State Launches Love Our Waterways Cleanup Drive Sept. 1

"80% of the trash that ends up on our streets ends up in our waterways," Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser said, according to KATC.

Nungesser is behind Louisiana's new Love Our Waterways initiative. It launches September 1. He said litter costs the state nearly $100 million a year.

"We could better spend that money in our schools for our teachers," Nungesser said. "If we clean up Louisiana, we can use that money for other things."

Bess Foret, executive director of Keep Lafayette Beautiful, said street litter and dirty waterways are closely linked.

"All the litter that you see on the street, it's going to end up down those storm drains," Foret told KATC. "People are worried about drainage and those types of things, and it's going to end up in our drainage and our waterways."

Anyone in Louisiana can form or join a cleanup group through a sign-up link tied to the initiative, according to KATC.

Keep Lafayette Beautiful, the local group partnering on the effort, runs litter cleanups and beautification projects year-round, Foret said. The organization is hosting its own Love Our Waterways cleanup on Sunday, September 13, at the Camellia Bridge Canoe and Kayak Launch in Lafayette Parish.