that people can adopt and clean up on a regular basis, two to four times a year.”
Sander noted that donations are essential to helping Keep the Midlands Beautiful fulfill its mission. “We’re a nonprofit, so donations are essential to what we do. A lot of the affiliates across the country are tied to a government entity or a commission that provides their office space and staffing expenses. But we are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, so we have to fund ourselves.”
Community support helps the organization to continue providing services that benefit residents. “Even contributing a little financially makes a big difference, and we can continue to expand the programs we offer. We offer a lot of services for our community, such as free paper shredding, drop-off events, and litter pick up. We are trying to do more, but we can’t without assistance from our community.”
Keep the Midlands Beautiful also does a large-scale beautification project annually. “We recently received a $14,000 grant from the Arbor Day Foundation and State Farm to replenish trees lost in Hurricane Helena in Batesburg-Leesville. We provided workshops on how and why to plant trees and provided about 500 free trees for residents.”
Beautification is also carried out through mural installations. “We are installing greetings from murals in many of the municipalities. We serve 19 different towns and cities across Lexington and Richland counties. We’re installing murals in these towns that say “welcome to” or “greetings from” in an attempt to beautify the areas, because people are less likely to litter in beautiful spaces.”
Murals have been painted in Cayce and Swansea, with upcoming projects in Lexington and Columbia. “Local artists submit designs for each mural, and the town or city council helps make the selection, along with our staff. Each mural includes block letters with the name of the city or town, and then each of the block letters includes elements of the city or town, the county, and the state.”
When giving tips for “keeping the Midlands beautiful,” Sander’s message is simple: don’t litter. “People complain about the litter, but a lot of people don’t do anything about it. We need everyone to do their part and not litter. People need to secure their loads when they’re driving. That’s the main thing we need people to do: make sure they’re responsible. That would make a huge difference.”
Sander also mentioned the importance of recycling and keeping your car trash off the road. “Learning how to recycle correctly and reducing the number of things that go to the landfill also helps. Also, keep a trash bag in your car, then when you get to a store or gas station, throw it away. Don’t throw it out the window.”
Those interested in volunteering with Keep the Midlands Beautiful can do so by visiting the website or calling 803-733-1139. “We have volunteer opportunities for everyone – individuals, groups of all sizes. There are a lot of ways people can volunteer.”