Litter Wranglers Saddle Up for 2019

Offensive stats are an important part of any sport, whether it is staying on a bull for eight seconds or the number of livestock corralled during a lasso competition. After all, you can’t win if you’re not consistent or if you don’t score. Snohomish County residents have been consistently winning for two years with the advent of the Litter Wranglers crew and their stats are the stuff of champions. The Litter Wranglers are saddling up for the 2019 season after collecting 10,554 bags of litter and cleaning more than 1,052 miles of Snohomish County roads during the program’s first two years.

“Our Litter Wranglers are deployed to fix a widespread problem: roadside trash,” Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers said. “This innovative and successful program was developed in response to the litter concerns we received. The Litter Wranglers will travel hundreds of miles again this year to help us preserve our county’s natural beauty.”

The partnership between the Litter Wranglers and residents drive the program. Calls and emails from the public reporting litter sites contributed to the Litter Wranglers’ success and ability to clean more than 600 road miles last year – an increase of 25 percent from 2017. The crew uses the reports to plan their week and group site visits.

“We want to grow and encourage that partnership,” Snohomish County Public Works Director Steve Thomsen said. “The ability to map out locations is key to the program’s efficiency and effectiveness.”

The crew has been able to get a site cleaned within a week of the report from the public during the 2018 season. Snohomish County residents can participate in the program by continuing to report areas with excessive litter.

Report a litter location by:
• Emailing: Litter.Wranglers@snoco.org
• Calling: 425-388-7500

“The crew has exceeded my expectations each year,” Snohomish County Solid Waste Director Matt Zybas said. “Their ability to get out and clean up a site before Public Works’ maintenance crews arrive allows them to stay on road maintenance tasks. This helps to make everything run smoother and saves time and money.”

The county-employed six-member crew is trained on how to safely deal with litter while working along the side of the road next to traffic. Residents may see the Litter Wranglers between 6 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Thursday throughout the county. County officials remind drivers to be aware and cautious while driving through construction and road maintenance zones this summer.

Residents can also participate in picking up litter by joining the county’s Adopt-A-Road program, which is a partnership between volunteers and Snohomish County Public Works to keep roadsides free of litter. To sign-up, for the program call the program coordinator at 425-388-3137.