When was the

last time you threw a paper wrapper out of a car window or tossed a Styrofoam

cup into a lake?

Officials at

Keep South Fulton Beautiful hope the answer is "Never!" The

organization strives to educate and inspire people in their community

to think twice about such actions.

Next Thursday,

Keep South Fulton Beautiful is helping sponsor "Rivers Alive,"

a trip down the Chattahoochee River that aims to give attendees a fresh

look at their surrounding. Environmental educators will be on hand to

travel with the groups down the river to point out ecological concerns

and solutions and to answer questions about the river itself.

The boats will

leave from the boat ramp at the McDonough/Atkinson Georgia Power Plant

starting at 8 a.m. A fish fry will be held down river at the end of the

trip.

At one time

the discarded refuse and general lack of care for the landscape was enough

to deter prospective business clients from choosing South Fulton as a

place to settle down. This was back in the mid-1980s when the head of

the Department of Industry, Trade and Tourism, George Barry, saw the negative

reaction of a prospective client he was attempting to show some land to

as a wake-up call to the area.

He contacted

his state representative at the time, Helen Sellman. She did some research

and along with her husband Ray, Fairburn Mayor Betty Hannah, and a planner

from Fulton County, helped get Keep South Fulton Beautiful certified,

said Judy Noles, who runs the organization out of an office at the Georgia

Military College in Union City.

"We're

not a trash pickup crew, although we promote that," she said. "Sometimes

you will see us picking up an adopt-a-road area and working with a group.

Our heart here in South Fulton is education and making the public more

aware of what is happening, creating self-responsibility and attitude

change. We are a community that really does care. So we want to make people

more aware of what they do and the aesthetics of the community, how much

it does have to do with community pride."

Noles went

on to describe the "broken window theory" put forth by George

Kelling in his book of the same name and used so successfully in revitalizing

New York City. "Anything that causes disorder and decline can be

a broken window such as yards that aren't kept and boarded up buildings.

If a building is boarded up, we like to encourage murals to be painted

on the boards."

Noles also

pointed out that by making small improvements in neglected areas of town

that big improvements follow reversing what the broken window theory begins.

"We've

been told that a lot of developers are now looking when they go into communities

if they do have murals on boarded up buildings and such. That shows them

that the people in the community care and it might be a good place to

consider developing."

Recently some

grade school children in South Fulton came up with a slogan that gently

puts the organization's message out, "About to litter? Reconsider."

It's a simple

and direct message that you will see popping up in the community. If you

have more questions or would like to get involved in one of the adopt-a-highway

programs, you can call 770-306-3252 during the week or visit www.KSFB.info.