Debbie Serra Works to Keep Louisiana Beautiful

By Jessica Ferguson
The Times of SWLA




In 2000, a governor’s task force—representatives from business, education, tourism and other entities— was created to study the growing problem of litter in Louisiana and its effects on tourism, economic growth and quality of life. Their study resulted in the formation of Keep Louisiana Beautiful, an organization focused solely on public awareness, education and community involvement; targeting litter's costly effects; and ultimately, changing attitudes. “Calcasieu Parish has stepped up to the plate with one of the premier, all-encompassing anti-litter campaigns, not just in the state but in the entire region,” says Debbie Serra, chairman of Keep Louisiana Beautiful.

Laws are written across the state to have litter programs with teeth, to do the education, the awareness campaigns but according to Serra Calcasieu Parish has done an excellent job of getting the whole package together. Serra credits Jason Barnes. Barnes is Special Programs and Cultural Affairs Coordinator for the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury. “He did his homework,” Serra says. “It is a pleasure for me to be chairman while Calcasieu Parish is doing this fabulous thing.” According to the KLB website, Louisiana State Police and the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries assisted law enforcement agencies across the state to implement Zero Tolerance weekend policies for their own jurisdictions.

Debbie Serra
Chairperson, Keep Louisiana Beautiful
Fines for littering in the State of Louisiana can range from $50 to $5,000 and from four to 100 hours of community service. Driver’s license suspension and serving jail time are also possible penalties.
The point of this program is to raise awareness that there are consequences when it comes to littering and dumping. Some facts of interest include:

• Litter costs Louisiana taxpayers more than $15 million annually
• Litter can affect the environment hurting everything from fish breeding grounds to contributing to flooding problems

In recent surveys, litter perceptions have been startling. “People are quick to admit that cups, wrappers, bottles and beer cans are trash, but interesting enough, most think cigarette butts are bio-degradable and are not considered trash,” said Serra. “Yes, bio-degradable in many, many years.”

Serra is passionate about keeping Louisiana clean. “Everyone with KLB is passionate,” she said, “Some more than others because they’re on the front lines. They’re doing the forensic work.” One aspect of forensic work, Serra explains is that volunteers actually go to the dumps and dig through the trash to learn who is doing the dumping.

“We’re here to make sure the next generation is aware that littering and dumping is a no-no, and it’s going to stop,” Serra said. “I’m not going to give up on adults changing adult habits but it’s much easier to start with the children.”

KLB acts as a resource. “It’s our feeling that change comes from within. It’s a neighborhood thing, a friend thing,” Serra said. “That’s why we get various communities, parishes involved—street by street. Neighborhood involvement.” Serra says KLB has many education programs. They also offer grants to communities committed to reducing litter in their jurisdictions. “We have a wide-ranging program,” she said, “but it’s predicated on the understanding that it starts in your own community. That’s what we’re all about.”

The community grants from KLB are on a yearly basis. “This year we had over one million dollars in requests for our community grants; we had $250,000 dollars to give out,” Serra said. Louisiana is one of the fastest growing states in the nation when it comes to adding Keep America Beautiful affiliates which in turn makes them Keep Louisiana Beautiful affiliates. “And green is in right now,” Serra said, “but I think folks in the state see such a great need—not just to make us look pretty, but as an economic development factor.”

There are well over 40 affiliates within the State of Louisiana with new ones coming on board all the time. “Vinton just had the training session,” Serra said. “There’s a process to go through.” Part of that process is preparing a litter index for a specific geographic area, counting how much litter is in the area at any given time, picking it up and the returning to that same area and once again noting how much litter is there. According to Serra, “As litter becomes less in that area, people won’t litter in that area.”

Serra tells how the northern part of the state learned the importance of being clean when a Toyota plant didn’t locate there because the area looked dirtier than it should have been. “They felt if people didn’t take pride in their own home and surroundings, they wouldn’t take pride in the work place and the work they did,” Serra said. “So it doesn’t come down to just throwing your cup out the window. It comes down to perception and is perception reality.”

KLB’s primary funding comes through the renewal of driver’s licenses. “One dollar from every renewed driver’s license goes to Keep Louisiana Beautiful,” Serra said.

Serra also says KLB subscribes to the broken window theory. “That is if you have a building in your neighborhood that doesn’t have much activity,” Serra said, “and a window gets broken, and that window isn’t repaired right away then interestingly, all of a sudden more windows are broken and that building is a derelict.”

Serra said it’s the same with trash. “If a little trash appears on a corner, then all of a sudden it mushrooms because it is perceived to be an abandoned area.” That’s something KLB is working hard to control through groups like Team Green and others. According to Serra, these groups are very aware of things like this and they have programs through schools, companies and industries to make people more aware.

Things are slowly changing. There is a community or beautification effort in every part of the state. “It doesn’t have to be all about trash,” Serra said. “It can be a beautification effort.” “We have a diverse group of people involved in KLB and on our board,” Serra said. “If you have a great idea but don’t know how to get it to fruition, contact us.”

Serra says if someone wants to get involved they should call the city of Lake Charles or the Parish and talk with Jason Barnes. Vinton and DeRidder have KLB groups too. “There are many ways to get involved,” said Serra, “even through schools and churches.

Another way to get involved is to keep your eyes open for litterers. If you see someone purposely dispose of trash from their car window, call 493-LITR (5487), and report the violator’s license plate, time and place of the incident, and what type of litter was thrown out. The Litter Hotline was established to help enforce the law, and keep Calcasieu Parish clean.