SISSONVILLE, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- A big effort to keep the community clean kicked off Saturday in Sissonville. Hundreds came out for the Kanawha County cleanup, which kept crews busy all afternoon.

"It gives people an opportunity to get rid of unwanted waste around their homes that they normally would have to pay people to haul off," said David Armstrong, planning director with the Kanawha County Commission.

Everything from tires to electronics and scrap metal to household trash was accepted. Crews collected the waste to be sent off for recycling.

Armstrong says the cleanup effort improves environmental quality and community health.

"A lot of the stuff we're taking, like tires, would end up in a creek somewhere," he said. "It becomes an environmental issue at that point."

Greg Rote with the REAP program agrees. "Mosquitoes live in tires and transmit West Nile [virus]," he said.

Crews say they dealt with 1,600 tires and 10 tons of metal Saturday. Every year the service is free, so organizers say you've got nothing to lose by coming out.

"It's something we do collectively to make this a nice thing for the citizens of Kanawha County," Armstrong said.

There will be two more cleanup sessions this fall. One will be October 13 in Cabin Creek behind the Go-Mart, and the other will be October 27 at the Rehab Center in Institute.