Spring into action this April and help clean up Missouri during the No MOre Trash! Bash 2009. No MOre Trash! Bash is a month-long litter-prevention celebration that encourages people to help clean up Missouri’s roadsides and streams.

"Littering really adds up as far as costs to our environment, our economy and the beauty of Missouri,” said Joe Jerek, coordinator of the No MOre Trash! campaign for the Missouri Department of Conservation. “Wildlife is maimed or killed by litter, and it pollutes our forests, fields, streams, rivers and lakes. Litter costs Missouri taxpayers millions of dollars each year in cleanup efforts. And it's just plain ugly.”

Last year thousands of volunteers from all across Missouri collected more than 84,000 bags of trash from Missouri’s streams and roadways to help make the Bash a success.

Each year MoDOT spends more than  $5 million to clear litter along highways throughout the state. The more than 3,900 Adopt-A-Highway volunteers and 3,500 Stream Team volunteers spend countless hours during the year to help keep Missouri beautiful, but litter still accumulates in streams and along roads.

“We want people to realize littering isn’t good for anyone,” said Stacy Armstrong, Missouri Department of Transportation Roadside Management Supervisor. “It costs Missouri millions of dollars each year – money that could be spent improving Missouri roads.”

No MOre Trash! Bash 2009 lapel pins will be given to those who participate and report a cleanup and/or educational event. For more information about the Bash visit nomoretrash.org.