‘Nobody Trashes Tennessee,’ and that includes Murfreesboro, is featured this month on “The Insider,” the City’s official podcast.
Kristin Hopkins and Angela Jackson discuss the problem of littering and pollution with ways we can all do our part to keep our City’s natural resources clean and beautiful.
Learn more about cleaning-up our parks and greenways on the latest edition of “The Insider” at https://cityofmurfreesborotn.podbean.com/. If you prefer to watch the podcast on YouTube, visit https://youtu.be/_EE1h_mwKFk for the 16 minute discussion.
Hopkins is the Natural Resource Manager for the Parks & Rec Department, overseeing a team responsible for managing habitat in the City parks and natural areas. Jackson is executive director of Community Services which includes Park & Recreation, Golf, CityTV and Strategic Partnerships. She has long been an advocate of environmental education, resource management and conservation. Topics discussed include:
- Litter and pollution are problems all around us from what we can visibly see to the vast amount of waste that while often out-of-sight continues to impact public health and the environment
- How Micro-plastics and Polymers break-down and wind up in our water cycle and even our bodies. Natural habitat and wildlife are impacted by pollution in the environment
- How each of us can do our small part to help keep our community beautiful
- “Unintentional” litter may not have nefarious intentions, but it still impacts our environment in negative ways, including stormwater, waterways, and ultimately water quality
- Suggestions on greater awareness and consciousness about our environment, which includes using fewer single-use items—packaging items that we use only once.
- Six stormwater drains flow into Murfree Spring. Litter contributes to pollution of an area designed to be a natural and pristine wetland
There is a significant cost to cleaning up the City’s roadways and waterways from litter and pollution caused by man-made trash. The 2nd Annual “No Trash November” urges citizens to join in the cleanup. The City of Murfreesboro Parks & Recreation Department urges volunteers to help clean up our parks, riverways, and greenway spaces. Visit Outdoor Murfreesboro at www.MurfreesboroParks.com to sign up for Volunteer Trash Clean Up and join Guardians of the Greenway. Sign up directly on the Volunteer Signup Page.
Follow the “Nobody Trashes Tennessee” campaign on social media https://nobodytrashestennessee.com/join-the-movement/. The City of Murfreesboro encourages citizens to join the movement to keep Tennessee and our City beautiful https://www.murfreesborotn.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=3966.
The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) has a Litter Hotline 1-877-8LITTER available for concerned citizens to take action by letting the department know when residents witness littering on the state’s roadways.
CityTV has long run a video PSA campaign to encourage residents not to litter. The YouTube video is shareable at https://youtu.be/jxUVBFzgvu0. “Don’t Littler, It’s That Simple.”
The Murfreesboro Water Resources Department Stormwater Quality Division works tirelessly to reduce non-point source pollution. Learn more about the consequences of pollution to our water resources and how to help at https://www.murfreesborotn.gov/509/Residents
Michael Nevills produces “The Insider” every month in the studios located in Murfreesboro City Hall. The podcasts are available for listening via Podbean, Spotify, Apple Podcast, Amazon Music Audible and Google Podcasts. Video versions are also available on YouTube and Facebook.
For City News online, visit www.Murfreesborotn.gov.