Volunteers prepare for statewide 'Litter Sweep,' as litter costs taxpayers more than $25 million

How much litter did you see driving home from work today? It's a growing problem in Wake County and throughout the state, and it's costing taxpayers a lot of money.

A wrapper here, a bottle there. Even a cigarette butt counts.

There's so much trash littering Wake County's roads that it's impossible to stay on top of the problem. And with more people moving to the state every day -- it's likely to get worse.

David Harris with the North Carolina Department of Transportation says we can expect to see more litter as more people move to North Carolina.

"Growing states, we're seeing our trash growing like our population is," said Harris.

The state picked up 11.6 million pounds of litter – the equivalent of 388 garbage trucks full of trash.

That cost taxpayers $25 million.

Wake County collected more than 749,220 pounds of litter last year -- at a cost of more than $1.2 million.

And litter has other costs - it impacts tourism and economic growth.

We know North Carolina is where people want to come and this is what people are seeing: The trash, the litter," he said.

In North Carolina, litter bugs can be fined and face community service for intentionally - even unintentionally littering.

NC DOT even has a program called "Swat a Litterbug" where you can upload photos and details like license plate numbers when you see someone litter.

Volunteers pick up over 100,000 pounds of litter

Preston Ross, who founded the Great Raleigh Cleanup more than 3 years ago, takes volunteers out weekly to help combat the litter problem.

"We're up to 122,000 pounds of litter," he said.

He says litter can be found everywhere, even in the most affluent of neighborhoods.

The North Carolina Litter Sweep is coming up in April. If you are interested in participating, you can learn more on their website.

Or if you'd like to help out with the Great Raleigh Cleanup, you can learn more on their website.