Posted on Aug 22, 2024 | Blog,News
Meet Rocksey and Friends!
Preventing Litter Is Everyone’s Responsibility
Anytime trash is found outside of a trash can, that’s called litter. Litter can be found on the ground, in the grass, in the water, or on the road. Litter comes in many forms: food packaging, candy wrappers, cups, bottles, cans, paper, gum, tire treads, and cigarette butts—YUCK! Litter is everyone’s responsibility, even if you didn’t put it there. Litter makes our communities dirty, pollutes our waterways, and it’s unhealthy for animals and humans. Littering is also against the law. Join Rocksey and her friends to reduce litter in our state and Let Louisiana Shine!
Meet Keep Louisiana Beautiful’s wildlife ambassadors – all here to teach kids about litter and its harmful impact on the environment.
Meet Rocksey the Raccoon. She loves exploring, playing outside, and picking flowers. One thing Rocksey absolutely does not like is litter! When she sees litter, it makes her very sad. Rocksey has made it her job to teach everyone how to keep Louisiana beautiful. Rocksey knows litter is dangerous for her animal and human friends and bad for our environment too. Rocksey wants everyone to remember to put their trash where it belongs — the recycling bin or trash can.
Timmy is a Red-Eared Slider Turtle, and he loves the ponds, lakes, rivers, and streams of Louisiana. Whether he’s in his pond or sitting on a log warming his shell in the sunshine, Timmy is looking for litter. He knows that most of the litter in the water gets there because it was thrown on the ground first. When plastics are thrown on the ground and end up in the water, they are very dangerous to Timmy and his friends. Litter in the water makes it hard for fish to breathe and is harmful to Timmy and other creatures who live in and around the water.
Say hello to Pete the Brown Pelican. He’s very proud to be our state’s official bird. Pete is a pelican with a very special talent. He knows the right way to take care of every kind of litter. Because Pete can fly high above the ground, he has a “bird’s-eye-view” of the litter people have left behind and how it can harm his animal friends. Some animals get tangled up in plastics or fishing line that wasn’t thrown away properly. Other animals mistake litter for food, and when they eat it, they get sick. Pete works hard to teach his human friends how to reduce, reuse, repurpose, and recycle trash to help prevent litter.
This is Allie the American Alligator. Because she’s the oldest animal in the Louisiana Clean Up Krewe, she’s very wise and familiar with our waterways. Everywhere she goes, she’s always on the lookout for litter. Because she’s been around the longest, Allie knows that litter doesn’t just disappear. Some litter takes a very long time to decompose, and some litter never, ever goes away. Allie teaches all her human friends how to keep Louisiana clean so animals, humans, waterways, and landscapes are protected.
Rocksey and friends are featured in Keep Louisiana Beautiful’s new activity book, which is available for free online. Click here to order copies for your class, youth group, or scout troop.
