RALEIGH -- The Department of Public Safety and the State Highway Patrol are working this week to take a bite out of littering. Along with local agencies, they are involved in the statewide "Litter Free NC" campaign to educate people about roadside littering, and also crack down on offenders. Patrol First Sargeant Jeff Gordon littering is costly.

Gordon said, "In 2013, taxpayers across North Carolina spent over $16,000,000 removing approximately 7,000,000 pounds of roadside litter."

The Litter Free enforcement effort continues March 17.