For more than 20 years, Anthony “Spark Plug” Thomas has been doing more than his part, trying to keep a 3-mile stretch of Georgia Highway 92 South in Fayette County litter free.
Armed with his trusty pick-up stick, a 42-gallon trash bag and determination, he’s turned an act of kindness into a decades-long mission to keep his community beautiful. Once or twice a week, he’s out picking up litter of all sorts on a section of the highway.
“A lot of people in America think they can’t make a difference,” said Thomas, a Navy veteran and motivational speaker. “It doesn’t take a spark plug to make a difference. Anybody can pick up a little trash.”
Credit: Courtesy of Spark Plug Thomas of Fayette County
Credit: Courtesy of Spark Plug Thomas of Fayette County
Thomas has always had a strong dislike for litter. It started in first grade when his class watched an anti-littering video. He decided then and there, he says, that he would never be called a litterbug, and that stuck.
He also had an experience at age 12 that only reinforced his stance. The manager of the apartment complex where he lived with his mother, brother and sister hired him and another boy to pick up litter in the complex – down to the cigarette butts. Thomas said that got him thinking: What about the deer and other wildlife that might be hungry enough to try eating a cigarette butt or a Snickers wrapper?
Known professionally as Spark Plug – a nickname one of his early bosses tagged him with because of his enthusiasm and energy – he isn’t just concerned about protecting his subdivision or his property values. His anti-littering campaign started in his neighborhood but long ago expanded to the primarily residential stretch of Highway 92 South.
“If I can do something to make something more beautiful, then why not?” he said.
Credit: Phil Skinner
Credit: Phil Skinner
His story appeared in the AJC’s Inspire Atlanta in June. He was already well-known as the guy picking up trash in his fluorescent hat, gloves and jacket. The story brought him even more attention, he said.
Two significant things came about as a result, Thomas said.
One was a shoutout he received from Dan Cathy, the billionaire CEO of Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A, during a community meeting. Thomas had told the AJC how he’d been touched by kind words Cathy wrote him for his “unwavering commitment to maintaining the charm of Fayetteville.”
Thomas also heard from a staffer at a national network who had read the story and told Thomas the network might want to write a story about him one day.
HOW TO HELP
To get involved or start a similar project, contact the Keep Georgia Beautiful Foundation at kgbf.org.