Clean and green: Huntsville officials discuss importance – and safety – of a clean city

HUNTSVILLE — The city is picking up the momentum – and roadside litter – to help keep the Rocket City clean and green.

At a media event Tuesday at Blevins Gap Nature Preserve in Huntsville, city officials spoke about the importance of keeping the Rocket City clean.

One organization, The Green Team, has played a major role in the upkeep.

“There’s one element that defines our city, that’s cleanliness,” said Brian Walker, director of Landscape Management and the Green Team for Huntsville. “We can spend all the money in the world on beautiful parks, roads, sidewalks, and public spaces. But if there’s trash all around, it just ruins everything. Trash is unsightly, unsanitary, and unsafe. In Huntsville, we’ve taken great pride in having a clean community. We hear it all the time. Visitors, they just can’t believe how clean and safe Huntsville is.

“The two go together, but if a place is unclean, it is likely unsafe. It’s one of the reasons we have invested in Green Team, which is a full-time unit of employees that focuses on a green Huntsville.”

District 3 Councilmember Dr. Jenny Robinson called it a “challenge for all of us” to maintain the level of cleanliness in Huntsville.

“I just came from an event on Green Mountain where the Land Trust opened up a new land trust trail, and Marie Vonstick, executive director of Land Trust, used a term that has stuck with me – ‘a land steward’,” said Robinson. “We all need to be good stewards of the land. Some of my favorite land stewards are standing back here, and that’s the folks from Green Team, who take on that responsibility of controlling litter in our community every day.”

“But they can’t do it alone. They need us all to be land stewards.”

Huntsville Police Capt. Stephen Anderson said litter is not just an eyesore, but it can be dangerous for drivers.

“Roads are filled with all sorts of potential hazards, but one hazard that’s often overlooked is road debris,” Anderson said. “It may seem like a minor inconvenience, but it can have serious consequences. It’s why the Huntsville Police Department is proud to stand with the Green Team and their efforts to educate citizens as well as visitors to save lives, prevent damage, and keep Huntsville beautiful.”

It’s not only Huntsville investing in the clean-up effort, the state is also heavily involved.

“We for many years had a great partnership with the city whereby they actually maintained a lot of the state routes as well,” said Seth Burkett of the Alabama Department of Transportation. “As far as mowing and litter inside the city, ALDOT has spent last year statewide about $9 million on litter cleanup. Just in North Alabama.

“This year, fiscal year to date, we spent about $1.2 million, and something approaching a quarter-million dollars of that was spent in Madison County alone.”