AUGUSTA, Ga. - Over one ton of garbage, 2,200 pounds, was cleaned off 12 miles of Gordon Highway Saturday.

More than 300 volunteers hundreds of got down and dirty for the "Beautification Project."

"*It’s nasty, very nasty,” one of the volunteers said. “Diapers, tennis shoes, beer bottles,” the man said picking through it all.

The work may be dirty, but the volunteers say it’s worth it.

“It’s not torture or anything, it’s just a couple hours of doing something that gives a real sense of pride,” volunteer Darren Smith said.

Smith has lived off of Gordon Highway in South Augusta his whole life and says most of the litter comes from drivers throwing trash out their car windows.

"I guess people just don't have the care they used to have,” Smith said.

"The people throw it out cause they're not thinking and if they see litter, they'll throw more litter, and if it's clean they have a tendency not to litter where it's clean,” said 80-year-old Pat Wiseman, another volunteer.

Wiseman has lived in South Augusta these past 40 years and says it feels good to lend a hand.

"It's one of those things they say, 'why do these old women want to be out here,' but by golly, I guess we like to see it clean,” Wiseman said.

"The state doesn’t have the money to cut the grass and pick the litter up and the county doesn't have the money and somebody's got to do it, other than waiting on somebody else to do it,” Smith said.

Greater Augusta Progress has been cleaning up the highway since 2000, but Smith says he's taken it upon himself to pick up trash on the highway for the past 20 years.

"You don't do all the catching; you do a little pitching sometimes," said Smith

The Chairman of the Greater Augusta Progress committee says Saturday’s clean up is one aspect aimed at beautifying the area in hopes of bringing business back to Gordon Highway.

This is the second cleanup in several months.

NBC Augusta 26 News brings you straight to the point news, weather, and sports from Augusta and the CSRA. Meet our NBC Augusta 26 News staff!