The Interview: Bob Haskins

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - KEEP MOBILE BEAUTIFUL

Keep Mobile Beautiful provides a place to drop off recyclables and encourages people not to litter. The organization also brings volunteers together for events to clean up our community.

Bob Haskins started with KMB years ago as a volunteer.  Now, as the organization's coordinator, Haskins is passionate about having a clean city, and he said that he has the perfect job.

"I just don't like litter, period, and it’s been a pet peeve of mine for many years. So, when I had a chance to get involved with Keep Mobile Beautiful, that was the perfect avenue for me to help do something about it," says Haskins.

For 25 years, Haskins has worked passionately with the service organization to help change the attitudes, behaviors and habits of the Mobile community about litter.

He said the recycling center is one of his success stories.

Since 1999, people have dropped off millions of pounds of paper, plastic and glass to be recycled.   Recycling helps provide more room at the area's landfills for larger items and non-recyclable items.

Haskins said, "The Recycling Center gets about 125 customers a day, and so people are using it. Everybody uses the recycling center. We just need to get them to quit littering."

CAMPAIGN GOT COMMUNITY INVOLVED

As the community expands, Haskins said more people have the opportunity to litter.

"I'm not really sure what happened. For a long time, I thought we were making some progress, and I think we did.  But, with more and more food places with drive up windows and people tossing cigarettes butts and fast food wrappers, we have more opportunities to litter probably," he said.

Haskins credits a particular public service announcement campaign for shedding some light on the problem to the community.

"The crying Indian, Iron Eyes Cody, for the Keep America Beautiful campaign certainly made a huge impact years ago not only on children but adults.   It was a shock value of the Indian looking at what used to be a pristine river or creek. Then all of sudden, it’s full of trash. And it broke his heart, and it should break our hearts to know that we're treating our Earth like that," Haskins said. "Mobile is fortunate to be one of the most pristine water areas in the world, with our delta and all of our rivers and streams, all coming to focus right here in Mobile Alabama into Mobile Bay.”

The face and the tears of a broken hearted Iron Eyes Cody in that 1970s public service announcement influences Haskins' message today.

"People have an individual responsibility to take care of their own stuff and put it where it belongs and not just throw it out for somebody else to take care of it.  If they throw it out in the right place in what we call the watershed, anywhere near a lake or a stream it’s going to end up in Dog River, or 3 Mile Creek and eventually Mobile Bay. When we have those heavy rains and trash is washed into it, then it looks bad for all of us," he said.

YOU DO THE CRIME, YOU DO COMMUNITY SERVICE TIME

Haskins also believes that law enforcement and the environmental court judge have a part in keeping Mobile beautiful.

Haskins said, "You can use your AT&T cell phone and dial pound  KMB, or you can call our land line at 208- 6025 and report the litter bug.  We will retrieve that info, send it to the police department. And when we catch them, it’s going to cost them.  If they get caught littering like for a cigarette butt, and they come before the judge in court, he's not going to let them pay a $250 fine and court costs. They're going to have pay court costs and go out and pick up 5,000 cigarette butts,” Haskins said.

TODAY’S YOUTH, TOMORROWS FUTURE

Keep Mobile Beautiful is now focusing on Mobile’s youth. School outreach programs are educating them daily about the environment and getting them involved in keeping our community litter free.  

Haskins is optimistic about those future generations because of the great work he said his education specialist is doing in the schools.   In the meantime, he said KMB will continue to organize clean-up drives as folks who care pickup for those who have yet to get the message.  

"It’s time for people to wake up and take responsibility for what they do and how they treat our community. If you see a place in your neighborhood that you need to get cleaned up, help us get it cleaned up. They can clean around their church, their school, their business; make it look better, make it nice for people. We've got to do it for ourselves," Haskins says.

Haskins said that cigarette butts are not biodegradable so smokers need to use their ashtrays for disposal. He also said we should never dump oil or grease down our storm drains because it will eventually end up in our rivers and Mobile Bay. 

Haskins said a clean Mobile also makes a great impression on our visitors and tourists.