What began with simply removing some unsightly items from the roadside has turned into a near decades long endeavor for one man in Independence County.
For the last seven and a half years, Rex Williams has spent his time and money working to clean up the Natural State.
Williams who is disabled and has undergone multiple surgeries including six back surgeries, said the urge to clean up the roadways began after the series of life changing events left him wondering what was next.
“I laid up in my apartment for about 10 months and I was coming home one day and there were two or three bags of trash in the ditch that animals had scattered everywhere. I thought, well that looks terrible, so I went to my apartment and got some trash bags and went back. I picked it up and just really never quit after that,” Williams said.
Due to the nature of his disability, Williams said picking up trash is as much for his own health as it is to benefit the community.
“This is really the only way I can get out and do something. It’s my mental therapy, physical therapy and I do it as much for myself as I do for the community,” Williams said. “There are times I may miss a couple days a month, but I am usually out working 29 out of 31 days picking up. How long I can work depends on what I’m struggling with, if there are a lot of steep embankments, I won’t make it that long, but I do what I can.”
Since 2023, Williams has picked up more than 3,500 bags of trash, but that doesn’t count the numerous television, tires, mattresses and other appliances he encounters along the way and removes from the roadside.
When asked what the strangest thing he’d found while picking up trash, Williams said it was unbelievable the items he had seen.
“I found adult toys more than you’d think… syringes, drugs, paraphernalia, crack pipes, bong pipes and meth pipes. I don’t know what you’d consider crazy.. I picked up a double door refrigerator just this past week. I pick up beer cans, tampons, maxi-pads. You see everything up and down the highway and wonder how in the world it got there,” Williams said.
Williams said he receives support from time to time when people hear his story and learn what he is doing, but in recent years, he’s become more specific about the tools he uses to help save his physical health.
“I like the 33 gallon, 1.1 millimeter bags because I was using 39 gallon, but they’ve become too heavy, especially if you’re picking up beer bottles. The type of grabber I prefer is a little more expensive, but it also lasts longer. I wear one out each month. I’ve got tennis elbow and have had surgery on that hand just from picking up so much trash, but the grabber I prefer, is the easiest for me to use,” Williams said.
Williams said a six pack of 40 inch ArcMate Ez Reacher grabbers runs approximately $108, making the monthly cost to pick up trash before purchasing bags and fuel, a little less than $20.
“I have picked up over 2,200 bags of trash last year and now I’m already over 1,300 for this year. I tend to post my monthly figures on my [Facebook] posts each month. If you go and look at my page, you’ll see pictures of what I’ve picked up that day. Last year I picked up almost 500 tires but this year It’s been a little over 100. I don’t count TVs, recliners, couches, refrigerators or other things like that.”
When asked if Williams also bore the cost of disposing of the trash he has collected, he said that was another area he received support and was able to take items to the county recycling center and the county transfer station.
Williams has never used monetary donations to pay for his time pickup up trash, but is grateful for what he receives as it allows him to pay for fuel and buy more bags and grabbers.
“A lot of people may not want to give me cash, and I understand that, but gas is what kills me more than anything. If I had help with that, I could afford the other things. Any kind of prepaid visa is great because then I can order the trash bags and grabbers online or use it for gas if I need to,” Williams said.
When asked if he had a message for the community, Williams didn’t hesitate to simply state “stop throwing things out the window.”
If you would like to support Williams in his crusade to keep the roadways clean, donations may be mailed to Rex Williams at 150 Jones Drive Apartment 26 Southside Arkansas 72501.
Lauren is a an award-winning journalist who decided after 10 years of newspaper experience to venture out. Hallmark Times was born.
