Keep Alleghany Litter-Free Initiative

04/07/2026

All,
Just a quick adjustment to our 2026 Spring Community Litter-Sweep statistics. We had an additional 12 bags of litter picked up after my last post. This brings our final number of effective volunteers to 80 and our final effective litter-bag count to 221. Again, thanks to all of our amazing volunteers. You are making a positive difference!

04/03/2026

All,
Our 2026 Spring Community Litter-Sweep was a huge success. This year's Spring Litter-Sweep was conducted March 14th through April 1st. 80 volunteers and caring citizens participated in this year’s three-week effort to pick up roadside litter throughout Alleghany County. This Spring Litter-Sweep was hosted once again by Miles Realty with support from the Keep Alleghany Litter-Free (KALF) Initiative, Alleghany Chamber of Commerce (CoC), and the Alleghany Tourism Development Authority (TDA). Our local NCDOT picked up scores of litter-bags left by the roadside and took them to the transfer station. Other bags were taken directly to the transfer station by our volunteers. Litter-Sweep kickoff events were held on three consecutive Saturday mornings with volunteers picking up litter during the week days as well. Despite having to brave some cold and windy days, our volunteers removed 221 bags of litter from our Alleghany County roads.

This bi-annual community event, conducted each spring and fall, helps preserve the health and scenic beauty of our amazing Blue Ridge Mountain home. Additionally, the TDA has committed to paying $10.00 per 42-gallon bag of litter collected to a designated non-profit organization. This year’s Spring Litter-Sweep will raise $2,210.00 for the Alleghany Solid Rock Food Closet. Individuals or groups are highly encouraged to take advantage of this “Cash-for-Trash” program by completing a Litter Pickup Application on the TDA website at https://alleghanytda.com.

Anyone interested in volunteering for future Litter-Sweep events is urged to send an email to the Keep Alleghany Litter-Free (KALF) Initiative Coordinator at [email protected]. The KALF Initiative also has a page at https://www.facebook.com/KALFinitiative. Please “Follow”, “Like” and “Share” this FB Page to help spread the word on results of and plans for Litter-Sweep events. Thanks again to our amazing group of 2026 Spring Litter-Sweep volunteers.

03/24/2026

Spring Litter-Sweep Volunteers,

Thanks to the 42 effective volunteers we've had so far this Spring Litter-Sweep. Your efforts are much appreciated.

Last spring (2025) we had a total of 82 effective volunteers over the three Saturdays and two weeks. So far, we are running quite a bit behind last year's turn out. We have another 5 days of our dedicated Spring 2026 Alleghany Community Litter-Sweep and are hoping good weather encourages a surge in volunteers this final week.

If you have not had a chance to participate so far this spring, please consider doing so over the next 5 days through Saturday, March 28th.

Together, we can improve the health and scenic beauty of Alleghany County.

Keep Alleghany Litter-Free!
Mark & Susan

03/18/2026

Thanks to all of our Litter-Sweep volunteers who braved the weather and helped clean up our roadsides so far during our two-week Spring 2026 Alleghany Communitty Litter-Sweep. We have collected 50+ bags of litter so far and are just getting started. The weather forecast for this Thursday, Friday and Saturday is excellent. We kickoff again on Saturday at 9:00AM at Miles Realty. But you can pick up litter on any day and time of your choosing.

Hope to see you out there. Please pass the word!
Much appreciated, Mark & Susan

03/03/2026

The annual Alleghany Community Spring 2026 Litter-Sweep starts soon. We are scheduled for two weeks spanning Saturdays of March 14th, 21st and 28th. This is a great opportunity to show your community pride by joining fellow citizens to clean up and improve the health and scenic beauty of our roadsides. Please mark your calendars and plan to participate. Volunteers will meet at Miles Realty, our host for this event, located next to the Trojan Village Shopping Center at 9AM each Saturday. The KALF Initiative and All Up organizations are coordinating this event and providing the following:
1. Litter-bags
2. Gloves
3. Reflective safety vests
4. Litter Reacher / grabbers
5. KALF signs while they last
6. Recommended areas to sweep

Volunteers should dress for the weather, bring lots of water, sunscreen and wear brightly colored clothing. According to the NCDOT website, “volunteers must be at least 12 years old and children 12-17 must be supervised by an adult who is at least 21 years old." Everyone is encouraged to spread the word about this event in order to achieve maximum turnout.

This effort is supported by the Alleghany Chamber of Commerce and the Alleghany Tourism Development Authority via the Cash-for-Trash Program. Please check out the KALF Initiative page at: https://www.facebook.com/KALFinitiative. “Like" and "Follow" us there so that you can get the latest in KALF Initiative updates. Please Email the KALF Initiative Coordinator at [email protected] with any questions.

TOGETHER, WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE! PLEASE KEEP ALLEGHANY LITTER-FREE!

The Keep Alleghany Litter-Free (KALF) Initiative encourages citizens to avoid littering our roads.

01/26/2026

Spring 2026 Community Litter-Sweep Dates Are Set
The annual Alleghany Community Spring 2026 Litter-Sweep is scheduled for two weeks spanning Saturdays of March 14th, 21st and 28th. This is a great opportunity to show your community pride by joining fellow citizens to clean up and improve the health and scenic beauty of our roadsides. Please mark your calendars and plan to participate. Volunteers will meet at Miles Realty, our host for this event, located next to the Trojan Village Shopping Center at 9AM each Saturday. The KALF Initiative and All Up organizations are coordinating this event and providing the following:
1. Litter-bags
2. Gloves
3. Reflective safety vests
4. Litter reacher / grabbers
5. KALF signs while they last
6. Recommended areas to sweep

Volunteers should dress for the weather, bring lots of water, sunscreen and wear brightly colored clothing. According to the NCDOT website, “volunteers must be at least 12 years old and children 12-17 must be supervised by an adult who is at least 21 years old." Everyone is encouraged to spread the word about this event in order to achieve maximum turnout.

This effort is supported by the Alleghany Chamber of Commerce and the Alleghany Tourism Development Authority via the Cash-for-Trash Program. Please check out the KALF Initiative page at: https://www.facebook.com/KALFinitiative. “Like" and "Follow" us there so that you can get the latest in KALF Initiative updates. Please Email the KALF Initiative Coordinator at [email protected] with any questions.

TOGETHER, WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE! PLEASE KEEP ALLEGHANY LITTER-FREE!

The Keep Alleghany Litter-Free (KALF) Initiative encourages citizens to avoid littering our roads.

07/21/2025

Volunteers,

The Alleghany Community Fall 2025 Litter-Sweep begins with the first of two kickoff events on Saturday, September, 6th. The Litter-Sweep is scheduled for two full weeks; with an additional kickoff on Saturday, September 13th. Please mark your calendars and plan to participate. This is a great opportunity to show your community pride by joining with fellow citizens to clean up and improve the health and scenic beauty of our roadsides. Volunteers will be meeting each Saturday at Miles Realty next to the Trojan Village Shopping Center at 9AM. The KALF Initiative and ALL Up organizations will be hosting this community event and providing the following:
1. Litter-bags
2. Gloves
3. Reflective safety vests
4. Litter reacher / grabbers
5. KALF signs while they last
6. Recommended areas to sweep

Community volunteers are requested to dress for the weather, bring lots of water, sunscreen and wear brightly colored clothing. According to the NCDOT website, “volunteers must be at least 12 years old and children 12-17 must be supervised by an adult who is at least 21 years old." Everyone is encouraged to spread the word about this event in order to achieve maximum turnout.

This effort is supported by the Alleghany Chamber of Commerce and the Alleghany Tourism Development Authority via the Cash-for-Trash Program. Please check out the KALF Initiative page at: https://www.facebook.com/KALFinitiative. “Like" and "Follow" us there so that you can get the latest in KALF Initiative updates. Please Email the KALF Initiative Coordinator at [email protected] with any questions.

TOGETHER, WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE! PLEASE KEEP ALLEGHANY LITTER-FREE!

12/28/2023

Save the dates! The Spring 2024 Alleghany Cummunity Litter-Sweep is scheduled for two full weeks and will span three Saturdays; April 13th, 20th and 27th. We will be meeting as usual at Miles Realty next to the Trojan Village Shopping Center at 9AM on each Saturday for our morning kickoffs.
This effort is supported by the Alleghany Chamber for Economic Development and the Alleghany Travel Development Authority. The KALF Initiative and ALL Up organizations will be hosting this community event and providing the following:
1. Litter-bags
2. Gloves
3. Reflective safety vests
4. Litter reacher / grabbers
5. KALF signs while they last
6. Recommended areas to sweep
Please bring lots of water, sunscreen and wear your KALF T-shirt or other brightly colored clothing as weather allows.

NOTE - According to the NCDOT website, “volunteers must be at least 12 years old and children 12-17 must be supervised by an adult who is at least 21 years old."
We are hoping for a great turnout and look forward to seeing you there. Please spread the word any way you can to help us recruit as many volunteers as possible.
Please check out the KALF Initiative page at: https://www.facebook.com/KALFinitiative. "Like" and "Follow" us there so that you can get the latest in KALF Initiative updates.
Email the KALF Initiative Coordinator at [email protected] with any questions.

TOGETHER, WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE! PLEASE KEEP ALLEGHANY LITTER-FREE!

03/12/2023

KALF Members,
Although last Saturday's first Spring 2023 Litter-Sweep was a cold and windy day, we still had over 30 volunteers show up to help kickoff our event. Many of these were first-time sweeper-volunteers. Quite a few of our volunteers braved the cold conditions to pick up roadside litter. This level of participation was exciting! It seems we are doing a better job of getting the word out but you can help! Please "Like", "Follow" and "Share" this FB Page and it's posts. Please encourage others to search for it and do the same.

This coming Thursday, March 16th, has the best weather forecast of the week. Consider spending some time that day continuing your litter-sweep efforts. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE leave your litter bags secured on the roadside so that NCDOT can pick them up and count them for us. Each bag we collect amounts to $10.00 in Cash-for-Trash toward the Alleghany Food Closet. Also, very important to call in or text your bag count and location to Susan Miles at 336-657-7190.