TAMPA, Fla. — You name it and retired school worker Betty Fliehman has probably picked it up along the roads near her home in the Turkey Creek area over the past 17 years.

What You Need To Know

  •  Betty Fliehman says she started picking up roadside litter while walking to work 17 years ago

  •  Fliehman is now retired, but walks several miles each day to pick up litter in the Turkey Creek area of Hillsborough County

  •  She says lots of drivers stop to thank her for picking up the trash

She says she constantly finds beer cans as she walks for miles most days — doing something that has become more than a hobby.

“I feel that God put this desire in my heart to just keep this part where I live clean,” Fliehman said.

Fliehman said she found her calling when she started walking to work at J.S. Robinson Elementary School in Plant City for the health benefits. She was perturbed by all the trash people were throwing from their cars and decided to do something about it.

“I just can’t believe they could do something like that,” she said. “I mean, how hard is it to just put your trash in your trash can at home?”

Sometimes Fliehman said she will fill up a couple of bags of trash before her day is done. Afterward, she heads back to her house to put the haul into big garbage cans, but not before she separates out the aluminum cans.

“Making sure I don’t have any plastic in here,” she said, rummaging through a container filled with cans.

Fliehman takes them to a recycling center, where she gets some cash for them.

“Oh yes, that’s my pay for doing this," she said with a laugh.

Fliehman said she likes the days when she doesn't find much litter on a particular road she regularly travels.

“I’ll be surprised," she said. "I didn’t pick up much today. I say, 'Good, maybe people are paying attention.'”

Fliehman said she has lots of fans who "stop and thank me."

"I always tell them they are very welcome," she said.