CHAPIN, S.C. — A new group of Chapin residents are looking to tackle litter after a teen from the area took on an individual trash pickup project. It gained traction, and now it has turned into a movement.
The mission of these "Litter Warriors" is to show the town how out of hand the litter problem has gotten and do something about it.
The trash they are picking up is stuck in the grass, filled with rain water and oftentimes smelly.
The group has picked up litter lining Wessinger Road, Meadow Lark Road and Bickley Road in Chapin.
They've picked up 850 full bags of trash since March 2022.
"Together we have been just inviting other people and it got to be the point where we had like 20 people and I'm like, maybe I need a group on Facebook to do this and so that's what we did, we made a Facebook group and now we have about 125 people in the group," Rebecca Murphy, group founder said.
They have long term goals of far-reaching impact.
"As we move over, we get people from that area to volunteer, and so as we can get more volunteers from Ballentine and Irmo, we'll move towards Columbia and that's our goal," Murphy said.
The idea is to make trash pickups normal until they're no longer needed.
"Hopefully the community will see that there's bags on the road, that it's free of litter and debris and they'll keep it that way and be happy that their community now is free of litter and beautified so to speak," Jeanna Michaels, volunteer said.
Just today in the span of two hours, they filled 15 bags on Meadow Lark Road.
"SCDOT and the folks that pickup in the Ballentine area, the adopt a highway, we call and they are amazing. They come right out and pick up the bags," Michaels said.
These "Litter Warriors" are taking out the trash one bag at a time.
Surrounding businesses like Zorbas Chapin donate gift card certificates to the group's monthly participation award drawings. Restaurants like La Fogata off of Broad River Road have donated a meal to the group and location for them to meet up after their clean-ups.
If you'd like to learn more about the group or signing up to volunteer, click here to see their Facebook page.