Mission Statement:

Raise awareness of the people of Cullman County regarding litter by utilizing volunteers to remove litter, educate, assist law enforcement, and lobby elected officials.

Cullman County PALS (People Against a Littered State), a non-profit organization, is a chapter of Alabama State PALS

Recipient of Governor's County Award - 2002, 2003, 2004


Mailing Address:

Cullman County PALS
P.O. Box 1935
Cullman, Al. 35056

Physical Address:

First Floor, Cullman County Professional Office Building

Contact Numbers:

256-736-2429
256-734-3542
256-734-3544 (Fax)

2005 Officers:

President: Gaynor St. John
Vice President: Bert Jones
Secretary: Dianne Green
Treasurer: Greg Clark
State Board Member: Dianne Green

Meeting Dates:

Third Thursday each month, 7:30 AM, St. John and St. John law office. Also available for speaking engagements on request.

Membership Dues:

Student - $10.00
Single - $20.00
Family - $30.00
Corporate - $100.00

Events:

Homebuilders Home and Garden Show (February)

Annual Countywide Spring Clean up (March-April)

Smith Lake Park (July 4th)

Children’s Health Fair (August)

County Fair (September)

Programs:

Community Service Work, First Saturday each month

Adopt a Mile, Jo Ann Walls, 256-352-9799

To report criminal littering, call the Litter Hotline at (256) 775-4708. It is suggested that you have the following information available when you call: 

  • Automobile make, model and tag number of litterer, if possible
  • Location where littering occurred
  • Any information found in litter including names and addresses from mail and any legal literature.

The information provided by those who call to report an instance of criminal or highway littering will be entirely confidential.

 

Myths and Facts About Littering

MYTH: Littering creates jobs.
FACT: Littering costs money. Last year taxpayers paid $1.5 million for roadside cleanup. DOT spent this amount to clean up only the worst areas -- roads with high litter accumulation. The money could have been used to construct Roadside Rest Areas or Traveler Information Stops or to repair the State's roads and bridges. Thousands of potholes could have been repaired with the money spent on litter clean up. Without it's Adopt-A-Highway and volunteers, DOT estimates clean up would cost $50 million annually.

MYTH: No one notice litter.
FACT: Litter destroys the beauty of a community. Tourism is an important part of Alabama's economy. People come from all over the world to the beauty of our countryside, towns and cities. When litter mars their enjoyment, Alabama loses valuable tourist dollars.

MYTH: Litter Control is not important.
FACT: Litter affects everyone. Litter may not be the most dramatic or exciting of the many problems that threaten the quality of our environment but it is a problem which affects everyone in the community

MYTH: Only "certain types" of people litter.
FACT: Litterbugs are everywhere!  "Litterbugs" can be found among people of every age, sex, race and geographic location, and in every level of society.

MYTH: Litter doesn't affect the economy.
FACT: Litter discourages economic development. Litter impacts real estate values. Good stores and important businesses will not locate in a community which lacks the pride to effectively control litter.

MYTH: Litter doesn't hurt anyone.
FACT: Litter is a safety hazard. Litter is a breeding ground for fire and disease.
FACT: Litter impacts car insurance rates because hundreds of thousands of auto accidents are litter-related.
FACT: Ingesting litter causes injury or death to thousands of pets as well as wildlife and farm animals.
FACT: Litter is a breeding ground for rats and disease-causing bacteria.

 

 

 

The following information on littering and state laws concerning criminal and highway littering is provided by PALS.

Who and What | Criminal Littering | Highway Littering

Who and What

Who litters our roads and countrysides? According to a 31-state survey conducted by the Institute of Applied Research:

  • 1/2 of litter is deliberate and 1/2 is caused by materials being "accidentally" lost from vehicles.
  • Males do 72% of deliberate littering and are responsible for 96% of accidental littering.
  • 69% of deliberate litterers were accompanied by one or more people.
  • 60% of deliberate littering is done by pedestrians and 40% is done by motorists.
  • Composition of highway litter is as follows: 59% paper, 16% cans, 6% bottles, 6% plastic, 13% miscellaneous.
  • One mile of highway contains approximately 16,000 pieces of litter (estimated cost of pickup is 30 cents per piece of litter).
  • According to James Rollo of Cullman County Sanitation, following a recent litter pick up project, Cullman County contains an average of 800 lbs. of litter in one square mile. During the cleanup, volunteers recovered over 1,200 lbs. of litter from one single square mile in Cullman County.
  • The Cullman County Sanitation Department has calculated there are over 500 tons of litter on Cullman County roads, and this does not include city streets. 

 Criminal Littering
 (Taken from the Alabama Code)

Section 13A-7-29

Criminal Littering(a) A person commits the crime of criminal littering if he or she engages in any of the following acts:(1) Knowingly deposits in any manner litter on any public or private property or in any public or private waters, having no permission to do so. For purposes of this subdivision, items found in an accumulation of garbage, trash, or other discarded material including, but not limited to, bank statements, utility bills, bank card bills, and other financial documents, clearly bearing the name of a person shall constitute a rebuttable presumption that the person whose name appears thereon knowingly deposited the litter. Advertising, marketing, and campaign materials and literature shall not be sufficient to constitute a rebuttable presumption of criminal littering under this subsection.(2) Negligently deposits in any manner glass or other dangerously pointed or edged objects on or adjacent to water to which the public has lawful access for bathing, swimming, or fishing, or on or upon a public highway, or within the right of way thereof.(3) Discharges sewage, oil products, or litter from a watercraft vessel of more than 25 feet in length into a river, inland lake, or stream within the state or within three miles of the shoreline of the state.(4) a. Drops or permits to be dropped or thrown upon any highway any destructive or injurious material and does not immediately remove the same or cause it to be removed; orb. Removes a wrecked or damaged vehicle from a highway and does not remove glass or other injurious substance dropped upon the highway from such vehicle.(b) "Litter" means rubbish, refuse, waste material, garbage, dead animals or fowl, offal, paper, glass, cans, bottles, trash, scrap metal, debris, or any foreign substance of whatever kind and description, and whether or not it is of value.(c) It is no defense under subsections (a) (3) and (a) (4) that the actor did not intend, or was unaware of, the act charge.(d) Criminal littering is a Class C misdemeanor. The minimum fine for the first conviction shall be two hundred fifty dollars ($250), and the fine for the second and any subsequent conviction shall be five hundred dollars ($500) for each conviction.(e) The fine from such conviction shall be awarded and distributed by the court to the municipal, and/or county, and/or state General Fund, following a determination by the court of whose law enforcement agencies or departments have been a participant in the arrest resulting in the fine. Such award and distribution shall be made on the basis of the percentage as determined by the court, which the respective agency or department contributed to the police work resulting in the arrest, and shall be spent by the governing body on law enforcement purposes only.(f) No action for criminal littering based on evidence that creates a rebuttable presumption under subsection (a) (1) shall be brought against a person by or on behalf of a county or municipal governing body unless he or she has been given written notice by a designee of the governing body that items found in an accumulation of garbage, trash, or other discarded materials contain his or her name, and that, under subsection (a) (1), there is a rebuttable presumption that he or she knowingly deposited the litter. The notice shall advise the person that criminal littering is a Class C misdemeanor, and shall provide that, unless the person can present satisfactory information or evidence to rebut the presumption to the designee of the governing body within 15 days from the date of the notice, an action for criminal littering may be filed against him or her in the appropriate court. If the person responds to the notice and presents information or evidence to the designee of the governing body, the designee shall review the information or evidence presented and make a determination as to whether or not an action should be brought against the person for criminal littering. The designee shall provide written notice to the person of its determination, and if the intent is to proceed with an action for criminal littering, the notice shall be sent before any action is filed.

(Acts 1977, No. 607, p. 812, §2725; Acts 1990, No. 90-585, p. 1020; Acts 1997, No. 97–712, p. 1475, §1; Act 98–494, §1.)

Highway Littering
(Taken from the Alabama Code)

Section 32-5A-60

Putting glass, etc., on highway, road, street or public right-of-way prohibited; removal; throwing of litter onto highway, etc., prohibited; penalty.(a) No person shall throw or deposit upon any highway, road or street or public right-of-way any glass bottle, glass, nails, tacks, wire, cans or any other substance likely to injure any person(b) Any person who drops, or permits to be dropped or thrown, upon any highway any destructive or injurious material shall immediately remove the same or cause it to be removed.(c) Any person removing a wrecked or damaged vehicle from a highway shall remove any glass or other injurious substance dropped upon the highway from such vehicle.(d) No person shall throw litter or allow litter to be thrown from a motor vehicle onto or upon any highway, road or street or public right-of-way.(e) The uniform traffic citation may be used for any violation of this section.(f) "Litter" as used in this section is the same as defined in section 13A-7-29.(g) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 32-5A-266, any person violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a Class C misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined not more
than $500.00, pursuant to section 13A-7-29, the criminal littering statute.

(Acts 1980, No. 80-434, p. 604, §11-111; Acts 1989, No. 89-661, §1.)


 Section 32-5-76

Spilling loads or litter; penalty.(a) Whoever willfully and knowingly operates, owns or causes to be operated on any public highway, road, street or public right-of-way a motor vehicle so loaded with gravel, rock, slag, bricks, in such manner or in such condition that the contents of the vehicle spill out and cause it to be deposited upon the highway, road, street or public right-of-way is guilty of a Class C misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined not more than $500.00, pursuant to section 13A-7-29, the criminal littering statute.(b) No vehicle shall be driven or moved on any highway unless such vehicle is so constructed or loaded as to prevent any of its load from dropping, sifting, leaking or otherwise escaping therefrom, except that sand may be dropped for the purpose of securing traction, or water or other substance may be sprinkled on a roadway in cleaning or maintaining such roadway.(c) Whoever willfully and knowingly operates, owns or causes to be operated on a public highway, road, street or public right-of-way, a motor vehicle in such manner or in such condition that litter is caused or allowed to be deposited upon the highway, road or street or public right-of-way, is guilty of a Class C misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined not more than $500.00, pursuant to section 13A-7-29, the criminal littering statute.

(Acts 1927, No. 347, p. 348; Code 1940, T. 36, §39; Acts 1949, No. 517, p. 754, §9; Acts 1971, No. 1419, p. 2423; Acts 1989, No. 89-661, §1.)