By SUZANNE BRANDT

Executive Director, Keep Decatur County Beautiful

Keep Decatur County Beautiful’s new mascot, “Litter Bandit,” has been updated by local artist Robby Harrison, to lead the planned Saturday, Oct. 13, cleanup.

Volunteers in our area will stage their cleanup at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 13, in the Boat Basin Park pavilion next to the Chamber of Commerce building. You can help! By being part of this cleanup you can remove litter that is already present. By helping publicize the local cleanup and getting others involved, you can educate others about the impact their actions have on the environment and reduce future pollution.

This will be the 13th year of participation for KDCB. Last year, our group removed eight tons of trash from the water and watershed areas and won an award for having the most outstanding cleanup for the year among all Keep Georgia Beautiful affiliates.

Join “L.B.,” and volunteer to help clean waterways and watershed areas. Consider that we depend on our local waterways for recreation and clean drinking water — we also have the last opportunity to clean the water before it reaches the sea.

This Saturday, Decatur County area residents will wade and boat into the Flint River and Spring Creek — some will clean along roadways and landings that impact our water. Rivers Alive is a joint program of the Environmental Protection Division Outreach Education Programs and the Keep Georgia Beautiful Foundation in the continuing statewide effort to clean and preserve over 70,150 miles of Georgia’s rivers and streams.

The 2012 cleanup is expected once again to be the largest single volunteer effort to beautify Georgia’s water resources.

We have free T-shirts and our handsome “Litter Cop” will be on hand at the Boat Basin Park for photo opportunities. Call or e-mail to volunteer — (229) 246-3611, or bdckab@surfsouth.com