Litter trashes California, wastes dollars, say officials

<p>Hey litterbugs, knock it off. You’re not only making a mess of our state, you’re wasting taxpayer money.</p><p>State CHP and Caltrans officials are putting out that message today, albeit in more politically correct words.</p><p>Today is Keep California Beautiful day, with a promotional program between the CHP and Caltrans and other state agencies aimed at discouraging littering.</p><p>In Sonoma County, CHP officers are keeping an extra watch out for drivers with uncovered or improper loads, which could, and often do, spill, said Officer Barbara Upham.</p><p>They’re also watching for those miscreants who toss trash from their cars.</p><p>But it’s rare that people do that within view of patrol cars, Upham said.</p><p>A more common occurrence is the unexpected littering, the paper that flies from an open car window or the work equipment that falls from the back of a truck or the driver on the way to the dump with a poorly secured load.</p><p>“That trash has to be picked up by somebody,” she said.</p><p>“Just securing the empty Coke and beer cans in the back of a pickup truck or loose material in your vehicle that flies out your window would help,” Upham said.</p><p>You drive enough you see it all. Upham recalled water skies and floating tubes fallen onto roadways, presumably from towed boats.</p><p>“It could end up on the roadway and become trash but it’s also a significant hazard on the road for other drivers,” Upham said of the multitude of items along the state’s roadways.</p><p>Whether intentional or not, doing all of these also can earn you a ticket.</p><p>Not only is litter an eyesore, it is a very expensive statewide problem that costs citizens taxpayer funds and state resources, said a CHP press release.</p><p>The cost of picking up the trash, often by Caltrans workers, could be better spent on more critical infrastructure projects that would benefit the citizens of California and the nation, said the press release.</p><p>The law does allow two things to legally fall or come from a motor vehicle, Upham said. Clear water and feathers from live birds.</p>