LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Caltrans maintenance crews statewide dedicated Thursday, April 19, to litter removal for this year's annual Litter Day.

Last year's Litter Day efforts resulted in the removal of 2,533 cubic yards of litter statewide, enough to fill 158 garbage trucks, Caltrans reported.

Caltrans said a final tally for the litter picked up in Lake County wasn’t available on Friday.

However Caltrans spokesman Phil Frisbie said crews worked on Highway 29 and on Highway 53, picking up trash – most notably 10 discarded mattresses found along the highways – and painted over graffiti they found on several local bridges.

This cleanup effort is part of the Great American Cleanup campaign, sponsored each spring by the nonprofit organization Keep America Beautiful.

More than 2,800 Caltrans Adopt-A-Highway groups also are helping this campaign by picking up litter along their sections of highway sometime in April or May.

Caltrans said litter is an ongoing problem on state highways. Litter is not only ugly, but it also can lead to pollution in lakes, rivers and beaches.

Cigarette butts are the No. 1 item littered in California — they are discarded by the millions, often causing roadside fires, clogging storm drains, and threatening water quality and wildlife, Caltrans said.

In addition, motorists face the risk of accident, injury, and death as the result of trash and other debris fallen from vehicles hauling unsecured and untarped loads, the agency reported.

“During this time of limited public resources, Caltrans is spending millions of dollars every year cleaning up litter from California highways,” said Caltrans District 1 Director Charlie Fielder. “There are so many other uses for that money. We’re asking the public to help us reduce the litter problem — please Don’t Trash California.”

For more information on the Caltrans Adopt-A-Highway program, call Mike Cossolotto at 707-445-5761.