Miss South Carolina brings message about litter control to children at Thomas Hart Academy

“What makes South Carolina beautiful?” asked Miss South Carolina Kelly Sloan as she sat before nearly 30 students at Thomas Hart Academy on Wednesday afternoon.

“You!” shouted one child sitting Indian-style on the library carpet.

After a little commotion, Sloan explained that there were many things that make South Carolina beautiful and talked with the children about the importance of litter prevention. She is working with PalmettoPride in conjunction with the Miss South Carolina pageant.

“PalmettoPride is an organization that the Miss South Carolina organization partners with,” said Sloan. “For several years now, they’ve worked together to build that partnership.”

Sloan read “Michael Recycle Meets Litter Bug Doug” to the children and urged them to take responsibility for keeping South Carolina beautiful. Sloan, also Miss Hartsville 2009, is a graduate of Coastal Carolina University and has finished her second year as a 4K teacher in the upstate. Her work in the education field and with PalmettoPride reflects her platform of Communities in Schools.

“It’s just a way for me to get into the schools and have a platform to talk about with the students that they can relate to, something they can do to help in South Carolina,” said Sloan.

Litter gives the state a bad image. Trash blowing from the back of a pick-up truck causes hundreds of accidents each year. It also hurts the environment, economic development and tourism. Tourism employs more than 200,000 people in South Carolina, 10 percent of the workforce, and generated $16.7 billion last year.

The main sources of litter are trash that blows out of pick-up trucks or commercial trucks, trash thrown from car windows and cigarette butts. Littering is a crime in South Carolina that carries a fine up to $1,087 or up to one year in jail or both.

What can you do about it?

“Do you know the number one way to get rid of litter?” Sloan asked the children. “Pick it up.”

Recycling is another way to prevent litter.

“I want you to promise that you’ll put your trash in the trash can,” said Sloan. She also asked the students to raise their right hands and promise to put their trash in the trash can and recycle when they can.

According to PalmettoPride, people litter because they think that it’s someone else’s problem, that someone else will pick it up and that “everyone else is doing it.” Through her talks at schools, Sloan hopes to change that perception.

To report litterbugs, call 1-877-7-LITTER or #LB on Cingular or Alltel networks. For more information about Palmetto Pride, visit http://www.palmettopride.org.

Watch Sloan compete in the Miss America competition Jan. 30 on TLC. On Jan. 29, TLC will air a one-hour special about the contestants and open online voting for people’s choice.