Great American Cleanup 2010 Annual Report

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Great American Cleanup ™

2010 Report

Mobilizing Volunteers and Improving Communities All Across America


The Great American Cleanup, Keep America Beautiful’s signature program, organizes millions of volunteers in locally-directed activities that encourage individual stewardship for the environment and care for the community. Efforts in litter prevention and removal, waste reduction, recycling, beautification and community greening result in cleaner, greener, safer and more beautiful public spaces.

Contents Why Does Volunteering Matter?

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Green Starts Here

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National Kickoff Events

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2010 Great American Cleanup Highlights

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Cleanups, Fix-ups, Green-ups, and More

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Cleanups are Just the Beginning

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It All Comes Back to You: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle

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Gardens and Greenspaces Help Communities Flourish

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Educational Programs and Volunteering Energize Communities

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Measuring Results State-by-State

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2010 Great American Cleanup Results Summary

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Affiliates and Participating Organizations

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Great American Cleanup National Sponsors

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Get Involved

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Why Does Volunteering Matter? Each spring, Keep America Beautiful brings together thousands of local organizations and millions of individuals to invest their time in creating better communities. The results from the 2010 Great American Cleanup, as you’ll see in these pages, are truly amazing.

community improvement process. Why? When people unite, they build consensus. They find common identity in their shared values. They agree on a need and a goal and a way to achieve it. They understand, maybe for the first time, that the whole of the community is greater than the sum of its parts.

From March to June in our nation’s cities, suburbs and tiny farm towns, an incredible number of people willingly sacrifice their treasured weekend mornings. Instead of a leisurely cup of coffee on the patio, they fill a thermos, don work gloves and sturdy boots, and set out purposefully for a day of hard, sometimes grueling work.

At Keep America Beautiful, we think that this spirit is at the heart of our society, and is what makes America truly great. It is definitively “patriotism,” and it is a powerful force. Whatever our differences—age, nationality, physical ability, political persuasion—none of them really matter when we’re working together. A community, like our environment, is a shared space.

As they begin their day, most probably don’t give a thought to a larger purpose, to the philosophy or deeper meanings of community service. And why should they when there’s a task to accomplish? But there is greater value here—and deeper meaning—than can be relayed by the results alone. When they first arrive at the park, or schoolyard, or overpass, or lakefront, volunteers quickly realize that they are not alone. Joining them are tens … or dozens … or hundreds of others. Some familiar faces, some not. Together, they get their assignments and set off to work, side by side. By the end of the day, they will have accepted a challenge, flexed their muscles and, ultimately, succeeded together.

This book captures the numbers—the staggering tons of debris removed and miles of roadways and riverfronts cleaned. It demonstrates the growing enthusiasm around recycling that resulted in the recovery of millions of pounds of material. It captures the instant of the camera’s shutter in photos, and the stories showcasing the highlights of the program. But no report could ever convey the essence of what it means to give your all to your community. For that, you will have to get involved. You’ll have to take part. We hope you will. Sincerely,

Especially in today’s times, as many of our communities struggle with budget shortfalls and the myriad side effects of an economic slowdown, this work is ever more important. Certainly volunteerism has dollars-and-cents value, saving municipalities funds that would otherwise need to be passed on to the community in taxes. But there is an even greater value in volunteerism that can’t be reduced to a balance sheet. Keep America Beautiful’s mission is to engage individuals in the environment and the

Matthew M. McKenna President and CEO Keep America Beautiful, Inc.

Gail Cunningham Senior Vice President Keep America Beautiful, Inc. Managing Director Great American Cleanup

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G r e at Am e r i can Cleanup // 2010 R eport

Green Starts Here Take nearly 4 million volunteers and participants and thousands of grassroots organizations, provide them with the tools and motivation to make their hometown a better place, mix in 5.7 million volunteer hours, sweat, grit and elbow grease, and watch as communities flourish with a cleaner environment, civic pride, and enhanced natural beauty. Keep America Beautiful’s 2010 Great American Cleanup accomplished this and more, with more than 30,000 events taking place in 33,000 communities nationwide.

The 2010 campaign theme, “Green Starts Here,” became a rallying call that encouraged communities to declare that being “green” begins at the grassroots. It begins with the actions of individuals. It can start with an educational event, a litter cleanup, recycling drive, graffiti paint-out, planting a community garden or planting just one tree. But it must start somewhere. Great movements begin with small actions. Participating organizations took the “Green Starts Here” theme and infused it with local flavor. In events throughout the country, proclamations from public officials, art contests, sustainability festivals, concerts, posters, banners, t-shirts—all carried the message to far corners of the community. In many respects, “green” did start here—with Keep America Beautiful’s efforts to change behaviors in the fight against pollution more than half a century ago. But a more

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sustainable future can start in a lot of places. It starts with a cleanup activity that engages local residents to come together for the betterment of their community. It can start with the simple choice to purchase a product based on its sustainability of design. And “green” starts with the simple decision to reduce, reuse and recycle the products that touch our daily lives. Most importantly, “green” starts within all of us, as we make a conscious decision to make a difference. “Green” is a powerful force that returns real, tangible benefits. Greener communities aren’t just aesthetically pleasing, they’re vibrant places, with engaged citizens, more active local economies, higher property values, healthier environments, and improved public safety. They’re better places to raise a family, start a business, or go to school. They’re better places for living life. Thanks to everyone who played a part in the 2010 Great American Cleanup—sponsors, volunteers, local organizations and coordinators—the results highlighted on these pages offer proof of the power of green.


Photo by Jim Olive/www.stockyard.com


G r e at Am e r i can Cleanup // 2010 R eport

National Kickoff Event

Green Starts with Houston! Parks, Schools and Neighborhoods Beautified throughout the City

Keep Houston Beautiful (KHB) and Keep Texas Beautiful (KTB) recruited 1,300 volunteers from across Texas, embracing the state’s spirit of camaraderie and pride for Houston-area cleanup and beautification projects at the national kickoff of Keep America Beautiful’s Great American Cleanup (GAC). The “Green Starts Here” event took place to educate as well as to clean and improve areas of Houston, including Wiess and Memorial parks, Pro-Vision Urban Farm, Denver Harbor, and the Westbury and Acres Homes neighborhoods. This two-day event highlighted the State of Texas’ involvement in the 2010 GAC, which mobilizes millions of volunteers throughout the country from March through May.

“Houston is excited to host the 2010 kickoff event and play a key role in the Great American Cleanup. With hundreds of Texans expected to volunteer during the event, green indeed starts here,” said Houston Mayor Annise Parker. “There is no other place that I prefer to be at the moment,” she added. Mayor Parker’s words were followed by remarks by Keep America Beautiful President and CEO Matt McKenna; Jon Stephens, Board Member of Keep Texas Beautiful; and Daniel Sullenbarger, Chairman of Keep Houston Beautiful. McKenna presented the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation to longtime Keep Houston Beautiful board member Keiji Asakura RLA, Partner/Principal, Asakura Robinson Company. “Keiji has been a dedicated Keep Houston Beautiful volunteer, and the projects that he’s worked on—both through his visionary landscape design and good old fashioned sweat equity—read like a list of this city’s most treasured places,” said McKenna. “Keiji, thank you for all that you do to support the work of Keep Houston Beautiful.”

(From left) Marathon Oil’s Dan Sullenbarger, Chairman, Keep Houston Beautiful; Matt McKenna, KAB; Houston Mayor Annise Parker; and Avangard Innovative’s Jon Stephens, Keep Texas Beautiful board member.

State and local officials, volunteers, schoolchildren and representatives of Keep America Beautiful gathered to show their support for green living and beautification on Friday, March 5, for a kickoff celebration at Sam Houston Park. The Parker Elementary School Marching Band and additional musical performances by the Raul Yzaguirre School for Success, Heartbeat of Soul Marching Band and Houston’s own rap star J.Xavier highlighted the kickoff activities.

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Great American Cleanup National Sponsor representatives from Waste Management, The Dow Chemical Company and The Scotts-Miracle Gro Company presented donation awards to support local community improvement projects. Troy-Bilt® Lawn and Garden Equipment supplied equipment.

“ The uniting benefits of community gardening, as well as the ability to grow your own food, are positive results for our local neighborhoods.” Annise Parker, Houston Mayor


Volunteers at Westbury Community Garden.

Keiji Asakura, Asakura Robinson Company and Keep Houston Beautiful board member.

Student volunteers at Pro-Vision Middle School.

Volunteers at Memorial Park’s Logan Woods.

On Saturday, a variety of activities took place throughout the city, including tree planting in Wiess Park; invasive plant removal at Memorial Park; edible community garden plantings at Pro-Vision School and in Westbury; flower plantings to add color to the Denver Harbor entrance esplanade; and cleaning a ditch at Acres Homes.

“All of the volunteers had a wonderful time, and without the tireless efforts of the Houston site captains this would never have happened,” said Robin Blut, executive director of Keep Houston Beautiful. “Houston has a terrific support team and should be proud of its accomplishments.”

BEAUTIFYING GATEWAYS AND CULTIVATING URBAN, EDIBLE AND BUTTERFLY GARDENS MAKE HOUSTON GREENER

Pro-Vision Urban Farm At the Pro-Vision site, students and volunteers joined together to bring the school‘s vision of an Urban Farm life, which included planting a quarter-acre vegetable field and 16 fruit trees to start the school‘s orchard. The site was cleared and graded to begin production on a wetlands pond, and 60 cubic yards of compost was tilled into the graded vegetable field. Earlier in the week, Pro-Vision students helped plant 17 Shumard Oak trees. At the Sunnyside Multi-Service Center, Keep Houston Beautiful Commissioner Keiji Asakura of Asakura Robinson was joined by a group of volunteers who planted 30 white Natchez Crape Myrtle trees in the Children‘s Nature Collaborative Garden and 10 fruit trees in the Sunnyside Community Garden. Following up in June, JetBlue volunteers joined Asakura Robinson Company and the Children‘s Collaborative at the Sunnyside MultiService Center Head Start Program for another Children‘s Nature Garden build.

Westbury Community Garden The Westbury Community Garden installation kicked off the 2010 “Give Back To Gro” garden outreach program, sponsored by Great American Cleanup National Sponsor The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company in support of youth awareness about gardening. (See story about “Give Back to Gro” on page 26.) The Westbury Community Garden was designed by area residents and will be sustained by the community and students in nearby schools. A partner in the garden build-out was Leadership Houston Class XXVIII, which chose the garden and its educational component as its class project for 2010. More than 50 raised beds were planted to help educate residents on the benefits of growing healthy produce, a portion if which supports the hunger needs through the local “Bethel’s Heavenly Hands” organization. Westbury received a truckload of ScottsMiracle-Gro products; 34 employees volunteered for the workday. ScottsMiracleGro volunteers provided the forklift and skid loader to move topsoil and mulch into 48 garden beds built from 4,000 concrete blocks. More than 257 volunteers pitched in to lay a 70-foot crushed granite pathway, four pallets of grass between the walkway and street curb, and outline the floor of a 33' x 33’ pavilion. On Wednesday, March 10, the volunteers put the finishing touches on this project. “The uniting benefits of community gardening, as well as the ability to grow your own food, are positive results for our local neighborhoods,” Mayor Annise Parker stated at the event. Memorial Park More than 100 volunteers, in partnership with the City of Houston Parks and Recreation Department and Memorial Park Conservancy, descended on Memorial Park‘s Logan Woods area to remove invasive and non-native plant species from the forest. Volunteers pulled 80 cubic yards of invasive debris out of the forest, enhancing its health.

Wiess Park The volunteer site at Wiess Park was a large-scale effort that was made possible by more than 250 volunteers (nearly 2,200 volunteer hours) that resulted in more than 2,000 new plants in the reforestation effort at the park. Volunteers also helped mulch the new plantings with 400 cubic yards of mulch. A Girl Scout Troop spread nearly an acre of wildflower seed! All of the plant material selected for the reforestation effort and butterfly garden were native to the Houston area, as was the wildflower mix. After the Great American Cleanup kickoff, a water collection cistern was installed allowing rainwater to be collected and used to water many of the plants in the Butterfly Garden. Denver Harbor As the gateway to the Denver Harbor neighborhood, the 30-foot wide esplanade was little more than grass and a few trees in early 2010. The Denver Harbor Civic Club recognized the importance of a good first impression, so it planted new live oaks in the median as well as shrubs and flowers at a newly designed sign.

Photography by Jim Olive/www.stockyard.com

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G r e at Am e r i can Cleanup // 2010 R eport

National Kickoff Event

Planting “Seeds of Hope” Pass Christian, Miss., Site of Fifth Gulf Coast Hurricane Restoration Project

Prior to introducing Pass Christian Mayor Chipper McDermott, Keep America Beautiful Senior Vice President and Great American Cleanup Managing Director Gail Cunningham reflected on KAB’s post-Hurricane Katrina restoration efforts during the past five years in cities and towns along the Gulf Coast. Mayor McDermott, in turn, introduced Mayor A.J. Holloway of Biloxi, Mayor George Schloegel of Gulfport, Mayor Billy Skellie of Long Beach and Mayor Tommy Longo of Waveland, who all spoke about how each of the Great American Cleanup projects affected their communities.

(First row, from left) Tommy Longo, Billy Skellie, A.J. Holloway, Caressa Cameron, Chipper McDermott, Gail Cunningham. (Back row, from left) Marlin Miller, Patsy Tollison, Bob Fairbank, Barbara Dorr, Jay O’Neil, Buford Clark.

Miss America 2010 Caressa Cameron was joined by numerous state and local officials and nearly 400 volunteers for the Great American Cleanup Gulf Coast revitalization project in Pass Christian, Miss., on Saturday, March 27. The Pass Christian event was an inspiring addition to the amazing revival that this city, among others along the Gulf Coast, has gone through since Hurricane Katrina hit the coast in 2005. The spirit of the residents is unbroken, however, with great contributions from families and local businesses helping the Pass Christian restoration blossom prior to the recent Gulf Coast oil spill disaster. “One thing our visits to Mississippi have taught us is that we’re only as strong as the bonds we forge with our neighbors and friends,” Keep America Beautiful President and CEO Matt McKenna said during the morning kickoff rally. “Thanks to our renewal efforts, Keep America Beautiful is proud to have a number of new and lasting friendships here in Mississippi.”

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McKenna presented a President’s Volunteer Service Award for lifetime service to Pass Christian resident W. Dayton Robinson, which was another highlight of the rally. The kickoff also featured musical selections by the Pass Christian Middle and High schools, an uplifting rendition of the national anthem by Cameron, and rousing gospel and blues songs by the Goodwill Missionary Baptist Church and recording artist Davis Coen.

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volunteers

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Others joining in the kickoff ceremonies included Marlin Ladner, Harrison County Board of Supervisors - District 3; Connie Rockco, president of the Harrison County Board of Supervisors; Patsy Tollison, the Board Chair of Keep Mississippi Beautiful/PAL as well as Barbara Dorr, former executive director of Keep Mississippi Beautiful/PAL. Pass Christian Alderwoman Renee Brooks and Keep Harrison County Beautification Commission Director Jolie Spiers recruited volunteers and coordinated the day’s activities.


Cameron, who also participated in the day-long event as a volunteer, stated at the kickoff that she hoped the Great American Cleanup in Pass Christian would help plant a “seed of service” as well as “a little seed of hope.” Local volunteer Sharon Sofford agreed, telling The SunHerald newspaper, “Today has been one of the most meaningful days of my life, to see so many people rallying to help us.”

Miss America 2010 Caressa Cameron working with volunteers at the War Memorial Park.

Volunteers came from far and wide, including sculptor Marlin Miller (below), well-known for his “Katrina Sculptures” along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Miller, who donated his talent to create a lasting piece of art in Memorial Park as part of the day’s activities, was joined by volunteers from Gulfport’s Keesler Air Force Base’s 332nd Training Squadron; students on spring break from DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind. and Auburn University in Alabama; and AmeriCorps volunteers from the area. Local volunteers came from organizations such as the Pass Christian Garden Club, Pass Christian’s High School and Boy Scout Troup 316, Mississippi Power, Mississippi Department of Transportation, and local representatives from Great American Cleanup National Sponsors Troy-Bilt® Lawn and Garden Equipment as well as Waste Management. National Sponsors of the 2010 Great American Cleanup that were featured or exhibited at the West Side Harbor included Waste Management, which presented a $5,000 Community Improvement Award to the City of Pass Christian, Nestlé® Pure Life® Purified Water, o.b.® tampons, Troy-Bilt® Lawn and Garden Equipment, The Glad Products Company, The Dow Chemical Company, The Scotts-Miracle Gro Company and the Solo Cup Company.

by Flowerwood Nurseries), and mulch around the gazebo and throughout the park. The refreshed park was taken full advantage of later in the day when a wedding took place at the park.

There were nine primary sites from one end of Pass Christian to the other where community revitalization projects took place. The West Harbor was thoroughly landscaped with fresh sod put into place and azaleas planted that day. At the War Memorial Park, Cameron worked with the airmen of Keesler Air Force Base to plant Encore Azaleas (donated

Other activities included installing a gazebo and new plants at the Randolph Senior Center; painting trash cans at the local Boys & Girls Club; constructing a gazebo and bridge at the new public library; and installing yet another gazebo, fencing, bushes and new flowers at Friendship Park.

Volunteers plant azaleas at West Harbor.

Wood sculptor Marlin Miller.

Volunteers painting trash cans at Boys & Girls Club.

Gazebo going up at Pass Christian library.

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G r e at Am e r i can Cleanup // 2010 R eport

Students from the NY High School for Environmental Studies.

Take Pride in America’s Lisa Young and PVSA winner Elbin Meña.

NASDAQ Closing Bell ceremony in Times Square.

National Kickoff Event

Celebrating Earth Day at 40 Keep New York City Beautiful Coalition Celebrates Earth Day with Great American Cleanup Rally in Times Square Keep America Beautiful’s Great American Cleanup honored the 40th anniversary of Earth Day with Earth Day New York in the heart of Times Square, marking the annual Earth Day launch of Keep New York City Beautiful coalition’s GAC activities throughout all five boroughs of the city. Earth Day also served as the third anniversary of the formation of the Keep New York City Beautiful coalition (KNYCB) and highlights KNYCB’s commitment to make New York a greener, greater city. The Earth Day event also featured a multitude of featured speakers and performers, with special appearances by United National Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon; Christine Quinn, Earth Day Network Honorary Chair; Denis Hayes, one of the founding organizers of Earth Day; New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg; and a video message delivered by former Vice President Al Gore. Miss America 2010 Caressa Cameron launched the Great American Cleanup “Green Starts Here” rally during the festivities with a rendition of America the Beautiful and participated in the NASDAQ Closing Bell ceremony. Keep America Beautiful President and CEO Matt McKenna commented on the connection between the ethos of Earth Day and the work of Keep America Beautiful, as it is manifested through the three-month Great American Cleanup.

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“That first Earth Day showed the incredible power of individuals to unite in support of the environment,” McKenna said. “With local affiliate organizations in nearly 600 communities—including right here in New York City—we leverage the power of individual actions, volunteers, and educational efforts to make communities cleaner, greener, and more livable.” Keep New York City Beautiful coalition leaders at the event included John J. Doherty, Department of Sanitation, City of New York, and Chair of KNYCB; Peter Kostmeyer, Citizens for New York City; Angela Michie, NY Restoration Project; Marcel Van Ooyen, GrowNYC; and Nancy Barthold, New York City Parks. “Today, New York City is the cleanest it’s been in 35 years, and thanks to the efforts of the Keep New York City Beautiful coalition, it’s also becoming a greener and a more beautiful place in which to live, work and visit,” Doherty said. Keep America Beautiful Chairman Barry Caldwell, who is the senior vice president/corporate communication and government affairs for Waste Management, also announced the multi-year partnership between Waste Management and PepsiCo, in support of the Dream Machine recycling initiative designed around PepsiCo’s goal of increasing the U.S. beverage container recycling rate from 34 percent to 50 percent by 2018. Photography by Jeff Connell, Camera 1


Great American Cleanup Highlights

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G r e at Am e r i can Cleanup // 2010 R eport

Cleanups, Green-ups, Fix-ups and More Keep Palm Beach County Beautiful Puts Mission into Action

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Loxahatchee Groves: More than 60 volunteers participated in a roadway cleanup, picking up 1,000 pounds of litter and debris and covering more than 20 miles of streets and roads.

Keep Palm Beach County Beautiful, Inc. was organized in 1988 by a group of grassroots volunteers. It originally focused primarily on landscape beautification in central Palm Beach County, Fla., especially along the I-95 corridor. In 1994, it expanded its mission and coverage area to serve all of Palm Beach County, which includes 38 local municipalities. Keep Palm Beach County Beautiful (KPBCB), much like all Keep America Beautiful affiliates, bases its success on its many public/private/civic partnerships. Among the many local organizations that partner in its community improvement efforts throughout the year are the Solid Waste Authority of Palm Beach County; the Florida Department of Transportation, through the Palm Beach County Metropolitan Planning Organization; the Florida Inland Navigation District; and many other government agencies and corporate supporters.

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Riviera Beach: Students at McLeod-Bethune Elementary beautify their school campus.

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West Palm Beach: Volunteers plant littorals at the Elders’ Cove Eco-Art Project in Dreher Park.

During the 2010 Great American Cleanup, from Boca Raton to Tequesta, more than 5,800 volunteers and participants were involved in 91 different events that included everything from planting flowers and trees to cleaning rivers, lakes and shorelines to providing educational opportunities to school children. Follow Keep Palm Beach County Beautiful through this three-month Great American Cleanup timeline, highlighted by its official, countywide Great American Cleanup Day on April 17. APR

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North Palm Beach: The strangest find of the cleanup might have been plastic bugs and trees found at Munyon Island by volunteers from Lakeside Park.

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Jupiter: Siemens Energy volunteers clean up 100 bags of trash from five acres of the Jupiter Inlet Park.


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West Palm Beach: A ScottsMiracle-Gro edible community garden was created at Coleman Park Community Center, where residents helped to install vegetable and garden beds.

Boca Raton: Trash picked up by volunteers at the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center.

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Morakami Park: Habitat Restoration Project between Morakami Park Elementary and Lawton Chiles Park. Eighty volunteers planted approximately 780 native trees, shrubs, groundcover plants and flowers in the wetland portion of the area.

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Jupiter Farms: Students at Jupiter Farms Elementary scatter ladybugs in their Project Naturescope Ladybug Lane Reading Garden, funded through a KPBCB school grant. Students planted 144 annuals and butterfly plants.

Lake Clarke Shores: Volunteer boaters in Lake Clarke Shores pick up over 8,000 pounds of trash including 22 tires from in and around the lake.

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Jupiter Farms: A variety of KPBCB school grants funded Steve “Trash” educational performances at different elementary schools throughout the county.

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West Jupiter: Children from the West Jupiter Community Center after-school program plant watermelons at Riverbend Park Children’s Garden. The garden was funded by a KPBCB school grant through Waste Management.

West Palm Beach: Volunteers from Northwood Hills pick up 300 pounds of trash as well as planting a kapok tree.

Jupiter: The Loxahatchee River Environmental Center coordinated cleanups with more than 150 volunteers working at different locations, including Burt Reynolds Park, Riverbend Park, JD State Park and Coral Cove Park West.


G r e at Am e r i can Cleanup // 2010 R eport

Cleanups are Just the Beginning The Great American Cleanup originally began as a litter cleanup initiative designed to aesthetically improve the environment by creating more inviting parks, streetscapes and public spaces. As the program has matured and grown, grassroots organizations have taken on more diverse challenges—eliminating graffiti, collecting recyclables, planting community gardens, and hosting educational events. But community cleanups remain at the very heart of the event, and the results are staggering. In 2010 alone, 76 million pounds of litter and debris were collected by volunteers throughout the country.

According to Keep America Beautiful’s landmark 2009 National Visible Litter Survey, litter is still a pervasive problem. Yes, visible litter on our nation’s roadways has decreased significantly—approximately 61 percent in the past 40 years. But litter still has a very real financial impact on our communities. So while the Great American Cleanup offers a great opportunity for people to learn about the effects of littering through the experience of “picking up,” it also offers an opportunity to raise awareness and educate people about the issue. For example, Community Work Day Program (CWD) in Puunene, Hawaii, worked in partnership with the County of Maui and Maui Police Department to hold an informational “Uncovered Truck Law Demonstration” near a local landfill. This Great American Cleanup event provided an opportunity to educate the public that debris can blow out of pickup trucks, which presents road hazards for other drivers. Hawaii state law requires loads in truck beds to be covered. If they aren’t, the penalty is a $250 fine for the first violation; a $500 fine plus suspension of the vehicle registration and/or license of the driver for at least five

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working days for the second violation. Because this was the first educational event of its kind, motorists were not cited. Of 325 vehicles that were stopped, 107 were properly covered and 218 were not. The trucks that came through were carrying various materials including household trash, green waste, and construction waste. Along with being informed about the monetary penalty, drivers were also urged to secure their load using cargo nets, bungees, tarps, sheets or rope.

Total Miles of roads, streets and highways Cleaned Per Year 2004

96,932 176,000

2005

165,000

2006

178,000

2007 2008 2009 2010

144,000 102,000 123,762


horseshoe lake, aR

oklahoma city, ok

green cove springs, fl

sebring, fl

moline, IL

The Montgomery (Ala.) Clean City Commission took another approach in trying to raise awareness about littering. One of the newer campaigns Montgomery Clean City Commission produced this year was the “Drop Cash-Pay Cash” promotion. Several cardboard replicas of Montgomery police officers were placed at busy intersections and roads. Each “stand-up” cop held signs displaying, “Want to litter? FINE. Your fine will be $213” and “Keep your butt in the car. Cigarettes are litter, too!” Now if that doesn’t get your attention, what will?

Whiteclay, Neb. ‘Cleanses the Land’ of Visual Blight When community members unite to remove litter and debris from their streets and parks during the Great American Cleanup, it often represents just the beginning of a process of community rejuvenation. The GAC can also serve as the catalyst for positive community change, which is what is happening in Whiteclay, Neb. Whiteclay is a small town located just two miles south of the Oglala Sioux Tribe Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, home to the Oglala Lakota Nation in South Dakota. The Reservation is among the poorest regions in the country with soaring unemployment rates.

This modest community faced a significant litter problem and was in dire need of a “cleanup, fix-up and greenup,”said Keep Nebraska Beautiful President Jane Polson. In an effort to address the visual blight in the community, ABOUT, a Christian outreach ministry in Whiteclay, sponsored “A Cleansing of the Land: Whiteclay Redux.” With a welcome donation of Great American Cleanup National Sponsor Troy-Bilt® equipment, sprucing up this land became a task volunteers could easily take on. The string trimmer and backpack blower both played important roles in Whiteclay’s “extreme makeover.” The Green Tipi BEFORE AFTER Garden is a five-acre plot of land that will now have fresh produce, flowers, trees and other plants. The TroyBilt® equipment will continue to be used throughout the community, especially at the Green Tipi Garden. A group is also starting a recycling center in Whiteclay.

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G r e at Am e r i can Cleanup // 2010 R eport

The Great American Cleanup event occurred over four days, coinciding with Earth Day. Each day incorporated something unique: a “Planting Day”; a “People Day,” which was the major cleanup; and a “Healing Day,” with a sunrise service at Green Tipi Garden. Hundreds of people joined in completing this effort. The opening ceremony alone had 300 people in attendance, including Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning and five State Senators. Bruning’s office awarded the ABOUT group a $10,000 grant to help pay for the cleanup effort and the new recycling program. “Cleanup efforts like this can restore pride and sense of ownership to Whiteclay’s residents,” Bruning said. “We’re glad to be able to help ABOUT with this initiative.”

Keep Cincinnati Beautiful Makes ‘Dirtiest Highways’ Shine More than 160 volunteers participated in the 2010 Ohio State Roadway Cleanup, sponsored by Keep Cincinnati Beautiful (KCB) and the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT).

Cincinnati, OH

An online poll allowed Cincinnatians the opportunity to select which highway exits would be cleaned. ODOT promised to clean the 10 Dirtiest Exit/Entry Highway ramps and it kept its word: volunteers collected 1,120 bags of trash for a total of 44,800 pounds, plus 50 cubic yards of brush during the cleanup. “Rather than try to cover the most highway mileage during the State Roadway Cleanup, we chose to target the most littered highway ramps around our city,” said Keep Cincinnati Beautiful Litter Prevention Program Manager Liz McEwan. Cincinnati was chosen by ODOT to kick off the statewide program given its reputation for volunteers working well together for the greater good. The sunny March skies and the warm weather helped make this community event a success as former eyesores were cleaned, greened and beautified.

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“All the work that over 160 volunteers, several sponsors and other organizations worked on will be a temporary fix if we don’t keep the trash in our cars, if we don’t cover our loads while transporting materials in the interstates and if we don’t come together as a community and change our behaviors,” McEwan added. This area of Ohio highway was emblematic of the volunteer spirit across the country, where nearly 125,000 miles of roads, streets and highways were cleaned up or beautified during the 2010 Great American Cleanup.

Sacramento Cleans Up Roadways with ‘14 Miles of Service’ The City of Sacramento, Calif., home of Keep California Beautiful, celebrated the 40th anniversary of Earth Day with its annual “14 Miles of Service” program along the Sacramento Northern Bike Trail. The 14-mile stretch was once an important link connecting Sacramento’s Noralto, Del Paso Heights and Robla neighborhoods to the City’s downtown. Over the years, the trail became plagued with illegal dumping and graffiti, and was threatened by invasive plant species such as the star thistle. In 1996, the City of Sacramento partnered with the Sacramento Tree Foundation and local volunteers to transform the trail into a beautiful area covered with thousands of trees and natural shrubs. Every year, community groups and local volunteers gather to clean up and beautify the trail. Organized as a Global Youth Service Day activity during this year’s Great American Cleanup, the program provided team building, service learning and leadership opportunities for more than 300 youth and adults who contributed nearly 1,600 hours of service to the community.

76%

Did You Know? Most roadway litter—76%— appears to originate from motorists and pedestrians (motorists 53%, pedestrians 23%). Improperly covered trucks and cargo loads (16.4%) and other behaviors are additional sources of litter.


Sacramento, CA

PHOENIX, AZ

Among the many notable outcomes were 9,800 pounds of invasive or nuisance plant species removed; 2,808 pounds of litter and man-made debris removed; 170 square feet of graffiti abated; 50 yards of mulch installed; and 35 droughttolerant or native plants added to garden beds. This impressive project and others like it resulted in 3,400 miles of hiking, biking and nature trails being cleaned up.

A number of state parks were sites of Great American Cleanup activities as well. The Friends of Roman Nose State Park Association in Watonga, Okla., conducted a park cleanup in a historic area of Roman Nose State Park. The Vermont State Parks reported 950 acres of state parks getting cleaned up. Keep Vermilion (Ill.) Beautiful’s premier GAC event is its cleanup of Kennekuk County Park where volunteers planted 200 trees and painted fencing.

Public Lands Benefit from Cleanups The Great American Cleanup always serves as an opportunity for volunteer activism to keep our nation’s public lands as pristine as possible. From New Hampshire to Oregon, volunteers cleaned up and improved 71,000 acres of national, state and county parklands. Sleeping Dunes National Lakeshore in Michigan is a longtime Great American Cleanup participating organization. This year, volunteers conducted two large cleanups of illegal dump sites, cleaned up 12 miles of river and shorelines, planted over 325 trees, and cleaned up an additional 12 miles of roads and 30 miles of trails. At Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site in Cornish, N.H., the local community gathers on “Green Up Day” where it cleans litter from roadsides and various public places in town. At the Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site, volunteers, primarily from the Student Conservation Association, help clean and repair the park’s nature trails and roadsides in, and adjacent to, the park. Whitman Mission National Historic Site in Walla Walla, Wash., was the site of a stream restoration project.

The 5th annual Great Truckee Meadows Community Cleanup is a phenomenal partnership among Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful in Reno, Nev., and the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service and Washoe County Regional Parks & Open Space, among others. The 550 participating volunteers focused on open space “hot spot” areas, cleaning up illegal dump sites and outdoor recreational areas in and around the Reno/Sparks area. This year, 81 tons of trash and invasive weeds were removed from open spaces.

Total Acres of wetlands cleaned and improved Per Year 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

1,100 2,100 2,700 10,200 10,523

15


G r e at Am e r i can Cleanup // 2010 R eport

Waterway Cleanups Can Be a Fun Challenge Cleaning up around waterways can be a challenge, but this year Keep Grapevine (Texas) Beautiful (KGVB) got creative and took a chance and conducted its first-ever “Rowing for Rubbish” event during the Great American Cleanup. Because the city is located on a lake, the need to do cleanups by boat was necessary because trash collects in the tributaries and backwater coves and is easily noticed. These areas aren’t easily accessible, however, which is why KGVB had to come up with something a bit more imaginative. Keep Texas Beautiful (KTB) presented KGVB with an opportunity to receive funding from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for a waterway cleanup. KGVB pursued the opportunity by developing “Rowing for Rubbish” as a test project. Before applying for the funding, however, KGVB needed to establish specifically what it could realistically accomplish.

Yankton, SD

Grapevine, TX

Borrowing kayaks, jon boats, waders, pool skimmers, hooks and anything else that could help maneuver nearly 70 volunteers through the water, teams rallied and began “Rowing for Rubbish.” The kayaks got into the nooks and crannies, while jon boats traveled up and down the water to pull in the big stuff quickly and efficiently. By completing this cleanup, KGVB learned a lot about how to more accurately present its grant request to TCEQ. In the end, KGVB received a $10,000 grant and was able to design a mobile boat unit that included a custom trailer, four kayaks, two jon boats with motors, and all applicable safety and instrumental equipment. Keep Grapevine Beautiful can now easily book corporate and citizen groups for this type of waterway cleanup. “Rowing for Rubbish” has opened up a whole new avenue of possibilities for volunteers to make the Grapevine community and its surrounding areas even more beautiful.

16

Another very successful waterway cleanup was conducted by Keep Yankton (S.D.) Beautiful. More than 6,800 miles of lakes, rivers and shorelines were cleaned up during the Great American Cleanup; Keep Yankton Beautiful focused on the Missouri River, where 100 volunteers collected over 2.5 tons of trash, scrap tires and other debris from the banks and islands of the river. The volume of trash and debris littered or dumped was considerably less than in previous years, reported Keep Yankton Beautiful Executive Director Julie Perakslis, which means all of the effort put forth by the many dedicated organizers and volunteers of this cleanup event is paying off. “As many of the litter studies prove, people are far less likely to dump or litter in clean areas,” said Perakslis. “We’re all incredibly encouraged by the success and sustainability of these cleanup efforts.”

Wetlands, Lakes and Coastal Areas Receive Care from Volunteers The Big Creek Wetlands Park is a Roswell, Ga.-owned park that contains a man-made wetland designed to help control stormwater pollution and runoff. Also in this park are paved walking trails, mountain biking trails, and a boardwalk out into the wetlands. Big Creek, Roswell’s water source, flows through the park as well as many residential and commercial areas, where storm drains empty into the Creek. In order to get residents to help protect the wetlands from runoff and pollution, the Big Creek Wetlands Workday was organized. Keep Roswell Beautiful (KRB) worked with Roswell’s Recreation and Parks Department on this one-day event, which brought together over 70 volunteers to help remove litter and debris from the wetlands, Big Creek waterway, and surrounding trails. In three hours, over 3,000 pounds of trash had been removed. Volunteers also helped the City’s Recreation and Parks department plant eight trees and 170 plants to help control erosion and stormwater pollution. The Big Creek Wetlands Workday was a great success, reported KRB Executive Director Janet Liberman, who added that the project has been established as an annual event. “We are planning on putting in more erosion controlling plants, expanding our cleanup area, and enhancing the park through other various jobs, such as paint touch-ups and small maintenance jobs,” she said.


Roswell, Ga

Roswell, Ga

For serious environmental stewards who don’t mind getting their hands dirty, the success of the annual Minneapolis Watershed Clean Up is a growing source of pride. Last year more than 3,000 volunteers turned up, and left 41 of the parks in Minneapolis 11,200 pounds of trash cleaner. This collaborative effort among the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board, Keep Minneapolis Beautiful (City of Minneapolis Solid Waste and Recycling) and the Minneapolis Earth Day Watershed Clean Up was initiated in 1995 to draw attention to the water quality improvement needs of Minneapolis’ lakes and the effects that individual actions have on urban water quality. One of the major concerns around coastal areas of the Gulf of Mexico this past spring and summer was, of course, the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. Many Keep America Beautiful state and local affiliates around the Gulf Coast offered as much assistance as possible during the Great American Cleanup and beyond, including Keep Mobile (Ala.)Beautiful.

2 0 1 0 GA C FA C T

The Mobile Bay National Estuary Program and Mobile BayKeepers are two local organizations that monitor the coastal environment and how it affects the estuary system. These two groups went into action soon after the oil spill, with thousands of volunteers responding to the plea for assistance. Keep Mobile Beautiful immediately provided trash bags and work gloves so that volunteers could get out and start cleaning up litter. Keep Mobile Beautiful and other KAB Gulf Coast affiliates will continue to work with various organizations on future cleanups as the long-lasting effects of the oil spill continue to be addressed.

6,500 illegal dump sites

were cleaned up during the Great American Cleanup

armstrong county, pa

bedford county, pa

Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful Aggressively Combats Illegal Dumping Thousands of dump sites have been found in Pennsylvania since the first Illegal Dump Survey Program report was published in 2005. Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful goes through an exhaustive surveying and reporting process to identify sites in need of remediation. During the 2010 Great American Cleanup, 67 such sites were cleaned up in Pennsylvania and 6,500 illegal dump sites were cleaned up throughout the country. For example, in April local volunteers and community partners removed a total of 9.85 tons, 120 tires, 84 bags of recyclables, and a ton of scrap metal from the site in eastern Fulton County where Licking Creek joins the Potomac River near Hancock, Md. Later in the month, REI, Inc., partnered with Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful to clean up an illegal dump site in Napier Township. In celebration of Earth Day, 24 employees from the REI Bedford Distribution Center worked to remove 4.61 tons of trash and 118 tires from a stretch of road. Volunteers braved hot and humid conditions and monstrous amounts of poison ivy to clean up an illegal dump site in Miller Township in May, removing 219 tires and nearly 1,400 pounds of furniture, mattresses, construction and demolition materials, vehicle parts, recyclables, carpeting, and household trash. Located next to the mouth of Shermans Creek and the Susquehanna River, the dump site threatened water quality, flora, and fauna. These are just a few examples of how Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful is working with government, civic and business partners to rid the state of the scourge of illegal dumping.

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G r e at Am e r i can Cleanup // 2010 R eport

Improving Communities, One by One

partner p rof il e

Waste Management Serves as Backbone for National Effort

The Great American Cleanup amasses amazing results as volunteers collect millions of pounds of litter and debris, as well as a variety of recyclables ranging from e-waste to scrap tires to glass to PET. Without the services of America’s largest waste hauler and recycler— Waste Management—the Great American Cleanup couldn’t achieve its mission.

Waste Management, now in its eighth year of supporting the Great American Cleanup, provides grant funding for local activities as well as volunteer manpower and waste collection infrastructure from its more than 100 local offices in support of the program. Providing equipment and personnel, however, doesn’t quite tell the whole story.

Beautiful hosted several events designed to create awareness and inspire volunteers. The events included a press announcement, a community leader orientation, and a block captain rally. Waste Management employees participated by cleaning up a city park, and actor Tony Danza added celebrity appeal to this year’s event.

“We appreciate Waste Management’s recognition of how improving our neighborhoods improves our community as a whole,” said Jane Tomcisin, community program specialist for Keep Montgomery County (Ohio) Beautiful, which conducted a cleanup of the Westwood/Roosevelt community in Dayton with Mayor Gary Leitzell in attendance. “We have such dedicated, hard-working volunteers. And to see Waste Management supporting these volunteers makes us proud to partner with such an organization,” she said.

In Amherst, N.Y., a suburb of Buffalo, Keep Western NY Beautiful conducted multiple events during the Great American Cleanup. Waste Management employees planted trees and helped clean up a town park. Moreover, a Waste Management grant was used by Our Lady of Peace to improve the gardens on its grounds and by the town for a major household hazardous waste collection. The hazardous materials collected included 954 gallons of oil; 255 gallons of anti-freeze; 1,083 gallons of paint; 672 pounds of pesticides; 660 propane tanks; 396 gallons gas/oil mix; and 12 fire extinguishers.

Here are a number of the 2010 projects that received additional support from Waste Management: In Philadelphia, Waste Management supported the 3rd Annual Philly Spring Clean Up. This volunteer action day—with 11,313 volunteers taking part—served as the kickoff to Philadelphia’s “cleaning season.” Leading up to the actual cleanup day, which is Mayor Michael Nutter’s signature annual cleanup initiative, the Philadelphia Streets Department and Keep Philadelphia

18

Keep Clay Beautiful (KCB), which stages the Clay County portion of the St. John’s River Celebration, also received Waste Management support for its many Great American Cleanup activities. Tania Jolley, Keep Clay Beautiful executive director, said, “I am excited to have this opportunity to work with Waste Management on our showcase events, the St. Johns River Celebration and assisting the Clay County Fair with its goal of ‘Going Green.’“


At Florida’s St. Johns River, Keep Clay Beautiful had over 900 volunteers join together for the one-day cleanup of waterways throughout Clay County. The organization was also able to purchase Big Bottle Recycle containers and placed them all throughout the Clay County Agricultural Fair for the 87,000 attendees to place their plastic bottles and aluminum cans. Everyone attending was encouraged to recycle through educational “Green FAQs” signage on the bins. The amount of recyclables collected was measured and benchmarked. Florida was the site of additional Waste Management grant award programs. For example, Keep Collier County Beautiful assembled 1,000 volunteers for a countywide cleanup. This event included nine cleanup locations covering 11 miles of beach, inland canals, and selected neighborhoods. Keep Palm Beach County Beautiful in West Palm Beach, created multiple gardens at various locations throughout the city, including “A Children’s Garden” at Riverbend Park. The volunteers for this event were children from “Green Thumb Club” after-school program at West Jupiter Community Center. These great volunteers also installed a garden the Westgate Community Center. There was also more beautification at the Garden at Rivera Beach Maritime Academy with a dedication by students and staff of the school. (See the Keep Palm Beach County Beautiful Great American Cleanup “timeline” on page 10.) “The students took an unused area on campus and transformed it into a productive and attractive garden,” said Lourdes Ferris, executive director of Keep Palm Beach County Beautiful. “They will maintain the garden and harvest the produce using composting techniques that they learned through their environmental club.” The students’ goal, Ferris added, is to produce a fully functioning organic garden utilizing only natural resources. The students also hope to harvest enough vegetables and fruits to partner with the Riviera Beach Youth Build Program and open up a Green Market.

sarasota, FL

oakland, ca

“ We have such dedicated, hard-working volunteers. And to see Waste Management supporting these volunteers makes us proud to partner with such an organization.” J ane

Tomci sin, community program specialist for Keep Montgomery County (Ohio) Beautiful

In California, the City of La Verne had a Community Yard Sale and Spring Clean Up where community members and organizations reserved spaces to display their new and old items for sale. Three agencies—Habitat for Humanity, Hope Partners and American Vets—removed all usable items that were not purchased. Volunteers for this community-wide event came from Waste Management, the Bonita High School Boosters Club, the Bonita Unified School District and Bonita High School, the City of La Verne and its Chamber of Commerce. Riverside County joined El Sobrante Landfill for the third straight year to clean and restore Temescal Valley Wash waterway, which suffers from illegal dumping. Eventually, this landfill will be turned over to the county and become a public park. Waste Management also provided additional support for the Keep Houston Beautiful volunteer activities at Pro-Vision Charter School Community Garden during the Great American Cleanup national kickoff. (See story on page 4.) “The community was greatly impacted by the funds, time, and support that Waste Management generously donated to Pro-Vision,” said Keep Houston Beautiful Executive Director Robin Blut. “Because of this effort, the Head Start program at the Sunnyside Multi-Service Center received a donation of 16 Crape-Myrtle trees and the Collaborative for Children erected several vine teepees for gardening activities for the children during a Saturday workday.”

houston, tx

19


G r e at Am e r i can Cleanup // 2010 R eport

It All Comes Back to You: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle Recycling is the easiest thing that any individual can do—every single day—to conserve energy, reduce carbon emissions, and protect our treasured natural resources. Keep America Beautiful, and the Great American Cleanup, strive to motivate more Americans to reduce, reuse and recycle more of their waste. By promoting simple, everyday choices and actions, and by inspiring participation, our 2010 effort created the most significant recycling results in the history of the event.

Nestlé Pure Life Helps to Drive Record for PET Recycling ®

®

Nestlé® Pure Life® Purified Water, the Official National Bottled Water Sponsor of the Great American Cleanup, worked with Keep America Beautiful to further energize plastic (PET) recycling activities during the 2010 GAC. Indeed, a new Great American Cleanup record for PET recycling was set—a grand total of 266 million bottles were recycled, a 10 percent increase over the 2009 effort. Keep Greater Milwaukee Beautiful collected the most PET among KAB affiliates coming in at nearly 1.5 million pounds.

indianapolis, in

20

To encourage plastics recycling, Nestlé® Pure Life® PET Recycling Awards were given to 24 KAB affiliates that collected the most pounds of PET for recycling based on population served. Moreover, Nestlé Waters North America also provided 6 million bottles of water to keep busy volunteers hydrated.

“We have not had the opportunity, in the past, to provide drinks for all of the volunteers that came forward during the GAC. This year we were able to do just that!” said Keep Cobb Beautiful Public Programs Coordinator Gwen Baldwin, who conducted 86 different events throughout Cobb County, Ga. “We even have some water left over to provide to our summer volunteers. The Georgia heat is unrelenting and the water donation has kept our many volunteers’ thirst quenched.” The Keep Birmingham (Ala.) Beautification Commission introduced a plastic recycling program to all of the city’s schools and gave cash prizes to the schools and students that collected the most plastic during the Great American Cleanup. The program was a great success with 26,091 pounds of PET being collected for recycling. Keep Pasco Beautiful in Land O’ Lakes, Fla., sponsored a PET bottle collection event at its area high schools as did Keep Athens-Limestone Beautiful in Athens, Ala. Keep Cocke County Beautiful in Newport, Tenn., conducted an event called the “Get Juggy” two-week milk and juice container recycling program for elementary schools. This effort resulted in 5,650 pounds of plastics for recycling. Overall, the affiliate collected 46,600 pounds of PET.


puunene, hi

Aluminum Collection Effort Helps Humane Society For the third consecutive year, Memphis City Beautiful partnered with the Humane Society of Memphis and Shelby County to collect “Cans for Pets.” An average of 33 aluminum cans is estimated to pay for two pounds of dry pet food. The “Cans for Pets” program is an opportunity to turn one’s recyclables into funds for the Humane Society, which helps to house and feed the many cats and dogs. This program is used exclusively to purchase food for animals at the shelter. This past year, seven Memphis schools were selected to participate in this event, and were provided GLAD® Force Flex® trash bags and a recycling bin to collect the pet can recyclables.

“ We are extremely grateful for the schools’ generosity. They are helping to change the lives of the animals in our care.” K e l ly J o G r av e s , executive manager/community outreach manager, Humane Society of Memphis & Shelby County

The 18,363 cans collected went straight to the Humane Society, allowing it to purchase 1,113 pounds of food for homeless dogs and cats. For every 33 cans recycled, the Humane Society can feed one of its dogs for four days. The 18,363 cans collected by participating schools provided food for 556 dogs for four days. At one particular school an animal loving teacher came up with a plan to collect an enormous amount of cans, asking every student and member of the faculty to collect 33 cans each. One can after another continued rolling in the door and, incredibly, every single person in the school completed their task and collected 15,741 cans! This effort was by far the best of all the participating schools. “The Humane Society of Memphis & Shelby County is thrilled that the schools support our Cash for Pets program,” said Kelly Jo Graves, executive manager/community outreach manager, Humane Society of Memphis & Shelby County. “We are extremely grateful for the schools’ generosity. They are helping to change the lives of the animals in our care.” Creative recycling programs such as “Cans for Pets” took place throughout the Great American Cleanup resulting in 15.3 million pounds of aluminum and steel being recycled.

21


G r e at Am e r i can Cleanup // 2010 R eport

‘Recycle Regatta’ Combines Fun with … Recycling! Keep Hillsborough County Beautiful’s “Recycle Regatta” is a competition between local high school groups as part of an effort to heighten awareness of recycling and waste minimization, and provide a unique and interesting outlet to improve recycling education opportunities to residents of Hillsborough County, Fla. Students are responsible for building a watercraft derived from at least 70 percent recycled material and paddle it over a 25-yard course on the Tampa Bay. Keep Hillsborough County Beautiful (KHCB), provided recycling bins for the event and Great American Cleanup National Sponsor Waste Management provided extra trash receptacles through a grant to KHCB. The race was launched at Cotanchobee/Fort Brooke Park where KHCB volunteers also helped empty trash containers and recycling bins that totaled 1.21 tons of trash and nearly a half ton of recyclables after the event.

tampa, fl

The high school students competed in a race aboard boats made from plastic bottles, wood and other recyclable materials. Jesuit High School placed first among the three teams that raced their boats across the Garrison Channel.Mobile, Al

32.5% o f wa s t e

22

Did You Know? Today, the U.S. recycles 32.5 percent of its waste, a rate that has roughly doubled since 1992.

In addition to the “Recycle Regatta,” KHCB hosted a rubber duck race down the Garrison Channel. Winners of the Pirate Ducky Derby were awarded prizes that include tickets to the Florida Aquarium and an Endeavour Electric Boat Tour in St. Petersburg. Ducks were sold throughout the event to raise money for next year’s “Recycle Regatta” and to support KHCB’s overall mission of litter prevention, beautification and waste reduction.

Reuse is Key Benefit of Clothing Drives Keep America Beautiful is not often associated with collecting used clothing during the Great American Cleanup. But collecting clothing for reuse, especially during tough economic times, is an important part of the reduce-reuse-recycle philosophy and can be a special focus of local events. During the Great American Cleanup, communities have the opportunity to collect clothing and give it to a charity of their choice. A number of the Keep America Beautiful affiliates and participating organizations do so and, as a result, 5.6 million pounds of clothing were amassed and provided to nonprofits such as Goodwill Industries, Salvation Army and local shelters. Keep Greater Milwaukee Beautiful collected an astounding 4.5 million pounds of clothing, representing the bulk of used clothing collected during the 2010 Great American Cleanup. Keep Greater Milwaukee Beautiful donates the clothing to Goodwill of Southeastern Wisconsin. Keep Kingsport (Tenn.) Beautiful collected 304,000 pounds of clothing, while Keep North Fulton Beautiful in Sandy Springs, Ga., collected 230,000. Keep York County (S.C.) Beautiful’s 50,000 pounds of used clothing and shoes were donated to Williams Textiles and the Nike Reuse-A-Shoe recycling program, respectively.

Electronic Recycling Drives Electronics recycling events are becoming more ubiquitous during the Great American Cleanup and throughout the year, both at recycling centers and retail establishments. The amount of e-waste collected during the Great American Cleanup has doubled in five years, with 7.2 million pounds collected in 2010.

mobile, al


Chatsworth, Ga

While Keep Arkansas Beautiful collected 1.2 million pounds of electronic waste, a wide array of cities and small towns did their part as well. For example, Operation Brightside in Kansas City, Kan., collected 73,653 pounds of electronics at its one-day e-cycling event in 2010 compared with 22,902 pounds in 2009. Keep Chatsworth-Murray Beautiful in Chatsworth, Ga., conducted its first Electronics Recycling Day during the GAC with 245 pieces, including 64 printers, 68 computers and 49 monitors collected. “This was our first special day of recycling of a specific product and the results were beyond our wildest expectations,” said Frank Adams, founder of Keep Chatsworth-Murray Beautiful. Partnerships between city recycling centers, KAB affiliates and GAC participating organizations were central to the success of these programs. The City of Chesapeake and the Chesapeake Environmental Improvement Council partnered with Cox Communications, Greenbrier Mall and Synergy Recycling Corp. to sponsor a one-day electronics recycling event in April. The event was free to the public with 905 cars driving up and delivering nearly 152,000 pounds of electronics at the mall. Keep Blackstone Valley Beautiful in Pawtucket, R.I., reported that a participant turned in an underwater ocean floor radar mapping device used by the U.S. Navy during the early 1960s during its e-cycling drive.

Bartlesville, Ok

Major Recycling Events Bring Pride to Oklahoma Pride In McAlester (Okla.) volunteers put in a long day in late April, hosting the final events of its month-long 2010 Great American Cleanup. Volunteers, with the aid of Environmental Management, Inc., (EMI) of Guthrie, manned the disposal bins for the Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) & Recycling Event. A steady flow of McAlester residents brought in 11,072 pounds of HHW materials and 2,592 pounds of tires. Moreover, 40 pounds of pharmaceuticals were brought in through a medical prescription disposal program, sponsored by local pharmacies. Shredder, Inc. was also on site and shredded 11,100 pounds of personal documents, bringing the grand total for the day’s collections to 30,116 pounds. In Bartlesville, Okla., Operation Clean House (OCH) drew hundreds of area residents looking for safe disposal alternatives of HHW. The OCH program is a free, county-wide recycling and HHW disposal event, the first of which was conducted in 1989. The items collected were limited to motor oil, tires, automotive batteries, and white goods. Because of growing interest and increased financial support, the event is now held annually. Additional items that were collected included rechargeable batteries, antifreeze, smoke alarms, household cleaners, pesticides, oil-based paints, and more.

23


G r e at Am e r i can Cleanup // 2010 R eport

cumming, ga

Most recently, because of changing needs, the event added electronics, fluorescent bulbs, and pharmaceuticals. In four years, OCH collected approximately 267,000 pounds of electronics, much of which was analog televisions due to the switch to digital format. Although OCH is focused on waste collection, it has unfolded opportunities for public education too. As drivers wait in queue at the OCH event, volunteers hand them flyers on recycling, environmentally-friendly product alternatives, storm water contamination, and more. Also, this past year, an Operation Clean House partner produced a recycling guide which went to all Bartlesville residents via their utility bills. The guide gives information on where to take items between events.

puunene, hi

This year, the Community Work Day Program in Puunene, Hawaii, helped to coordinate the Hana Recycling event in May. The remote district of Hana does not have a facility that accepts tires, batteries, appliances or scrap metal. Community members are forced to accumulate these items in their yard or make a two-hour drive out of Hana to the nearest recycling facility. This year, Community Work Day Program recycled 45,060 pounds of scrap metal, 252 appliances, 431 tires, 94 batteries, and 273 computer parts. Keep Liberty Beautiful in Hinesville, Ga., conducted a Recycle It! Fair for electronics and HHW items. This affiliate also recognizes outstanding recycling collection efforts with its “Can” Awards—a crinkled aluminum can sprayed gold and mounted on a reused flag holder base with an engraved plaque.

Small Cities and Towns Recycle Big! A significant effort is made to encourage smart choices in the waste hierarchy—to reduce waste; reuse items when possible; and recycle. This can be a significant challenge for smaller communities that do not have ready access to recycling centers, so the Great American Cleanup provides a great opportunity to rally support for one-day recycling drives.

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14.9 million

pounds of glass

Did You Know? In the first year of tracking glass collected for recycling, a total of 14.9 million pounds was collected.


Keep Athens-Limestone Beautiful in Athens, Ala., conducted a Free Dump Day in which the Limestone County Transfer Stations were open for the public to bring up to one ton of materials to the dump, free of charge. “Our recycling center was inundated with residents recycling all sorts of things,” said Lynne Hart, executive director of KALB. Small volunteer groups can make a big difference as well. A youth group picked up more than 150 illegally dumped tires from the grounds of a church for Prince William Clean Community Council in Woodbridge, Va. More than 1.1 million scrap tires were collected for recycling during the 2010 Great American Cleanup. In Jacksonville, N.C., Keep Onslow Beautiful collected over 24,600 pounds of electronics. Working with its local Wal-Mart store, the organization gathered electronics for recycling. Of course, its recycling collection event would not have been possible without the help of students, local businesses and other participating organizations.

From Spare Parts to Library Arts Several years ago, “Recycle Your Cycles” was a project developed to keep bicycles out of local landfills in the Scottsbluff and Gering, Neb., area. The concept was to recycle parts off older bicycles, and collect and repair bicycles that could be put into use in the community. Community Partnerships of Western Nebraska is always in need of adult bikes for clients to travel to work, school and for shopping. Some of their clients cannot afford cars, gas or insurance. The North Platte Valley Kiwanis are always looking for bikes for families that cannot afford them for their children. This project addressed many needs for the community; not only to furnish bicycles for people in need, but also to organize community volunteers to work together and keep materials from going in to the landfill.

This year the project was expanded. “From Spare Parts to Library Arts” is a used bicycle art project, which is the second phase of the “Recycle Your Cycles” project started several years ago by Keep Scottsbluff-Gering (Neb.) Beautiful, Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality and Nebraska Public Power District. Spare parts were turned into library art—bike racks that resembled assorted fish, made from all scrap and recycled materials. “From Spare Parts to Library Arts” could not have happened if it had not been for the North Platte Valley Artists Guild. They designed and painted the bike racks. The bike racks were given to the Gering Library to kick off their summer reading program. Volunteer bike enthusiasts work on the cycles and Nebraska Public Power District offers their shop for the one-day event. This is now an annual event during the Great American Cleanup. Not only were cycles provided to children and adults in need, but the community demonstrated what can be done with a little ingenuity, imagination and willing volunteers. Showing the community what can be accomplished with “spare parts”—and what grand things can be accomplished by recycling. To put a smile on a child’s face when the bike racks were unveiled made this a welcome bonus for this community.

pounds of newspaper recycled, in millions

2007 2008 2009

23 37.1 36.4

2010

evansville, In

biloxi, ms

28

2006

91.5

st. clairsville, OH

chandler, ok

25


G r e at Am e r i can Cleanup // 2010 R eport

“Give Back To Gro”

partner profi le

ScottsMiracle-Gro’s “Give Back To Gro” National Community Edible Gardens

From the West Coast to West Palm Beach, from Bentonville to the Bronx, edible gardens were flourishing during the Great American Cleanup with the help of ScottsMiracle-Gro’s “Give Back To Gro” community garden outreach initiative.

For more than a decade, The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has supported the development of community gardens and green spaces across the United States. ScottsMiracle-Gro, along with its philanthropic partners including Keep America Beautiful, Garden Writers Association, Plant A Row for the Hungry, the National Gardening Association and Columbus, Ohio’s Franklin Park Conservatory launched edible community gardens in seven cities across the country, impressing upon individuals the need to harvest local produce and foster opportunities for youth involvement in green activities. “Community gardens are bringing people and neighborhoods together,” said Su Lok, ScottsMiracle-Gro’s Director, Corporate and Community Partnerships. “ScottsMiracle-Gro is proud to help communities enjoy the benefits of gardening and experience the outdoors.” Gardens were established in Los Angeles; Houston; West Palm Beach, Fla.; Bentonville, Ark.; Atlanta; Bronx, N.Y.; and Charlotte, N.C. to strengthen bonds between community members; to educate individuals about the importance of growing fresh produce; and to provide hunger relief for those in need. A host of volunteers, city officials and ScottsMiracle-Gro employees acknowledged the impact the community plots will have on their neighborhoods at opening dedication ceremonies. The ScottsMiracle-Gro Garden outreach program has enhanced many neighborhoods by teaching children and adults about the benefits of community gardening. Students, in particular,

26

(Left to right) Bill Dawson, Franklin Park Conservatory, and Carl Edwards, NASCAR driver, with young volunteer in Charlotte, N.C.

have enjoyed planting fruit and vegetable gardens that are sustainable in different seasons and climates. This year, in fact, a special emphasis was placed on praising student volunteers with the “Give Back To Gro” Youth Gardener Award, an honor bestowed upon students who have demonstrated a keen environmental awareness in their schools and communities. This year’s sites varied from several school-based environmental education gardens to community gardens that were planted to help low income residents gain access to fresh produce.


Atlanta, GA

Marysville, OH

West Palm Beach, FL

ScottsMiracle-Gro headquarters

Some of the highlights from this year’s community garden program included: los angeles | Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa dedicated the Saturn Street Elementary School Community Garden in conjunction with the national “Give Back To Gro” outreach. The event also served as the kickoff for the City of Los Angeles’ Mayor’s Day of Service. Students and residents from the community were on hand with Mayor Villaraigosa, along with local dignitaries and representatives from the national and local partner groups to participate in the garden dedication and installation. Elena Cash, a 5th grade student at Saturn Elementary School, was presented the first national “Give Back To Gro” Youth Gardener Award because of her leadership role on campus as class president, in the school’s recycling program, and, most importantly, in the garden. The Los Angeles First Presbyterian Church was selected as the point of distribution of Plant A Row harvests for the hungry. “I would like to thank ScottsMiracle-Gro and all of the partner groups for working with the City of Los Angeles to a reclaim an edible, community garden from an asphalt lot,” Mayor Villaraigosa said. “Today, we weren’t just cultivating a garden, we were cultivating the leaders of the future to understand the importance of volunteerism and green space.”

“This creative Give Back To Gro-Arkansas partnership is a well-designed and natural approach of using community gardening to help instill in our youth the timeless assets of know-how, self-sufficiency and philanthropy,” said Robert Phelps, executive director of Keep Arkansas Beautiful. “What a great way to bring hands-on supplemental education to also benefit needs in our community.” | The DeKalb Memorial Park Community Garden brought together residents and students from the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and the Martin Luther King Jr. High School Eco Force Club. DeKalb County CEO Burrell Ellis recognized, “This is a unique and valuable initiative that fosters community service and student awareness, while at the same time contributing to the needs of others.” atlanta

| In the Bronx, community gardeners at the Bronx Botanical Garden were given garden kits, which included gardening products from The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company. Student Jada Nicole Young was honored for her interest in and dedication to teaching others about community gardening. Young also planted seeds at the Padre Plaza Success Garden’s greenhouse, where she was among a number of gardeners who worked to restore a garden and organize a weekly farmers’ market.

new york

west palm beach , fla .

| A new community garden was opened at the Coleman Park Community Center. Mayor Lois Frankel addressed visitors who attended the dedication ceremony, noting, “By bringing both a uniting and practical approach to green space preservation and use, community gardening is the perfect complement to an area already focused on revitalization.” Local residents helped to install vegetable and garden beds, and students had the opportunity to take part in handson educational classes. Produce from the garden is going to a local café and soup kitchen, underscoring one of the guiding principles of the gardens: giving to the hungry.

bentonville , ark . | Over 600 area students spent the day planting fruit and vegetable plants in late April. The dedication of the R.E. Baker Elementary School Community Garden was observed by residents, who enjoyed a host of activities that included learning about butterflies and combating litter.

charlotte , n . c . | Representatives from Keep Mecklenburg Beautiful were present at the dedication ceremony of the Little Sugar Creek Greenway Community Garden where citizens learned of the benefits of community gardening and growing their own produce. NASCAR driver Carl Edwards spoke to attendees, while students learned about gardening in workshops throughout the day.

“Community gardens are bringing people and neighborhoods together.” Su Lo k, ScottsMiracle-Gro’s Director, Corporate and Community Partnerships

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G r e at Am e r i can Cleanup // 2010 R eport

Gardens and Greenspaces Help Communities Flourish Natural beauty goes far beyond appearances; it creates vibrant communities, more robust economies, and even more healthy and happy residents. In 2010, beautification and greening activities included edible community gardens that helped feed the hungry and educate young gardeners. Multitudes of new tree plantings are providing shade, sequestering carbon and cleansing the air and soil. Flower gardens are creating vibrant gateways to downtown shopping and entertainment districts, forming vital places to live, work, shop and play. Beauty is, indeed, a powerful force.

Flowers Bloom in Winston-Salem One of Keep Winston-Salem (N.C.) Beautiful’s best-known Great American Cleanup programs is its major tree planting initiative, Community Roots Day. But for the 10th straight year, Keep Winston-Salem Beautiful (KWSB) also planted more than trees; nearly 740,000 flowers and flower bulbs were planted or distributed by the Keep America Beautiful affiliate. The flower bulbs were donated to KWSB from K. Van Bourgondien & Son’s, Dutch Gardens and Gardener’s Supply, all of which had leftover bulbs (consisting of daffodils, tulips, muscari, crocus, and many others) at the end of their sales season. These bulbs would have otherwise have been sent to the landfill. The bulbs were planted throughout Winston-Salem by community groups that might not have been able to purchase bulbs, such as churches, schools, youth groups, and many others. Bulbs were also distributed to similar groups across North Carolina, including many KAB affiliates. During the past 10 years, approximately 5 million bulbs have been distributed and planted. Keep Winston-Salem Beautiful and the Winston-Salem/ Forsyth County Garden Club Council also coordinate the

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annual flowerbed program. Every spring, thousands of annuals such as vinca, impatiens, marigolds, geraniums, and many others are planted in public areas—along city streets, traffic circles and islands, parks, and more— throughout the city. These groups include garden clubs, neighborhood associations, businesses and families. The groups agree to maintain the beds throughout the summer, while city staff helps water them. The beds are judged based on how well they are designed and maintained and winning beds are presented awards in the fall. This year over 50 beds were planted with over 16,000 annual flowers. The annual Clean & Green school campus program for public schools throughout Winston-Salem and Forsyth County is judged by KWSB. Schools submit applications to KWSB in the spring. During the week of Earth Day the schools are judged on the quality and impact of their beautification projects and environmental education programs. This past year, 46 schools out 65 were recognized as Clean & Green schools with 34 of those schools selected as winners of the Campus Excellence award. The winning schools planted over 10,000 flowers as well as many trees and shrubs.


farmingville, ny

winston-salem, nc

phoenix, az

shelby, nc

Tulip Time in Topeka For 22 years, Jerold Binkley, a local beautification enthusiast, held Tulip Time at his Topeka residence. Thousands of visitors journeyed to Topeka to enjoy his beautiful gardens. Because Binkley’s gardens were such a precious public institution, an effort was made to perpetuate his legendary gardens once he closed them to public viewing. Keep America Beautiful-Topeka/Shawnee County, in partnership with other local organizations, came together to keep the gardens open, now as part of the new Tulip Time Festival. Keep America Beautiful-Topeka/Shawnee County has worked with organizations throughout Topeka to promote Tulip Time and to garner volunteers to plant the tulips. More than 100,000 tulips and daffodils were planted at Lake Shawnee’s Ted Ensley Gardens, Old Prairie Town and Botanical Garden, Doran Rock Garden and Reinisch Rose Garden at Gage Park, and downtown Kansas Avenue. Keep America Beautiful-Topeka/Shawnee County Executive Director Philicia McKee said she hopes “to bring a

topeka, ks

“ We try to offer something to everyone because different people have different things, different passions that they believe in, so we want to make sure that we can reach every single citizen in the community.” PHILICIA MCKEE, Executive Director of Keep America Beautiful-Topeka/Shawnee County

festival feeling to all of Topeka by encouraging everyone to contribute by sprucing up their exteriors.” Topeka and Shawnee County reaped almost $6 million in volunteer labor last year, according to McKee. This year, the number is projected to be more than $8 million. There were a variety of events that took place during the Great American Cleanup, other than Tulip Time, which included the first round of Project Takeover Makeover, in which 19 Neighborhood Improvement Associations cleaned up their respective areas. In addition, more than 1,500 volunteers from local churches cleaned up nine city parks in April.

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2 0 1 0 GAC F AC T

G r e at Am e r i can Cleanup // 2010 R eport

160,000

trees planted

“We try to offer something to everyone because different people have different things, different passions that they believe in, so we want to make sure that we can reach every single citizen in the community,” McKee said.

Community Gardens Provide Many Benefits More and more Keep America Beautiful affiliates are creating and cultivating sustainable gardens. In fact, more than 5,600 gardens, xeriscapes and green spaces were created or improved during the 2010 Great American Cleanup as well as 1,100 edible community gardens.

The Community Nourishment Garden in Knoxville, Tenn.’s Tyson Park was established in the spring of 2010 by AmeriCorps volunteers and the City of Knoxville, with support from Keep Knoxville Beautiful. This exciting project encompasses the ideals of Community, Education, Productivity, Sustainability and Beauty by installing and maintaining a charitable garden of fruit trees, berries, and vegetables to directly benefit refugees at Bridge Refugee Settlement Services and the community as a whole. The accessible location and undemanding design will be productive at different times of year and rely on volunteer commitment. The design plan includes repurposed building materials, a water catchment to collect rainwater, composting, and a rain garden to improve the water quality of Third Creek by filtering storm water.

Urban Forestry Initiatives Underscore Beautification Efforts More than 160,000 trees are planted nationally during the Great American Cleanup, including an incredible number of urban forestry projects and initiatives. Last year in Rio Rancho, N.M., experts educated residents about erosion control, composting, native plants and water harvesting. Over 800 tree seedlings with proper planting instructions were provided as a gift for attending the lecture.

chicago, IL

On May 1, for example, the Solo Sustainability Action Network (SSAN) volunteered on behalf of Keep Chicago Beautiful to help prepare and plant a community garden at Chase Park in Chicago’s Ravenswood community. The Solo Sustainability Action Network is composed of Great American Cleanup National Sponsor Solo Cup Company employees who voluntarily participate in implementing environmental sustainability programs. In all, 28 volunteers took part in the project, which included six SSAN volunteers from the Lake Forest corporate headquarters; Jane Schenck of the Chicago Park District and Joyce Kagan Charmatz, executive director of Keep Chicago Beautiful ; and 20 volunteers from the Ravenswood community. The volunteers aided the Chicago Park District by weeding, planting and spreading mulch in and around the community garden planting beds.

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This year, Keep Rio Rancho Beautiful (KRRB) held the Bosque Pole Planting event where Parks & Recreation Director Jay Hart, and dozens of volunteers, weathered a blizzard to plant nearly 120 trees. This was a part of a local native tree restoration program, and is part of an effort to develop more metropolitan woodlands. Each spring, KRRB also conducts a Clean/Green Campus Contest. More than 3,700 students participated this year. Trees were delivered to the winning schools where the students were taught how to properly plant them. Memphis City Beautiful celebrated 80 years of making Memphis a cleaner and more attractive place to live with the kickoff of its Green City Fund during the Great American Cleanup.


GLen cove, ny

Ceremonies launching the first community enhancement project by Memphis City Beautiful’s new Green City Fund took place on April 1. A copse of 18 trees, including maple and oak varieties, were installed in a high impact public greenway. Memphis City Beautiful chose to plant the trees at this site as its high visibility will allow enjoyment to be shared by great numbers of citizens. Representatives of several fraternities of the University of Memphis volunteered to work with the City of Memphis Park Services department to dig holes and plant trees. They volunteered as part of the University of Memphis’ Greek Week. After the beautification work was completed, the students moved on to join other volunteers from the University District’s Highland Street Beautification Effort to conduct a major neighborhood cleanup. Green City Fund was designed to encourage public participation in the beautification of Memphis. Contributions can be made to mark memorials, birthdays and other significant events or to purchase trees and other plants to enhance parks and public places.

10 MILLION

Did You Know? A typical community forest of 10,000 trees will retain 10 million gallons of rainwater per year.

Indianapolis, IN

Pride Grows in Columbus Neighborhood Plant Pride in Parsons was a unique first-time event, which focused on revitalizing a main business corridor surrounded by 12 neighborhoods in Columbus, Ohio. Keep Columbus Beautiful partnered with the Parsons Avenue Merchants Association and Nationwide Children’s Hospital, among other businesses, community leaders and volunteers to clean up and beautify the 2.5-mile corridor. The Heart of Ohio Tole painters hand-painted 28 decorative flower pots, and South Side elementary and high school students painted an additional three pots that were placed along the business corridor. The event started with a large scale cleanup with over 250 volunteers on 12 teams cleaning up the cross streets and Parsons Avenue. While they were cleaning, Architectural Gardens Inc., with a team of volunteers, filled and planted flowers in the pots. And a team of 12 high school and middle school students, under adult supervision, painted out graffiti tags on one of the buildings. Volunteers also collected nearly 7,000 pounds of trash. Keep Columbus Beautiful conducted more than 270 different events in 30 neighborhoods involving more than 7,700 volunteers during the Great American Cleanup. Keep Columbus Beautiful also sponsored Mayor Michael Coleman’s annual cleanup day, which involved nearly 350 volunteers who focused on cleaning up 29 highway/ freeway ramps in the Columbus area and collecting 6.65 tons of litter.

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G r e at Am e r i can Cleanup // 2010 R eport

“Extreme” Makeovers Beautify Neighborhoods During the 2010 Great American Cleanup, there were 3,000 residential and commercial buildings that were renovated or restored, a 40 percent increase over the 2009 results. Some of the renovations were modest and some were “extreme,” such as the “Extreme Martin Makeover” in Palm City, Fla. Keep Martin Beautiful joined forces with the City of Stuart and local neighborhood groups Habitat Angel, East Stuart Main Street and the City of Stuart to renovate 16 homes in Martin County. Hooks Construction donated the time and manpower to prepare the homes that were in need of structural repairs prior to the renovation day.

“ Having a community come together and work this closely for a common goal truly gives residents a sense of pride in their neighborhood.” ro b r a n i e r i , Logistics Coordinator of Keep Martin (Fla.) Beautiful

A total of 428 volunteers participated in picking up litter, planting trees and painting exterior walls of the houses. During the cleanup, the Martin County Hazmobile was available for disposal of any household hazardous materials. More than 1,200 pounds of household hazardous waste were collected.

palm city, fl

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This was a record-breaking year for Keep Martin Beautiful, which had the largest amount of waste ever collected as part of a cleanup project in the county—more than 15 tons of bulky material and 10 tons of vegetation and yard waste. “These kinds of cleanups have an impact beyond just having attractive landscaping,” KMB Logistics Coordinator Rob Ranieri said. “Having a community come together and work this closely toward a common goal truly gives residents a sense of pride in their neighborhood.” Throughout the GAC, KMB had a total of 1,323 volunteers who spent 4,883 hours in local parks, neighborhoods, beaches, and roadways collecting a record-breaking 93,332 pounds of litter and marine debris, planting flowers and trees and removing exotic vegetation. In another major makeover, Keep Charlotte (N.C.) Beautiful (KCB) provided a neighborhood beautification grant to the Wilmore neighborhood, which is about a five-minute drive from the Carolina Panthers’ stadium and downtown Charlotte. The Wilmore neighborhood has been making an effort to revive some of its more dilapidated homes in the past few years. In addition, KCB was asked to improve the gateway to the neighborhood because it had become severely overgrown with weeds. Keep Charlotte Beautiful joined forces with neighborhood volunteers to remove the overgrowth and re-landscape this gateway. Six truckloads of mulch, 70 shrubs and many trees later, the Wilmore neighborhood had a brand new, welcoming neighborhood gateway.

charlotte, nc


charleston, sc

TAMPA, FL

Total number of graffiti sites removed or abated Per Year 2004 2005

2010

131,000

2004 2005

16,000

111,000 134,000

2006

18,600

2007

11,000 37,000

2008 2009

Total number of trees planted Per Year

6,040

2006 2007

WEST MONROE, LA

Indianapolis, IN

15,600 10,600

Yet another “mini-makeover” took place in Buffalo as a 40-person volunteer team of Minnesota Avenue Block Club members, Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity brothers, and University at Buffalo “Getting Dirty” students kicked off Buffalo’s annual spring cleaning blitz on an unexpectedly summerlike day in April. Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown and Councilwoman Bonnie Russell joined the effort. Volunteers picked up litter and began renovations on weedy, overgrown median strip gardens. Minnesota Avenue is in a north Buffalo neighborhood, graced by wide streets and stately homes, at the edge of the University of Buffalo campus. Eye-catching gardens on the median strip that divides Minnesota Avenue were once a source of community pride. Designed by a Minnesota Avenue resident, these distinctive shrub and flower gardens were maintained by the Minnesota Avenue Block Club for many years. Unfortunately, as longtime homeowners were replaced by absentee landlords, the gardens deteriorated and the block club languished. This spring, new and reenergized homeowners and committed renters decided to tackle the dilapidated median strip as one of Buffalo’s Great American Cleanup activities. With support from Keep Western New York Beautiful and the University at Buffalo Student Association, the block club began their effort to create a river of summer color down the middle of Minnesota Avenue. Their efforts brought both beauty and a renewed sense of community to a struggling neighborhood.

2008

121,000 107,000

2009 2010

157,000 160,000

Junior Girls Day Out Paints Mural Graffiti abatement and removal is one of the most needed and potentially creative Great American Cleanup activities. In 2010, 10,600 graffiti-riddled sites were painted over or abated. The Junior Girls Day Out personal development initiative partnered with Keep Charleston (S.C.) Beautiful (KCB), and helped create a mural as part of its Clean Cities Sweep project. During the Great American Cleanup, KCB’s intern Josh McFadden was investigating community murals within Charleston. The organizations decided to join together and renovate a city park that is used for recess and physical education at Mitchell Elementary School. Originally, the girls were planning on planting flowers, but when they learned that past attempts to plant flowers didn’t succeed, they decided to illustrate flowers instead. After sketching the artwork, with McFadden’s help, they came up with a design for the mural, accurately titled “In Full Bloom.” It took several months for KCB and the group to get a permit and turn this idea into reality. Thirteen women from the Junior Girls Day Out group and Charleston Community artist Teresa Drusin spent a day turning an old building into a colorful and vibrant recreation center.

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G r e at Am e r i can Cleanup // 2010 R eport

o.b. mighty.small. challenge ®

partner pro fil e

College Students Challenged to Make Impact in their Communities

The o.b.® mighty. small.™ challenge encouraged small teams (two to five volunteers) from college-based organizations to make a mighty impact on the environment. The winning volunteer team helped their local Keep America Beautiful affiliate receive a $5,800 donation as well as an additional $5,800 donation to the charity or organization of the team’s choice.

Armed with trash bags and ready to recycle, Marla Metzger and four of her classmates from the Iowa Western Community College (IWCC) women’s basketball team rolled up their sleeves and spent a day cleaning up their community as part of the o.b.® mighty. small.™ challenge this past spring. First-year National Sponsor o.b.® tampons decided to present a challenge to college-aged students across the country—the o.b.® mighty. small.™ challenge—during the Great American Cleanup. The challenge rewarded a small team of students

Northwestern Oklahoma State University

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that made the mightiest impact by cleaning up litter, creating gardens, recycling, and more. After a summer of judging, the top five teams in the nation were chosen as finalists. This year, Metzger and her team of athlete/students—with participants who ranged from a 5-foot-5 playmaking guard to a 6-foot-3 post player—was recognized as the “small” team that made the mightiest impact by tallying the most online votes.

Fashion Institute of Technology

Community College of Baltimore CountY


Iowa Western Community College

WINNING TEAM

o.b.® tampons rewarded $5,800 to the Lady Reivers and $5,800 to the local KAB affiliate, Keep Council Bluffs (Iowa) Beautiful. “I am so excited that we won,” said Coach Lindsey Vande Hoef. “Our team worked really hard to get out the vote. I kept saying that we had to believe we would win and we did.” The Lady Reivers focused on cleaning a city lot they said looked like a “post-New Year’s bash in Times Square” because last year’s record snow melt covered up the litter. The team managed to collect 1,540 pounds of litter during their cleanup effort on the 656-square-foot lot in Council Bluffs during it’s day of service. Another finalist, students from the Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC) rolled up their sleeves and spent a day cleaning up their community as part of the challenge. Jessica Benedict and three of her classmates collected 60 pounds of litter over five acres of the school’s campus. The CCBC team geo-mapped the exact location of the trash and recyclables they collected to help support a proposal for strategically placed recycling bins throughout campus. Jennifer Smith and three of her classmates from Ohio Northern University (ONU) collected 50 pounds of litter at the Ada War Memorial Park. The ONU Recycles team also strategically placed three temporary recycling bins at a local high school track meet to encourage recycling of the plastic water bottles used at athletic events.

Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) had a team of four students that picked up 60 pounds of litter, 375 pounds of newspapers and 150 pounds of recyclable metal at one of New York City’s community gardens. They also painted fences, collected 28 pounds of plastic bottles for recycling, and planted more than 20 trees. Working with the organization Grow NYC, the team was able to plant a variety of vegetables, which were made available to New Yorkers who cannot normally afford fresh produce. Northwestern Oklahoma State University organized a oneday, 350-person service project for their school called the BIG EVENT. This included raking leaves, picking up garbage, and collecting aluminum to recycle at a local middle school. During part of their cleanup, 400 pounds of litter and 160 pounds of recyclable metal were collected, and 2,500 square feet of green space was made more beautiful. “We believe that small things can make mighty differences,” said Elizabeth Jackson from the o.b.® Brand. “We’re so excited to see the mighty difference the o.b.® mighty. small.™ challenge teams have made for the environment.”

The Lady Reivers collected 1,540 pounds of litter during their cleanup effort.

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G r e at Am e r i can Cleanup // 2010 R eport

Educational Programs and Volunteering Energize Communities Volunteerism is at the heart of the American spirit. In 2010, nearly 4 million volunteers and participants joined the Great American Cleanup, investing their time and passion in their communities. United in a common cause, people of all ages dedicated 5.7 million hours to efforts that improved their local surroundings and taught valuable lessons about the merit of taking responsibility for one’s community environment.

State Affiliates Achieve 100 Percent County Participation One of the goals of many Keep America Beautiful state affiliate organizations is to achieve 100 percent participation from county to county throughout their respective states. In 2010, three KAB state affiliates—Keep Tennessee Beautiful (KTnB), Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful and Keep Oklahoma Beautiful— were able to reach this remarkable goal. In fact, KTnB achieved 100 percent county participation from all of its 95 counties for the fourth straight year. In Tennessee, a total of 147,806 volunteers from 735 communities spent 356,204 hours collecting 8.5 million pounds of litter during GAC 2010. Tennessee also took time to teach, as 1,124 educational workshops were held, attended by 9,846 adults and 47,379 students. The Volunteer State also featured 323 litter free/general awareness events, attracting 559,862 people. Major flooding that took place in Tennessee in early May presented a major hurdle for GAC coordinators in the state. The weather forced many counties to cancel cleanups and other GAC events scheduled for the same weekend. Despite the setback, the coordinators still accomplished their goals.

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NASHVILLE, TN

Nashville was one of the places hit hardest by the storm. Vickie Ingram, project coordinator for Metro Beautification and Environment Commission, said, “Our GAC, for the month of May, turned into a flood debris removal effort for the City of Nashville. Resources recovered from our flooded warehouse, with those additional supplies offered by Keep America Beautiful and Keep Tennessee Beautiful, were shared throughout the city.” Metro Beautification and Environment Commission Executive Director Veronica Frazier said, “The volunteer efforts, and particularly our program which utilizes community service workers, greatly assisted the Metro Public Works crews in flood debris removal. This effort helped Nashville residents start getting their lives back in order.”


NASHVILLE, TN

Frazier added that the response was immediate “on all levels.” The mayor’s office, organizations, the business community, city officials, and individuals all rallied together under a new slogan, “We are Nashville.” The Metro Beautification and Environment Commission worked with 39 groups to help the city recover, not including individuals who have “stopped by for a small amount of gloves or bags to help remove debris from their homes.” Nashville’s Metro Beautification and Environment Commission still reported that 24,845 volunteers worked 95,406 hours during the Great American Cleanup, collecting a total of 762,805 pounds of litter. Director of Metro Public Works Billy Lynch said, “Metro Public Works crews, along with contracted vendors, removed over 111,000 tons of flood debris in less than 30 days.”

“ The volunteer efforts, and particularly our program which utilizes community service workers, greatly assisted the Metro Public Works crews in flood debris removal.” Veronica Frazier, Metro Beautification and Environment Commission Executive Director

NASHVILLE, TN

Trousdale, about 55 miles east of Nashville, was also affected by the flooding. Trousdale County Highway Department Administration Assistant Peggy Taylor helped this year with her county’s GAC efforts. Taylor said that Trousdale was not hit as hard as other counties, but that it still took about two weeks to clean up the debris from the flood. Trousdale reported 70 volunteers, giving 700 hours, collected 425,000 pounds of litter. This included 150 miles of roadside litter.

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G r e at Am e r i can Cleanup // 2010 R eport

NASHVILLE, TN

Great American Cleanup of Pennsylvania All 67 counties in Pennsylvania were represented in the Great American Cleanup of PA in 2010. More than 186,000 volunteers cleaned nearly 20,000 miles of roads, trails and shorelines in Pennsylvania, all the while collecting 603,537 bags, or more than 12 million pounds of trash. Additionally, volunteers planted more than 21,000 trees, bulbs, and plants in an effort to keep Pennsylvania beautiful.

Nashville Mayor Karl Dean with volunteers.

Hendersonville GAC Coordinator Allison Muncy said Hendersonville experienced historic flooding like Nashville. Muncy said, “Many neighborhoods were damaged or completely destroyed in Hendersonville … In addition to the damage, there was trash and debris everywhere. It seemed as though all of the trash, tires, fencing, picnic tables and wood debris ended up in our parks or along the lakeshore or other waterways. Even the recycling bins that had been placed throughout our parks to encourage people to recycle were being pulled out of the lake and nearby creek.”

“ We even had volunteers from outside of Tennessee travel to our event to help make a difference. It was truly amazing.” A l l i so n Mu n cy, Hendersonville GAC Coordinator

The flood caused Muncy to change Hendersonville’s GAC plans, which resulted in over 1,000 volunteers “pitching in and cleaning up the parks that they play in.” “We even had volunteers from outside of Tennessee travel to our event to help make a difference. It was truly amazing to drive through the parks and see hundreds of volunteers working toward the same goal—making our parks useable again,” Muncy said. KTnB State Leader Sutton Mora Hayes said, “We are so proud that Tennessee achieved 100 percent participation from all of our counties for the fourth year in a row; a feat no other state has accomplished. Next year, we look forward to extending this streak, increasing the total number of volunteers, and continuing to be the standard bearer for other states to emulate during the Great American Cleanup.”

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Over the past three years, the Great American Cleanup of Pennsylvania has yielded more than 29.5 million pounds of collected trash, involved 533,627 volunteers and resulted in 54,940 miles of roadways cleaned. As part of those efforts, 284,838 Adopt-A-Highway volunteers collected more than 10.9 million pounds of litter on 32,678 miles of highway in that same period. Since the inception of this event in 2004, over 54 million pounds of litter and waste have been removed from Pennsylvania’s landscape, and tens of thousands of trees, bulbs, and flowers have been planted.

Great American Cleanup Unifies Neighborhood Groups One of the trademarks of any successful Great American Cleanup is how many different volunteer community groups often come together to work on solving issues of common interest. Keep Greater Milwaukee Beautiful (KGMB) teamed up with Safe & Sound Community Partners, a local crime-prevention organization, and brought together unique groups of people from block clubs, law enforcement, and businesses, as well as community- and faith-based organization to organize the first-ever Basura Bash back in 2008. This year it was bigger and better than ever serving over 200 locations across the south side of Milwaukee.

100%

Did You Know? In 2010, three KAB state affiliates— Keep Tennessee Beautiful, Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful and Keep Oklahoma Beautiful—were able to reach 100 percent participation from county to county throughout their respective states.


This distinctive “trash bash” is a community-wide effort in which volunteers remove signs of “crime and grime” from Milwaukee’s Southside. This part of the city is a predominately Spanish speaking neighborhood, which historically didn’t generate as much participation during the Great American Cleanup beautification season as other areas of Greater Milwaukee.

College Students Engage in GAC Community Service

Milwaukee, WI

“Our purpose is to address crime reduction through efforts to reduce blight in our neighborhoods,” said Barbara Notestein, the executive director of Safe & Sound. The annual cleanup incorporates graffiti and litter removal, while also introducing environmental beautification and safety strategies, alley identification, flower planting projects, and garage labeling. Joe Wilson, KGMB executive director, credits the KGMB partners for their creative effort to get the community excited about fighting grime and crime while having fun. Wilson noted, “The Basura Bash culminates the Great American Cleanup season with local music, fun activities for children, and food. What a terrific way to celebrate the volunteer spirit and thank the volunteers for their hard work.” The concept of the Basura Bash was presented by Keep San Antonio Beautiful at Keep America Beautiful’s 2007 National Conference. “We liked the idea so much that we adapted it to coincide with the end of our Great American Cleanup season,” Wilson said.

While it was spring break for many college students throughout the country, Keep the Midlands Beautiful of Columbia, S.C., hosted a group of 14 Northwestern University students from Evanston, Ill., for a series of cleanup and beautification projects in Columbia and surrounding areas. The Northwestern students chose Keep the Midlands Beautiful as the organization to host their Alternative Student Break program from March 22 through March 25, during the Great American Cleanup. Alternative Student Break is a service organization run by students whose goal is to “involve, educate and heighten social awareness,” while encouraging lifelong social action among students. This organization is one of many collegebased, community service organizations that participate in the Great American Cleanup during their spring break. The students’ activities included cleaning an illegal dump site, working at Congaree National Park, conducting a beautification project at Saluda Shoals Park, and storm drain stenciling. The volunteer group also spent five hours cleaning up litter and illegally dumped trash behind a Winn Dixie property, removing more than 100 tires and 80 large bags of trash from the site.

Columbia, SC

In Louisville, Ky., Brightside attracted its largest volunteer contingent ever with 7,755 volunteers from the Louisville area. This type of turnout requires significant advance planning and an opportunity for team-building. More than 400 groups register in advance for bags, gloves and t-shirts, and collect their materials two weeks in advance at Brightside’s Supply Pickup areas. The Supply Pickup program is a great community building activity, according to Mary Byrne, Brightside’s volunteer coordinator. Teams submit their requests for the supplies and another group of volunteers comes together to package the supplies. The volunteer leaders have an opportunity to meet Mayor Jerry Abramson, who founded Brightside, hear from local sponsors including UPS, and receive a sapling as a “thank you” for their hard work.

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G r e at Am e r i can Cleanup // 2010 R eport

Alva, Ok

Lancaster, Pa

“They approached us, which means the work of Keep the Midlands Beautiful is making an impact on a large scale,” said Keep the Midlands Beautiful Executive Director Heidi Johnson. “We want to learn about the issue, and reflect on what we’re doing and the impact that we’re having,” Todd Siegel a Northwestern economics student told WLTX-TV in Columbia. “We’re seeing everything … We found some computers. We found a tricycle; that was my favorite.” Many other collegiate groups participate in the Great American Cleanup, from members of the Phi Theta Kappa twoyear college international honor society to college students who connect with affiliates in their college town. For the past seven years, the Franklin & Marshall University Athletic Department and SAAC (Student Athletic Advisory Committee) have sponsored the “TeamWork” initiative in Lancaster, Pa. More than 500 students collaborate annually with Keep Lancaster County Beautiful and the James Street Improvement District to take on cleanup and improvement projects in the community. In 2010, TeamWorks VII participants collected 4,760 pounds of litter along three miles of Lancaster’s streets. They also raked leaves and yard debris, trimmed bushes, planted flowers at 26 neighborhood properties, and painted at five properties.

40

This program was launched in 2003 to honor John Fry’s inauguration as President of F&M. The annual community service event draws volunteers from campus which includes athletic teams, Greeks, Houses and Clubs. In conjunction with Keep Oklahoma Beautiful’s Great American Cleanup, nearly 400 volunteers from Northwestern Oklahoma State University participated in “The Big Event,” a one-day cleanup in Alva, Okla., which is led by student members of Conserving Our Ranger Environment (CORE). During this “one day, one big thanks” community service project, Northwestern students and employees say “thanks” to Northwestern communities for their support. Northwestern students, faculty and staff from all three university locations take an active role in “The Big Event.” Alva volunteers assisted with landscaping, painting, raking leaves, planting trees and other activities to help say thank you to Alva. Enid volunteers spent time at the Faith Farm preparing a garden for spring planting. Woodward volunteers cleaned up around Experiment Lake.


Clean Campuses, Education Focus for Students The importance of educating young people about the environment is undeniable; this is why Keep Riverside Clean & Beautiful (KRCB) holds a friendly “Clean Campus Competition” during the entire month of April.

2 0 1 0 G AC FAC T

The city of Riverside, Calif. invites all schools to partake in this contest each year. In 2010 there were 19 schools that competed and led their own projects. Each school separated into three teams: The “Clean Team”—responsible for litter pick-up and prevention along with graffiti eradication; the “Green Team”—implements or improves the school’s recycling program; and the “Campus Beautification Team”— which works primarily to beautify multiple areas of campus.

5.7 million volunteer hours

When the last day of April arrives, each of the participating schools turns in its final report to the KRCB office where they are evaluated. During the first week in May, the KRCB Advisory Board teams up and visits assigned schools for the actual judging that takes place on the school’s campus. After that, the school’s scores are reviewed along with their report and winners are determined in each category. Keep Riverside Clean & Beautiful recognizes all the schools but chooses only one winner from Elementary, Middle, High School and Private Schools. The 2010 champion was Alvord High School. Other first place winners were: Arlington High School, Arizona Middle School and McAuliffe Elementary School. This rewarding program enhances environmental education as well as developing strong leadership and pride in community, the Clean Campus Competition creates a foundation for students to learn about the future of green standards.

kenton, oh

The Hampton (Va.) Clean City Commission combined a popular Great American Cleanup program—the wildly successful “100 Cleanups of May” Campaign—with a strong environmental education effort. May was Litter Awareness Month for the Hampton Clean City Commission (HCCC), and volunteers raised litter awareness by cleaning up 111 times throughout the month. In addition, HCCC celebrated the month with two displays, three workshops, and 34 classroom presentations. Kendyl Crawford (below, right), a Hampton University Junior serving as Environmental Education Intern, led HCCC’s education effort. Out of a total of 34 presentations, Kendyl conducted 29 of them. All told, approximately 680 students participated in HCCC classroom programs. The following schools invited HCCC into their classrooms: Asbury Elementary School, Forrest Elementary School, Langley Elementary School, Moton Early Childhood Development Center, Smith Elementary School and Tucker-Capps Elementary School. Adults weren’t left out of the activities. Cary Elementary School staff members were given a brief presentation about its recycling program and the resources HCCC could offer them as well. Keep Athens-Limestone Beautiful (KALB) in Athens, Ala., featured a teachers’ workshop titled “Recycled Teachers Teaching Recycling,” with three retired teachers involved with KALB who put together a presentation for teachers about how to develop good recycling programs for their schools. The local Cultural Society’s youth “Actors in Action” program presented a one-hour play to two elementary schools about the environment and recycling for Keep Centralia (Ill.) Beautiful. And Keep Carbondale (Ill.) Beautiful conducted its “Read for the Environment” program, in which volunteers read children’s books with environmental messages, to 20 classes at the Thomas and Giant City schools. Students then engage in discussions about litter prevention and how they can change their behavior to become better environmental stewards.

Riverside, Ca

Riverside, Ca

hampton, va

41


G r e at Am e r i can Cleanup // 2010 R eport

Austin Students Learn About Environmental Stewardship Clean Sweep is Keep Austin Beautiful’s annual citywide cleanup that takes place during the Great American Cleanup. Nearly 4,400 volunteers pre-registered to participate in 129 cleanup locations (in 30 different zip codes) throughout Austin. While 30 tons of trash were picked up, one of the most impressive aspects of Clean Sweep is the remarkable post-cleanup Volunteer Party and Environmental Fair. The Volunteer Party featured live music, over $1,300 worth of door prizes, a unique object contest, exhibits by local nonprofits, businesses and agencies, and the Environment Fair with hands-on educational programs for children. The 15 hands-on education stations allowed kids to do everything from dig in to compost and hold red wiggler worms to build “robots” out of Altoid tins, as well as other odds and ends. Many of the educational activities were pulled from the Patch Pals Activity Kits program, which Keep Austin Beautiful offers to scout troop leaders, afterschool instructors and educators. These activity kids come with lesson plans a supplies needed for hands-on activities.

School-wide events accounted for a significant portion of the increase in volunteers this year. Student cleanup groups ranged from the kindergarten classes of Academy Street Elementary School in Bayport to the seniors at Central Islip High School. Southwest Elementary School in Bay Shore was one of several groups that added an educational component, with students filling out Litter Tally Sheets to catalog items collected.

“ It’s always impressive to see the improvement in Islip after these cleanups, all thanks to our volunteers... People really do care about their community here.” Nancy Coc hran, executive director of Keep Islip Clean

Hundreds of other volunteers from community groups, workplace teams, church congregations and environmental clubs all pitched in to keep the local environment clean and green. Cochran remarked, “I’ve read that fewer people volunteer these days but that’s clearly not true in Islip. People really do care about their community here.”

From Elementary to High School, Students Participate in Great Numbers For 21 consecutive years, volunteers working through the Keep Islip (N.Y.) Clean program gather in groups large and small to clean up litter, plant flowers, remove graffiti and generally improve the beauty of their neighborhoods as part of the Great American Cleanup, which takes place in Islip during the weeks surrounding Earth Day. A record number of participants signed up this year, with over 2,500 volunteers working in approximately 100 events across Islip Township. The volunteers filled more than 1,300 bags of litter and also removed other large debris. “It’s always impressive to see the improvement in Islip after these cleanups, all thanks to our volunteers,” said Nancy Cochran, executive director of Keep Islip Clean. The two largest events—the Brook Street Cleanup in Islip and Earth Day Every Day in Brentwood—have been conducted every year since they were established over two decades ago. The two events combined boasted more than 130 volunteers who removed over 150 bags of litter as well as couches, chairs, fencing and shopping carts.

42

Islip, NY

Total number of educational workshops Per Year 2007 2008

6,500 8,500 9,400

2009 2010

7,800


Bakersfield, CA

Evansville, IN

Green Events Raise Awareness During the Great American Cleanup there were 7,400 general awareness events with 5.5 million attendees. Among those many events, “green” events, whether they are litter-free or zero waste, are becoming increasingly popular as a effective way to generate broader awareness about Keep America Beautiful’s community improvement initiatives. After Keep Bakersfield (Calif.) Beautiful’s cleanup activities on its massive Great American Cleanup day, volunteers were invited to a litter-free, volunteer appreciation event with lunch and live music at Yokuts Park, which was also the location of the new Bakersfield Green Expo. This followed a pep rally, featuring Bakersfield Mayor Harvey Hall, where the record-setting 8,000 volunteers were encouraged to hit the streets to clean up and beautify their community. The Green Expo included 50 vendors displaying information about recycling and energy conservation as well as a student “trash art” competition and science project displays. A new high school scholarship program was launched as well.

Outdoor Classrooms Beautify School Environments Van Wert Elementary School in Rockmart, Ga., was recently constructed and in need of something most kids have every day at school. Kristi Hunt, a teacher at Van Wert had a vision—a place where students could go outside to learn as they had before at their old school. There was a beautiful new building in the middle of a cow pasture with no shade and no outdoor learning environment for the children. With fundraising and volunteer recruitment assistance from Keep Polk Beautiful (KPB), this elementary school was able to complete the task of recreating their old outdoor environment. The first step in the process was having 5th grade students at Van Wert collect information from all grades as to what they’d like to have in the Outdoor Classroom. Then KPB introduced them to landscape designer, Bill Byrne, who donated his services to work with the students to design the area based on students desires and what would work best in that area.

This volunteer appreciation picnic also served as a recycling/composting activity and education campaign. The City of Bakersfield and KBB also unveiled its “green” Event Recycling Kits during the Great American Cleanup. Other highlights included graffiti paint-outs and the Highway 99 Tree Project, where KBB volunteers planted more than 500 trees. Another example of a Great American Cleanup “green” event is Keep Evansville (Ind.) Beautiful’s waste-free “Evening on the River” social/ fundraiser, which is produces with the Evansville Parks Foundation. Overlooking the Ohio River, Keep Evansville Beautiful transforms Riverside Drive into a “moveable feast,” featuring stage and street performances, entertainment by local bands, and an array of food and drink from local venues. This waste-free event, where everything from wine bottles, beer cans and cups, and cardboard is recycled, drew nearly 1,500 patrons and raised tens of thousands of dollars to help keep Evansville beautiful.

With the direction of this wonderful teacher, KPB and the entire community took a totally empty area and turned their vision into a reality. Even the small children used mini plastic shovels and rakes to help dig in the dirt, and plant azaleas and hostas. KPB also partnered with Rolling Hills RC&D, who along with the Georgia Forestry Commission planted numerous ball and burlap trees for extra shade. This new area is now used for outdoor learning of all types!

Rockmart, Ga

43


G r e at Am e r i can Cleanup // 2010 R eport

Corporate Volunteerism Leads to Community Impact

pa rtne r p ro file

Dow Chemical Employees Plant Seeds of Sustainability

Dr. Martin Luther King once said, “Everyone can be great, because anybody can serve.” When everyone rolls up their sleeves and takes action in our communities, we build bonds with our neighbors. Volunteers are truly the lifeblood of the Great American Cleanup, and corporate volunteerism is one of the best manifestations of Keep America Beautiful’s guiding principle of public-private-civic partnerships. This year’s Great American Cleanup provided another stellar example of how we can build these important connections around a common purpose.

For the third consecutive year, The Dow Chemical Company supported the Great American Cleanup by marshalling its employees from 26 company locations around the nation in community cleanups and service projects including “trash bashes,” hazardous material collections, river, beach and bayou cleanups, tree and flower planting, invasive plant removal and recycling programs nationwide. Grants to local Keep America Beautiful affiliates and like-minded organizations further supported Dow’s commitment to KAB in building connections between employees and the communities where the company operates.

Dow helped KWBRB become a familiar name in West Baton Rouge Parish.” Dow employees were among the more than 250 volunteers helping the Great American Cleanup participating organization in St. Charles Parish, La., filling up nearly 230 Glad® ForceFlex® trash bags that ultimately weighed 9,160 pounds. The local Sheriff’s office cleanup crew worked for 10 days, cleaning 24 miles of roads and filling up trash bags weighing an additional 4.8 tons.

One of the first events that Dow volunteers participated in was in Baton Rouge, La. Dow teamed up with Keep West Baton Rouge Beautiful (KWBRB) and Keep Louisiana Beautiful to host a household hazardous materials collection day. Dow also hosted several “trash bash” cleanup activities in Louisiana involving local KAB affiliates and community organizations. The hazardous waste collection event resulted in 13,421 pounds of hazardous materials and 12,984 pounds of electronics being recovered. “I can’t thank Dow enough for giving our community the support to be able to have the Parish’s first-ever household hazardous waste day,” said Mary Delapasse, executive director of KWBRB. “Through its sponsorship of the event,

44

Edina, MN


Indianapolis, IN

Indianapolis, IN

Despite heavy rains and a thunderstorm that officially cancelled events, a few die hard volunteers still went forward with Keep Iberville (La.) Beautiful’s Great American Cleanup day. At Dow Chemical Company’s headquarters in Midland, Mich., its volunteers partnered with the Midland Area Chamber of Commerce on an annual community beautification project, Midland Blooms. Volunteers planted 52,000 flowers along a major roadway in Midland County. Dow also teamed up with Keep Saginaw (Mich.) Beautiful on its annual city cleanup project. Employees cleaned up Hoyt Park as well as local softball/baseball fields. They removed sod from an old memorial, put down mulch for future perennial gardens, and planted rose bushes and perennials around the Hoyt Park entrance sign. Jeff Martin and the Dow team have been ongoing supporters of Keep Saginaw Beautiful and have participated in a multitude of cleanup projects. In Auburn Hills, Mich., Dow Automotive Systems hosted its annual “Keep it Clean” roadside cleanup. Dow’s Texas Operations supported Keep Texas Beautiful through numerous community cleanup activities as part of the “Don’t Mess with Texas Trash-Off.” This was the largest one-day cleanup event in the state. Dow partnered with Keep Angleton Beautiful, Keep Brazoria County Beautiful, Keep Clute Beautiful, Keep Lake Jackson Beautiful, and Keep Oyster Creek Beautiful for citywide cleanups and electronic waste collections. A variety of additional volunteer activities took place in Texas. Keep Dickinson Beautiful members distributed aluminum can/plastic bottle recycle centers to public and private schools in the Dickinson community. Dickinson Mayor Julie Masters participated in distributing recycling bins to 11 schools to initiate or enhance campus recycling programs. More than 50 Dow Seadrift Operations employees brought their energy, enthusiasm and skills to repaint the exterior of a 60-year-old home for Keep Victoria (Texas) Beautiful. The homeowner, who is in her 80s, was moved to tears as volunteers not only painted but made minor exterior repairs, purchased planters and did light landscaping.

Edina, MN

Edina, MN

Laura Ambrose, Dow’s Responsible Care Leader, presented a check in support of three beautification project sites at the Keep Houston Beautiful national kickoff event: Wiess Park, Pro-Vision School urban farm and the Denver Harbor esplanade refurbishment. (See story on page 4.) With 407 volunteers at the three sites, 2,485 individual plants and 682 trees were planted. This included an orchard at Pro-Vision, a butterfly garden at Wiess Park, and a refurbished entrance sign in Denver Harbor. In Indianapolis, home of Dow AgroSciences, volunteers came out to Spades Park where they cut and hauled invasive species along the waterway as well as picked up litter and trash. Spades Park is one of four city parks located along Pogue’s Run waterway. Dow volunteer efforts propelled Indianapolis closer to their goal of establishing Pogue’s Run as a conservation corridor—which will enhance the habitat, improve the neighborhood, and educate residents, volunteers and students about the value of the watershed. Dow AgroSciences also made a $5,000 contribution to Keep Indianapolis Beautiful (KIB) to help plant native trees and shrubs.

“I can’t thank Dow enough for giving our community the support to be able to have the Parish’s first-ever household hazardous waste day.” Mary Delapasse , executive director of Keep West Baton Rouge Beautiful

This effort was part of an ongoing, multi-year effort to establish the conservation corridor near downtown Indianapolis, which runs through several neighborhoods. This project aligned with KIB’s initiative to educate neighbors about the importance of the watershed, engage volunteers and local schools in its restoration and preservation, secure additional investment, create a draft habitat plan with local experts and students from local universities, and to continue with the removal of invasive plants and planting trees as the city prepares to host the 2012 Super Bowl.

45


G r e at A m e r i can Cleanup // 2010 R eport

Measuring Results State-by-State At the conclusion of their local activities, Great American Cleanup participating organizations are encouraged to provide a wrap-up report detailing the scope and diversity of their efforts. The following pages show their 2010 responses and provide an interesting snapshot of activities spanning the nation.

46


State

Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware

Florida

Georgia

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

iowa

kansas

Kentucky

Events/Volunteers Events Held

869

RNA

274

184

1,659

66

53

RNA

6,705

1,477

201

RNA

711

279

30

329

1

1,144,730

RNA

3,267

32,893

77,701

2,753

1,260

RNA

673,688

202,436

6,940

RNA

26,442

22,809

2,046

144,138

7,785

Volunteer Hours

649,468

RNA

18,906

68,827

274,322

8,093

5,075

RNA

347,924

222,858

25,375

RNA

77,159

63,949

6,836

576,111

23,265

Communities Involved/ Community Groups that Participated

444/895

RNA

43/35

270/303

589/253

2/29

29/18

RNA

784/2,189

486/95,105

93/125

RNA

507/701

155/362

7/61

11/70

0/427

1,159,130

RNA

391,780

728,263

2,646,070

837,860

357,352

RNA

3,221,754

3,118,676

243,540

RNA

430,918

1,076,780

15,380

1,026,260

58,000

Roads, Streets, Highways Cleaned/Beautified (miles)

9,779

RNA

348

1,169

1,943

161

235

RNA

5,636

3,264

102

RNA

169

445

19

276

350

Parks & Public Lands Cleaned (acres)

4,878

RNA

81

1,497

2,562.5

254

21

RNA

4,500

1,507

161

RNA

821

2,881

1,500

466

75

219

RNA

5

98

149

32

12

RNA

185

139

21

RNA

21

36

25

75

RNA

2

86

83

6

9

RNA

167

204

11

RNA

37

70

6

347

RNA

1

111

212

31

9

RNA

2,223

161

42

RNA

30

39

4

6

26

5

RNA

2

RNA

10

3

8

RNA

1

693

RNA

320

8

10

36

RNA

370

55

19.5

RNA

20

11

51

RNA

4

24

229

26

16

RNA

333

221

67

RNA

9

403

3

Clothing Collected for Reuse (lbs)

23,130

RNA

9,000

25,780

202

200

150

RNA

11,831

237,047

650

RNA

97,560

Aluminum & Steel Recycled (lbs)

823,615

RNA

400

14,927

29,873

500

1,550

RNA

435,382

2,857,419

845,296

RNA

84,775

60,660

10,135

3,148,645

RNA

25

124,180

8,742

200

5,200

RNA

4,171,115

2,370,836

106,135

RNA

220

496,431

20

3,063,126

Tires Collected for Recycling

3,655

RNA

8,932

3,720

8,079

160

RNA

35,418

31,240

2,136

RNA

1,916

2,544

1,274

4,997

Batteries Collected for Recycling

15,197

RNA

165

106

44

4

RNA

4,462

4,934

15,042

RNA

64

203,209

RNA

26,422

1,306,000

1,447

7

RNA

306,123

694,077

9,080

RNA

69,037

127,852

109,756

PET (Plastic) Bottles Collected for Recycling

561,356

RNA

13,340

28,868

5,276

200

15

RNA

757,525

580,809

417

RNA

577

116,822

30

21,000

Glass Collected for Recycling (lbs)

281,580

RNA

10

320

3,726

342

15

RNA

1,787,884

736,231

3,543

RNA

300

142,140

20

306,080

315

RNA

18

15

17

RNA

15

259

498

RNA

15

3

Gardens, Xeriscapes & Green Spaces Created & Improved

98

RNA

1

128

107

1

3

RNA

465

246

17

RNA

41

66

1

5

Edible Community Gardens Planted or Replanted

14

RNA

10

2

8

1

1

RNA

579

25

3

RNA

1

81

124,871

RNA

10

4,880

14,841

2

RNA

65,269

23,927

4,881

RNA

17,704

44,310

191,125

7,624

RNA

30

1,217

839

1

20

RNA

5,420

2,617

376

RNA

903

1,704

28

116

RNA

4

4

2

RNA

131

53

25

RNA

0

1

24

1,087

RNA

8

3

45

11

42

RNA

418

93

18

RNA

15

93

98

430

RNA

45

71

36

1

1

RNA

576

733

8

RNA

128

81

5

12

6,934/ 25,143

RNA

150/1,200

1,985/ 5,536

2,875/ 3,543

100/15

20/0

RNA

9,843/ 28,798

18,989/ 52,264

7,619/ 2,572

RNA

1,722/ 3,665

863/3,482

85/206

100/4,021

170

RNA

15

38

48

3

3

RNA

613

712

13

RNA

10

24

4

9

259,855

RNA

7,500

15,174

44,511

100,000

60

RNA

1,208,998

246,184

7,669

RNA

24,626

12,542

3,172

5,976

Volunteers/Participants

Cleanups Litter & Debris Collected (lbs)

Hiking, Biking & Nature Trails Cleaned (miles) Playgrounds & Community Recreation Areas Cleaned/Restored/Constructed Rivers, Lakes & Shorelines Cleaned (miles) Underwater Cleanups Conducted Wetland Cleaned & Improved (acres) Illegal Dump Sites Cleaned Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Newspaper Recycled (lbs)

Electronics Recycled (lbs)

Junk Cars Removed/Collected for Recycling Beautification

Flowers & Bulbs Planted Trees Planted Residential & Commercial Buildings Painted/Renovated/Built Graffiti Sites Removed/Abated Education Educational Workshops Educational Workshop Attendees (Adults/Children) General Awareness Events General Awareness Event Attendees RNA – Report not available as of presstime.


State

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

mass.

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

montana

nebraska

nevada

n. hampshire

new jersey

new mexico

new york

n. carolina

n. dakota

Events/Volunteers Events Held

223

RNA

5

10

113

6

387

62

6

577

14

1

13

207

2,417

1,082

RNA

21,196

RNA

1,757

2,450

10,615

3,760

42,130

10,854

3,000

47,677

550

146

575

15,591

133,655

68,969

RNA

37,644

RNA

1,748

5,475

34,571

10,380

76,901

7,998

5,000

37,482

2,200

220

4,356

65,025

453,931

111,830

RNA

105/1,548

RNA

12/41

18/35

54/198

38/12

371/358

134/50

3/60

189/379

10/25

1/0

13/19

60/235

697/2,258

370/1,306

RNA

251,390

RNA

90,060

127,280

1,126,740

10,860

2,041,767

165,885

13,000

1,833,846

162,300

2,500

17,000

1,576,199

970,597

992,362

RNA

1,085

RNA

85

178

4

2,912

43

500

1,499

25

20

8

517

357

16,574

RNA

Parks & Public Lands Cleaned (acres)

314

RNA

29

5

2,442

2

443

12

25

836

675

2

13

350

299

5,626

RNA

Hiking, Biking & Nature Trails Cleaned (miles)

222

RNA

60

44

6

30

91

50

2

33

10

387

RNA

Playgrounds & Community Recreation Areas Cleaned/Restored/Constructed

45

RNA

2

1

210

61

15

12

140

14

8

60

32

59

RNA

Rivers, Lakes & Shorelines Cleaned (miles)

16

RNA

5

42

31

5

64

10

4

69

41

269

RNA

Underwater Cleanups Conducted

1

RNA

RNA

Wetland Cleaned & Improved (acres)

6

RNA

6

6

6

1

40

1

RNA

56

RNA

4

24

309

92

4

1

61

30

148

1,510

195

RNA

Clothing Collected for Reuse (lbs)

4,020

RNA

1,500

8,000

9,415

120

12,640

300

7,955

960

1,610

RNA

Aluminum & Steel Recycled (lbs)

219,305

RNA

1,040

3,906

95,465

30

212,473

400

150

20

80,039

3,380,273

445,365

RNA

Newspaper Recycled (lbs)

247,225

RNA

1,163

87,462

400

372,507

350

15,150

59,312,260

1,163,820

RNA

Tires Collected for Recycling

4,055

RNA

1,200

243

427

11

11,651

23

4,995

350

10

1,579

210

52,511

RNA

Batteries Collected for Recycling

1,868

RNA

15

4,240

1,013

6

10,623

2

15

478

60

1,024

RNA

149,396

RNA

8,250

407

43,149

500

96,527

158,975

50

5

115,315

9,174

382,573

RNA

35,144

RNA

200

348,125

30,449

12

30,782

200

30

2,270

7,160,412

359,143

RNA

RNA

100

125

254

21,392

100

6

65

5,967,194

140,973

RNA

22

RNA

23

148

1

1

25

300

1,409

1,663

RNA

Gardens, Xeriscapes & Green Spaces Created & Improved

95

RNA

6

110

3

148

6

77

1

12

140

185

988

RNA

Edible Community Gardens Planted or Replanted

8

RNA

2

51

6

8

4

3

55

7

RNA

13,460

RNA

700

21,600

200

119,550

7,939

10,000

2,585

60,277

804,280

RNA

915

RNA

60

513

1,640

1,815

1,081

34,609

4,625

RNA

16

RNA

9

121

32

32

13

RNA

7

RNA

15

204

19

267

433

3,321

442

RNA

45

RNA

1

1

46

30

153

6

276

3

52

44

228

RNA

809/988

RNA

60/0

10/300

853/2,246

2,250/750

2,558/ 6,989

254/98

2,594/ 10,272

130/15

760/3,487

388/2,567

1,927/ 7,656

RNA

41

RNA

5

26

34

26

76

1

21

8

103

RNA

65,637

RNA

1,000

6,600

78,250

37,161

22,103

30,000

20,605

26,110

39,557

RNA

Volunteers/Participants Volunteer Hours Communities Involved/ Community Groups that Participated Cleanups Litter & Debris Collected (lbs) Roads, Streets, Highways Cleaned/Beautified (miles)

Illegal Dump Sites Cleaned Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Electronics Recycled (lbs) PET (Plastic) Bottles Collected for Recycling Glass Collected for Recycling (lbs) Junk Cars Removed/Collected for Recycling Beautification

Flowers & Bulbs Planted Trees Planted Residential & Commercial Buildings Painted/Renovated/Built Graffiti Sites Removed/Abated Education Educational Workshops Educational Workshop Attendees (Adults/Children) General Awareness Events General Awareness Event Attendees RNA – Report not available as of presstime.


State

ohio

oklahoma

oregon

pennsylvania

rhode island

s. carolina

s. dakota

tennessee

texas

utah

vermont

virginia

washington

west virginia

wisconsin

wyoming

Events/Volunteers Events Held

1,091

763

3

4,825

1

701

5

1,971

1,340

18

967

11

10

432

15

Volunteers/Participants

103,803

39,711

10,040

186,943

305

186,347

670

267,638

229,363

50,000

25,754

911

829

55,561

358

Volunteer Hours

219,767

57,596

800

745,960

600

109,904

1,246

507,461

279,424

151,404

47,803

205

3,036

144,296

794

571/1,611

403/1,444

10/7

5,561/4

336/554

4/10

735/655

19,797/3,110

24/0

492/564

4/2

3/12

37/499

1/22

3,321,348

7,255,412

12,072,990

1,930

1,425,897

12.200

8,538,681

14,065,264

680,000

700

465,083

1,000

6,400

951,619

8,811

2,655.75

1,004

18,780

10

14,651

18

5,132

5,403

111

0

20,973

2

31

4,222

17

9,304.5

1,637

5,012

4

7,019

30

2,912

3,419

9

950

1,370

2

9

5,404

12

Hiking, Biking & Nature Trails Cleaned (miles)

193

110

207

5

82

280

293

23

20

22

8

76

Playgrounds & Community Recreation Areas Cleaned/Restored/Constructed

348

151

271

116

3

185

147

2

43

3

138

Rivers, Lakes & Shorelines Cleaned (miles)

136

96

346

5

158

15

575

1,168

12

166

2

6

139

1

1

8

4

11

1

2

1

285

1,112

1,195

25

18

5,057

2

6

100

411

17

67

152

1

194

1,815

1

30

2

Clothing Collected for Reuse (lbs)

41,635

5,220

14,490

67,632

452,506

49,680

550

4,500,000

Aluminum & Steel Recycled (lbs)

222,718

37,195

7,019

65

1,634,150

1,174,080

2,066,534

91,477

200

700

403,840

42

1,547,167

19,870

100

3,170,220

2,672,399

1,280,196

305,175

300

3,000

7,800,574

316,421

5,999

32,363

295,729

11

27,085

178,333

19,070

4

426

5

3,043,478

884

24

2

17,695

5,969

15,903

1,812

5

391

446,284

94,653

100,221

224,445

810

634,292

305,418

268,150

100

1,200,000

172,796.2

3,176

4,002

60

219,347

770,464

283,474

326,646

200

1,150

1,456,340

207,339

2,079

60

631,648

636,929

1,521,423

355,806

200

500

2,111,510

4

127

9

21

27

493

7

1

64

Gardens, Xeriscapes & Green Spaces Created & Improved

543

360

60

28

264

392

0

57

1

7

25

1

Edible Community Gardens Planted or Replanted

112

10

16

36

28

0

1

2

3

154,123

23,102

20,832

7,588

12,565

83,452

83,125

90

1,054

700

39,000

9,980

14,717

773

710

25

36,661

3,419

62

4,630

4

8,000

103

Residential & Commercial Buildings Painted/Renovated/Built

104

61

12

86

26

1,930

1

2

109

Graffiti Sites Removed/Abated

174

17

386

34

148

1,650

0

416

25

142

1,133

117

3

52

209

5

1,123

1,359

501

5

3

93

2

6,567/ 33,303

5,459/ 5,992

5,000/ 5,000

3,703/ 2,277

4,622/ 17,316

106/625

27,845/ 29,380

79,686/ 44,156

4,424/ 15,880

100/0

5/0

111/3,681

33/0

116

88

2

18

35

2

323

4,663

48

1

7

26

230,310

965,730

1,000

4,672

105,536

2,000

559,862

329,523

19,117

300

615

5,024

Communities Involved/ Community Groups that Participated Cleanups Litter & Debris Collected (lbs) Roads, Streets, Highways Cleaned/Beautified (miles) Parks & Public Lands Cleaned (acres)

Underwater Cleanups Conducted Wetland Cleaned & Improved (acres) Illegal Dump Sites Cleaned Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Newspaper Recycled (lbs) Tires Collected for Recycling Batteries Collected for Recycling Electronics Recycled (lbs) PET (Plastic) Bottles Collected for Recycling Glass Collected for Recycling (lbs) Junk Cars Removed/Collected for Recycling Beautification

Flowers & Bulbs Planted Trees Planted

Education Educational Workshops Educational Workshop Attendees (Adults/Children) General Awareness Events General Awareness Event Attendees RNA – Report not available as of presstime.


G r e at A m e r i can Cleanup // 2010 R eport

MEDIA

Media impressions.......................................................2.7 billion EVENTS/VOLUNTEERS

2010 Official Results The following reflects Keep America Beautiful’s 2010 Great American Cleanup results. These figures were derived from reports obtained from Keep America Beautiful affiliates and Great American Cleanup participating organizations, and describe the extent of their extraordinary accomplishments.*

Events held..........................................................................30,000 Volunteers/participants............................................ 3.9 million Volunteer hours.......................................................... 5.7 million Communities involved......................................................33,700 Community groups that participated..........................118,000 CLEANUPS Litter & debris collected (lbs)................................... 76 million Roads, streets, highways cleaned/beautified (miles)............................................ 124,000 Parks & public lands cleaned (acres)..............................71,000 Hiking, biking & nature trails cleaned (miles)...............3,400 Playgrounds & community recreation areas cleaned/restored/constructed........................................... 3,100 Rivers, lakes & shorelines cleaned (miles)..................... 6,800 Underwater cleanups conducted........................................... 60 Wetlands cleaned & improved (acres)...........................10,500 Illegal dump sites cleaned................................................. 6,500 REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE Clothing collected for reuse (lbs)...........................5.6 million Aluminum & steel recycled (lbs)........................... 15.3 million Newspaper recycled (lbs).......................................91.5 million Tires collected for recycling.....................................1.1 million Batteries collected for recycling.............................. 3.1 million Electronics recycled (lbs)......................................... 7.2 million PET (plastic) bottles collected for recycling...... 266 million Glass collected for recycling (lbs).........................14.9 million Junk cars removed/collected for recycling................... 5,600 BEAUTIFICATION Gardens, xeriscapes & green spaces created & improved..............................................................5,600 Edible community gardens planted or replanted......... 1,100 Flowers & bulbs planted.............................................. 2 million Trees planted.................................................................... 160,000 Residential & commercial buildings painted/renovated/built.................................................... 3,000 Graffiti sites removed/abated..........................................10,600

*Based on reports from 87% of the participating organizations.

53

EDUCATION Educational workshops....................................................... 7,800 Educational workshop attendees (total)................... 540,000 Adults............................................................................. 207,000 Children......................................................................... 333,000 General awareness events................................................... 7,400 General awareness event attendees....................... 5.5 million


G r e at Am e r i can Cleanup // 2010 R eport

Affiliates and Participating Organizations ALABAMA Keep Athens-Limestone Beautiful, Inc. Keep Auburn Beautiful Keep Birmingham Beautiful Commission Keep Etowah Beautiful, Inc. (Gadsden) Keep Guntersville Beautiful, Inc. Keep Mobile Beautiful Keep Opelika Beautiful Keep Saraland Beautiful Keep The Shoals Beautiful Keep The Wiregrass Beautiful (Dothan) Montgomery Clean City Commission Operation Green Team Keeping Huntsville Beautiful ALASKA Prince William Sound Community College ARIZONA Arizona Clean & Beautiful Globe Clean & Beautiful Keep Phoenix Beautiful ARKANSAS Keep Arkansas Beautiful Arkansas Highway & Transportation Department (Little Rock) Arkansas State Parks (Little Rock) Keep Benton County Beautiful Keep Faulkner County Beautiful Keep Jacksonville Beautiful Keep Little Rock Beautiful Keep Newport Beautiful Keep Ozark Beautiful Keep Sherwood Beautiful Keep Van Buren Beautiful Pine Bluff/Jefferson County Clean & Beautiful Commission Regional Solid Waste Management Districts U.S. Army Corps of Engineers—Little Rock District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers—Vicksburg District Waste Management, Inc. Local Offices CALIFORNIA Keep California Beautiful City of Sacramento Department of Parks and Recreation: Park Operations Volunteer Program I Love A Clean San Diego Keep Bakersfield Beautiful Keep Downey Beautiful Keep Glendale Beautiful Keep Los Angeles Beautiful Keep North Richmond Beautiful Keep Oakland Beautiful Keep Riverside Clean & Beautiful Town of Apple Valley COLORADO Keep Colorado Springs Beautiful, Inc. Keep Denver Beautiful The Meadows Neighborhood Company (Castle Rock)

54

CONNECTICUT Connecticut Water Trails Association (New Fairfield) Keep New Milford Beautiful Keep Norwalk Beautiful DELAWARE City of Wilmington DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Bloomingdale Civic Association FLORIDA Keep Florida Beautiful Keep Alachua County Beautiful Keep Brevard Beautiful (Cocoa) Keep Broward Beautiful Keep Calhoun County Beautiful (Blountstown) Keep Charlotte Beautiful, Inc. (Port Charlotte) Keep Citrus County Beautiful, Inc. (Beverly Hills) Keep Clay Beautiful, Inc. (Green Cove Springs) Keep Collier Beautiful, Inc. (Naples) Keep Fort Pierce Beautiful Keep Highlands County Beautiful, Inc. (Sebring) Keep Hillsborough County Beautiful (Tampa) Keep Indian River Beautiful (Vero Beach) Keep Jacksonville Beautiful Keep Lake Placid Beautiful Keep Lee County Beautiful, Inc. (Fort Myers) Keep Manatee Beautiful, Inc. (Bradenton) Keep Marion Beautiful, Inc. (Ocala) Keep Martin Beautiful (Palm City) Keep Miami Gardens Beautiful Keep Nassau Beautiful, Inc. (Fernandina Beach) Keep North Miami Beautiful Keep Orlando Beautiful Keep Palm Beach County Beautiful, Inc. (West Palm Beach) Keep Pasco Beautiful (Wesley Chapel) Keep Pinellas Beautiful, Inc (Clearwater) Keep Polk County Beautiful, Inc. (Lake Wales) Keep Port St. Lucie Beautiful Keep Putnam Beautiful, Inc. (East Palatka) Keep Sarasota County Beautiful (Sarasota) Keep Tallahassee-Leon County Beautiful, Inc. (Tallahassee) Keep Volusia County Beautiful (Deland) Keep Wakulla County Beautiful, Inc. (Crawfordville) Keep Winter Park Beautiful Lakeland Clean & Beautiful Naranja Lakes Community Redevelopment Agency c/o Miami Dade County Pensacola-Escambia Clean Community Commission Santa Rosa Clean Community System (Milton) GEORGIA Keep Georgia Beautiful Blairsville Downtown Development Authority Brantley County Chamber of Commerce and BCMS FBLA Bullard Elementary PTSA Butts County 4-H Club

Camak Railroads Clean-up Candler County Landfill (Metter) Citizen Volunteers for Screven City of Alma City of Argyle City of Auburn City of Blythe City of Elberton City of Emerson City of Flowery Branch City of Glennville City of Holly Springs City of Jackson City of Jakin City of Keysville City of Manassas City of Marshalville City of Metter & Candler County Commissioners City of Morven City of Offerman City of Pavo City of Richmond Hill City of Rochelle City of Senoia Code Enforcement City of Sylvester City of Thomaston City of Warm Springs City of Woodstock Clean Up Butts Association Columbus 4-H Club Crabapple Garden Club: The Seedlings Gateway to the Beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains Greene County Solid Waste Committee Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful (Duluth) Gwinnett County 4-H Club Harris County 4-H Clubs Hawkinsville Better Hometown Heard County 4-H Club (Franklin) Jefferson County B.O.C MSWL & Library System Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. Atlanta Alumni Chapter Kasihta Garden Club & Chamber of Commerce (Cusseta) Keep Albany-Dougherty Beautiful (Albany) Keep Alpharetta Beautiful Keep Americus/Sumter Beautiful Keep Athens- Clarke County Beautiful (Athens) Keep Atlanta Beautiful Keep Barrow Beautiful (Winder) Keep Bartow Beautiful (Cartersville) Keep Brunswick-Golden Isles Beautiful (Brunswick) Keep Bulloch Beautiful (Statesboro) Keep Chatsworth-Murray Beautiful (Chatsworth) Keep Clayton County Beautiful, Inc. (Jonesboro) Keep Cobb Beautiful (Marietta) Keep Columbia County Beautiful (Evans) Keep Columbus Beautiful Commission Keep Conyers-Rockdale Beautiful (Conyers) Keep Covington/Newton Beautiful (Covington) Keep Crisp Beautiful (Cordele) Keep Dade Beautiful (Trenton) Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful (Dalton)


Keep Dawson County Beautiful (Dawsonville) Keep Decatur County Beautiful (Bainbridge) Keep DeKalb Beautiful (Decatur) Keep Douglasville Beautiful Keep Dublin-Laurens Beautiful, Inc. (Dublin) Keep Forsyth County Beautiful (Cumming) Keep Grady County Beautiful (Cairo) Keep Hall Beautiful (Gainesville) Keep Henry County Beautiful (McDonough) Keep Jackson County Beautiful (Jefferson) Keep Jones Beautiful Commission (Gray) Keep Liberty County Beautiful (Hinesville) Keep Lowndes/Valdosta Beautiful (Valdosta) Keep Macon-Bibb Beautiful (Macon) Keep Madison County Beautiful (Danielsville) Keep Milledgeville Baldwin Beautiful (Milledgeville) Keep Newnan Beautiful Keep North Fulton Beautiful (Sandy Springs) Keep Our Mountains Beautiful Keep Paulding Beautiful (Dallas) Keep Peach County Clean & Beautiful (Fort Valley) Keep Peachtree City Beautiful Inc. Keep Perry Beautiful Keep Pickens Beautiful Keep Polk Beautiful (Rockmart) Keep Randolph Beautiful (Cuthbert) Keep Roberta/Crawford Beautiful (Roberta) Keep Rome Floyd Beautiful (Rome) Keep Roswell Beautiful Keep Savannah beautiful Keep Screven Beautiful (Sylvania) Keep Smyrna Beautiful Keep South Fulton Beautiful, Inc. (Union City) Keep Thomas County Beautiful Keep Toccoa-Stephens County Beautiful (Toccoa) Keep Troup Beautiful (LaGrange) Keep Walton Beautiful (Monroe) Keep Warner Robins Beautiful Keep Waycross/Ware County Beautiful (Waycross) Kingsland DDA Lee County Code Enforcement Lincoln County Board of Commissioners Millen Better Hometown Norton Park Elementary School Oglethorpe County 4-H Club Reynolds Women’s Club Stonewall Tell Elementary School Sustainable Norcross Town of Alto Town of Lyerly Tyrone Public Works Union County Government Vanderlyn Elementary (Dunwoody) Walnut Grove Marshal Department HAWAII Keep The Hawaiian Islands Beautiful Adopt-a-Beach Hawaii (Haleiwa) Community Work Day Program (Puunene) Keep Hawaii Beautiful (Pahoa) Keep Honolulu Beautiful Keep Kauai Beautiful (Lihue) Keep Settlement Beautiful (Kalaupapa) Nani O’ Wai’anae (Waianae) IDAHO City of Arco ILLINOIS Keep Illinois Beautiful City of Chicago Keep Carbondale Beautiful Keep Centralia Beautiful

Keep Chicago/Illinois Beautiful Keep Evanston Beautiful, Inc. Keep Moline Beautiful Keep Northern Illinois Beautiful (Loves Park) Keep Oak Park Beautiful Keep Peoria Beautiful Keep Rock Island Beautiful Keep Salem Beautiful Keep Vermilion County Beautiful (Danville) INDIANA City of Fort Wayne Keep Evansville Beautiful Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, Inc. Keep Stockwell Beautiful, Inc. Keep Terre Haute Beautiful IOWA Keep Iowa Beautiful Iowa Quad Cities Chamber (Daveport) Keep Council Bluffs Beautiful Keep Northeast Nebraska Beautiful (Sioux City) Keep Scott County Beautiful (Davenport) KANSAS Keep America Beautiful-Topeka/Shawnee County (Topeka) Keep Dodge City Beautiful Operation Brightside Inc. (Kansas City) KENTUCKY Clean Kentucky (Frankfort) Brightside (Louisville) City of Covington Division of Water Quality (Lexington) LOUISIANA Keep Louisiana Beautiful City of Lake Charles - Team Green of Southwest Louisiana City of Monroe/Keep Monroe Beautiful Clean New Orleans Keep Abbeville Beautiful Keep Baton Rouge Beautiful, Inc. Keep Bossier Beautiful (Covington) Keep Cenla Beautiful (Alexandria) Keep Covington Beautiful Keep DeRidder Beautiful Keep Hammond Beautiful Keep Iberville Beautiful (Plaquemine) Keep Leesville Beautiful Keep Lincoln Parish Beautiful (Ruston) Keep Mandeville Beautiful Keep Morehouse Beautiful (Bastrop) Keep Natchitoches Beautiful Keep New Iberia Beautiful Keep Ouachita Parish Beautiful (Monroe) Keep Slidell Beautiful Keep St. John Beautiful (Laplace) Keep St. Mary Beautiful (Franklin) Keep Terrebonne Beautiful (Houma) Keep Washington Parish Beautiful (Franklinton) Keep West Baton Rouge Beautiful (Port Allen) Keep West Monroe Beautiful Shreveport Green MAINE Southern Maine Community College Alpha Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa MARYLAND Community College of Baltimore County Hagerstown Community College Keep Prince George’s County Beautiful (Largo)

MASSACHUSETTS City of Boston Keep Mansfield Beautiful Keep Springfield Beautiful Long Beach Improvement Association (Winchester) MICHIGAN Keep Genesee County Beautiful (Flint) Keep It Moving, Inc. (Detroit) Keep Liberty Beautiful (Clarklake) Keep Saginaw Beautiful Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (Empire) MINNESOTA Hibbing Community College-Phi Theta Kapp Keep Minneapolis Beautiful (City of Minneapolis, Division of Solid Waste and Recycling) Riverview Economic Development Association (Saint Paul) MISSISSIPPI Keep Mississippi Beautiful/PAL City of Clinton Harrison County Beautification Commission Keep Simpson County Beautiful, Inc. (Braxton) Keep Lincoln County Beautiful (Brookhaven) Keep Columbus/Lowndes Beautiful Keep Corinth-Alcorn Beautiful (Corinth) Keep Horn Lake Beautiful Keep Jackson Beautiful, Inc. Keep Laurel/Jones County Beautiful (Laurel) Keep Mississippi Beautiful (Madison) Keep Madison Beautiful Keep Pike County Beautiful (McComb) Keep Meridian/Lauderdale County Beautiful (Meridian) Keep Natchez/Adams County Beautiful (Natchez) Keep New Albany/Union County Beautiful (New Albany) Keep Oxford Lafayette Beautiful (Oxford) City of Pascagoula Keep Monroe County Beautiful (Smithville) Keep Tupelo Beautiful Keep Vicksburg-Warren Beautiful Harrison Co. Beautification Commission (Gulfport) Keep Copiah County Beautiful (Hazlehurst) Keep Pearl Beautiful Keep Waveland Beautiful MISSOURI Keep Hannibal Beautiful, Inc. Keep Kansas City Beautiful MONTANA Bright n’ Beautiful (Billings) Trash to Treasures (Clyde Park) NEBRASKA Keep Nebraska Beautiful City of Albion City of Alexandria City of Allen City of Atkinson City of Aurora City of Bayard City of Beaver Crossing City of Bellevue City of Bellwood City of Belvidere City of Bennington City of Broadwater

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G r e at Am e r i can Cleanup // 2010 R eport

City of Bushnell City of Clarks City of Columbus City of David City City of Decatur City of Deshler City of Elba City of Franklin City of Fullerton City of Giltner City of Gordon City of Grand Island City of Hebron City of Hershey City of Holdrege City of Howells City of Jansen City of Julian City of Kenesaw City of Leigh City of Lodgepole City of Lynch City of Maskell City of Maxwell City of McCook City of Murray City of Naponee City of Nebraska City City of Newcastle City of Nickerson City of Oakland City of Omaha City of Orleans City of Oshkosh City of Peru City of Pilger City of Plattsmouth City of Randolph City of Richland City of Santee City of South Sioux City City of Union City of Wahoo City of Wauneta City of Whiteclay City of Winnebago City of Wymore Keep Alliance Beautiful, Inc. Keep Beatrice Beautiful, Inc. Keep Chadron Beautiful Keep Creighton Beautiful Keep Fremont Beautiful Keep Kimball Beautiful Keep Lexington Beautiful Keep Nebraska Beautiful Keep Lincoln & Lancaster County Beautiful Keep Norfolk Beautiful Keep North Platte & Lincoln County Beautiful Keep Keith County Beautiful Keep Loup Basin Beautiful Keep Schuyler Beautiful Keep Scottsbluff-Gering Beautiful Keep Sidney Beautiful Keep Northeast Nebraska Beautiful Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Environmental Protection Department NEVADA Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful (Reno) National Park Service-Lake Mead NRA (Boulder City)

56

NEW HAMPSHIRE Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site (Cornish) NEW JERSEY Bentley Assisted Living (Branchville) Beta Alpha Phi, Phi Theta Kappa, Hudson County Community College (Jersey City) EMD of the Woman’s Club of Arlington & Junior Woman’s Club of Arlington (Kearny) NEW MEXICO New Mexico Clean & Beautiful Artesia Clean and Beautiful Bloomfield Pride Farmington Clean & Beautiful Hobbs Beautiful Keep Albuquerque Beautiful Keep Carlsbad Beautiful Keep Clovis Beautiful Keep Dona Ana County Beautiful (Las Cruces) Keep Las Cruces Beautiful Keep Las Vegas Beautiful Keep Luna County Beautiful (Deming) Keep Rio Rancho Beautiful Keep Roswell Beautiful New Mexico Keep Ruidoso Downs Beautiful Keep Santa Fe Beautiful Keep Tucumcari Beautiful Keep Tularosa Beautiful Tierra Bonita (Belen) Village of Ruidoso - Keep Ruidoso Beautiful NEW YORK ACES Academy / NOSC (Brooklyn) Glen Cove Beautification Keep Brookhaven Beautiful (Farmingville) Keep Islip Clean Keep New York City Beautiful Coalition Keep Rockland Beautiful (New City) Keep Western New York Beautiful (Tonawanda) Mr. Domino’s Environmental Class (Darien Center) Niagara Falls Fire Department NYC Dept of Sanitation Rome Clean and Green (Lee Center) Town of Olive (West Shokan) NORTH CAROLINA North Carolina Keep America Beautiful Asheville GreenWorks (Asheville) Davie County KAB Duplin County KAB (Rose Hill) Greensboro Beautiful, Inc. High Point Keep America Beautiful Keep America Beautiful of Nash & Edgecombe Counties (Rocky Mount) Keep America Beautiful of New Hanover County (Wilmington) Keep Belmont Beautiful Keep Bladen Beautiful (Elizabethtown) Keep Brunswick County Beautiful (Bolivia) Keep Catawba County Beautiful (Newton) Keep Charlotte Beautiful Keep Durham Beautiful Keep Fayetteville Beautiful Keep Franklin County Beautiful (Louisburg) Keep Gastonia Beautiful, Inc. Keep Iredell Beautiful (Statesville) Keep Kings Mountain Beautiful Keep Laurinburg/Scotland Beautiful Keep McDowell Beautiful, Inc. (Marion) Keep Mecklenburg Beautiful (Charlotte) Keep Moore County Beautiful (Carthage)

Keep Onslow Beautiful (Jacksonville) Keep Pasquotank County Beautiful (Elizabeth City) Keep Pitt County Beautiful Keep Richmond County Beautiful (Rockingham) Keep Shelby Beautiful Keep Wilson County Beautiful (Wilson) Keep Winston-Salem Beautiful, Inc. Town of Cary Spruce Program (Cary) Wake County KAB (Raleigh) NORTH DAKOTA Valley Middle School (Grand Forks) OHIO Keep Ohio Beautiful City of Barberton Beautification City of Cuyahoga Falls Recycling & Litter Prevention (Cuyahoga Falls) Defiance County Environmental Services KAB (Defiance) Erie County Solid Waste District (Huron) Geauga-Trumbull Solid Waste Management District Hancock County Solid Waste Management District-Environmental Services (Findlay) Hopewell Culture NHP (Chillicothe) Keep Akron Beautiful Keep Allen County Beautiful (Lima) Keep Alliance Beautiful Keep Belmont County Beautiful (St. Clairsville) Keep Cincinnati Beautiful Keep Clark County Beautiful (Springfield) Keep Columbus Beautiful Keep Delaware County Beautiful (Delaware) Keep Grove City Beautiful Keep Hardin County Beautiful (Kenton) Keep Jefferson County Beautiful (Stuebenville) Keep Lake Milton Clean and Beautiful (Berlin Center) Keep Lakewood Beautiful Keep Mentor Beautiful Keep Middletown Beautiful, Inc. Keep Montgomery County Beautiful (Dayton) Keep Perrysburg Beautiful Keep the Mahoning Valley Beautiful, Inc. (Youngstown) Keep Toledo/Lucas County Beautiful, Inc. Keep Wickliffe Beautiful Commission Lawrence-Scioto County Solid Waste Management District (Ironton) Lorain County Beautiful (Elyria) Mansfield Litter Prevention & Recycling Ohio Department of Transportation (Columbus) Richland County Solid Waste Wayne National Forest (Nelsonville) Youngstown Litter Control and Recycling OKLAHOMA Keep Oklahoma Beautiful A Finer Fairfax A Third Place Community Center Foundation (Turley) Ada Main Street and City of Ada Adair County Alva 4-H Group Alva Beautification Committee Ardmore Beautification Council Atoka Main Street Battiest Elementary Beavers Bend Lodging Association Believers in Boswell Community Coalition Billings Community Improvement Committee Black Mesa Bed & Breakfast


Body Business Natures Body and School of Massage Bokoshe FCCLA Boley Trash Off Committee Boy Scouts of Ringling Broken Arrow Beautification Committee (Broken Arrow) Broken Bow Main Street Program Brush Hill Baptist Church (Checotah) Buffalo Valley 4-H Club/Latimer County Extension Service (Wilburton) Caney Valley FFA Carmen Chamber of Commerce Chamber of Commerce and Town of Arnett Checotah Chamber of Commerce Chelsea Area Chamber of Commerce Cherokee Main Street Cheyenne & Arapahoe Tribes of Oklahoma Citizens for a Litter Free Choctaw County City of Cameron City of Clinton City of Coweta City of Drumright City of Edmond City of Elmore City City of Grandfield & Grandfield FFA City of Grove City of Hooker City of Konawa City of Lehigh City of Miami City of Muskogee City of Oilton City of Pawnee City of Perkins Parks & Recreation City of Ponca City Parks & Recreation Department City of Sand Springs City of Stringtown City of Stroud City of Tahlequah City of Tishomingo City of Tuttle Clearlake OHCE (Beaver) Collinsville Downtown, Inc. Concerned Citizens of Howe Copan Community Action Team CORE (NWOSU) (Alva) Delaware Nation Environmental Programs (Anadarko) Downtown Muskogee, Inc. Driftwood Christian Church Dry Creek Farms (Tahlequah) Duke Community Beautification Foundation, Inc. Eagle’s Nest Youth Build Eastern Oklahoma State College Council Eastside Capitol Gateway Main Street Eastwood Community Association (Midwest City) Environmental Conservation ASB Team - UT Dallas FAA (Oklahoma City) Fairview Jr. 4-H Club Family of Faith College First Presbyterian of Blackwell Youth Group Fletcher Elementary School Fort Sill Apache Tribe Environmental Program (Apache) Friends of Lake Thunderbird (Norman) Friends of Roman Nose State Park Association (Watonga) Gage Police Department Girl Scout Troop 222 Greater Tenkiller Area Association (Braggs) Green/Clean/Beautiful (Weatherford) Greenwood Family and Friends

Greer County 4-H (Mangum) Harvey & Irene Randall Family Haskell County 4-H Club Health, Leisure 7 Human Performance Graduate Student Association (Stillwater) Hobart Beautification Commission Hometown Makeover: Randlett Idabel Main Street Jefferson County 4-H Clubs Jet Lions Club Keep Bryan County Beautiful (Durant) Keep East Tulsa Beautiful Keep El Reno Beautiful /City of El Reno Keep Oklahoma Beautiful Regional Workshops Keystone Adventure School & Farm Kialegee Tribal Town Kingfisher County Young Republicans Kiwanis Club of Cordell Knights of Columbus #3167 Lake Crest Community Projects Committee (Chouteau) Lake Overholser/Stinchcomb Wildlife Refuge Clean-Up (Oklahoma City) Latin American Community Club (LACC) (Lawton) Laverne Chamber of Commerce Laverne Main Street Association Lawton Beautiful, Inc. Leon HCE & LCVFD Little River Zoo (Norman) Main Street Altus Main Street Enid, Inc. Main Street Pauls Valley Marshall County Muldrow Cherokee Community Organization National Honor Society - Howe High School Chapter Newkirk Junior Main Street Nienhuis Park Community Center Nowata Chamber of Commerce Oakwood Volunteer Fire Department OK Chisholm Trail RC&D OKC Beautiful Okeene Chamber of Commerce Oklahoma City Parks & Recreation Department - Recreation Facilities Oklahoma Earthfriends (Owasso) Oklahoma Home, Community and Education Club - Liberty Oklahoma Master Naturalists (Edmond) Oklahoma Route 66 Association (Chandler) Oklahoma Turnpike Authority Okmulgee First National Banks and Trust Hwy 76 Clean Up Okmulgee Main Street/Chamber Oologah Lake - Corps of Engineers Operation Clean House (Bartlesville) Opportunities, Inc BCS Park Plaza 6&7 Home Owners Association Pickens-Clebit Communities Planet Nichols Hills Plaza District Association (Oklahoma City) Pocola Lions Club Ponca City Main Street Poteau Chamber of Commerce Poteau Main Street Matters Pride In McAlester Rebuilding Togehter OKC, Inc. Red Oak Committee for Continued Growth Redbud Canyon HOA (Edmond) Redfork Main Street (Tulsa) Robbers Cave State Park

Rocky Mountain School (Stilwell) Rogers County District #2 Ryan 4-H Cloverbuds Salt & Light Sapulpa Chamber of Commerce Sayre Main Street Shawnee Chamber of Commerce Beautification Committee Shawnee Twin Lakes Association Spencer Chamber of Commerce Sulphur Main Street Sustainable Stillwater Sweetwater FFA Tahlequah Main Street Association Team Up to Clean Up (Eufaula) Tenkiller State Park and Tenkiller State Park Partners (Vian) The Metropolitan Environmental Trust (Tulsa) The Tapestry Project Thunderbird Youth Academy (Pryor) Tonkawa Chamber of Commerce Town of Albion Town of Aline Town of Bethel Town of Cheyenne Town of Faxon Town of Haskell Town of Hinton Town of Maysville Town of Mounds Town of Nash Town of Oakland - cancelled check Town of Ravia Town of Ringling Town of Taft Town of Talihina Town of Warner Town of Watts Tree Bank Foundation Tulsa City-County Library Green Committee Tulsa County 4-H Tulsa County Conservation District Tulsa County Parks - Chandler Rec. Vinita Area Chamber of Commerce Wagoner Main Street Warr Acres Beautification Committee Washington Early Childhood Center Watonga Chamber of Commerce Watonga Main Street Inc We Love Hollis Wetumka Kiwanis William S. Key Correctional Center Wister Pride Woods County Democratic Women (Alva) Wright City Chamber of Commerce Wyandotte Nation Environmental Dept. Yonkers Concerned Citizens (YCC) Young Leaders of Waurika Yukon Parks & Recreation Department OREGON Roseburg BLM (Roseburg) PENNSYVLANIA Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful 12th Ward Civic Association 7H Skeet Club Inc. ABC Kidz ACRP, Pitt Johnstown Student-Athletes, Cambria County Juvenile Court Air Products CDP Volunteers Alburtis Camp Fire

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G r e at Am e r i can Cleanup // 2010 R eport

Aliquippa Council of Men and Fathers Allegheny CleanWays Allegheny Highland Pulling Association Allegheny Outdoor Club Allegheny Plateau Farm Allegheny Valley Trails Association Allegheny West Business Association Allison Christian Church Alpha Gamma Delta - Zeta Kappa Chapter Amanda’s Clean-Up Crew American Legion Post #232 American Tinning & Galvanizing Company AmeriSeva; Bensalem Township AMVETS Apple City FFA APWC Ardsley Day Care ArgonST Asbury Woods Nature Center Atkins House Aultman Watershed Association for Restoring the Environment (AWARE) Avondale Borough Baker Creek Watershed Association Bald Eagle State Park BARC (Brownsville Area Revitalization Corp) Bard Holding, Inc. Barton Glen Club Inc. (Community) Bear Creek Township Cares Beautify Lynn Berean Homeschoolers Bertsch Hokendauqua Catasauqua Watershed Association/Trout Unlimited Bilger’s Rocks Association Black Hole Creek Watershed Association Black Moshannon State Park Black Rock Boat Club Blacklick Valley Community 4-H Club Blairsville Community Development Authority Bobs Creek Stream Guardians Borough of Chalfant Borough of Etna Borough of Heidelberg Borough of Lansdowne Borough of Lincoln Borough of Martinsburg Borough of Mifflinburg Borough of Pitcairn Borough of Ridgway/Spring Creek Township Borough of Tullytown Clean Up Borough of Wyomissing Earth Day Celebration Bovard 100 Boy Scout Troop 1391 Boy Scouts of America Troop 89 Bradford Manor Brandts Church of the Brethren Brandywine Goddard Masonic Lodge #383 Bridgeville Borough Bright Lights Brighton Beautifiers Bring It Back Philly Bristol Township-Weed Seed Brown Hill Bunch Brownie Girl Scout Troop 80894 Brownie Troop #30658 Browns Mill Center Brubaker Inc. Buchanan Lioness Club of Mercersburg Buffalo Creek Watershed Association Buffalo Township Burger King Butler Junior High School Trout Fishing Club

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Butler Township Community Service Workers Cabbage Hill Neighbors Caledonia Cut-Off Crew Caln Township Park and Recreation Carbondale Elementary School - 6th Grade Catasauqua Canal Cleanup Group Catasauqua Municipal Park Cleanup Group CBCB Cowells Beach: Clean & Beautiful CD East High FBLA Cedar Lake Family Campground Center for Coalfield Justice Center Township Clean Up Day Central Cambria 4th Grade Central Dauphin Football Community Connections Program Central Penn College Central York Aquatics Centre County Solid Waste Authority Charleroi Area Middle School Charlestown Township Cherry Blossom Festival Cherry Tree Alliance Church Chester Ridley Crum Watersheds Association Chestnut Ridge/ Laurel Mountain 4-H clubs Church of God Landisville Churchville Nature Center Cigna Earth Day Expo City of Allentown City Serve Civil and Environmental Consultants Inc. CLA of God Royal Rangers Troupe Clean Block Cleaner and Greener Clearfield County Solid Waste Authority ClearWater Conservancy Clifford Township Clinton County CleanScapes, Inc. Clymer Civic Assoc. Cobber Crew Committee To Clean and Beautify Ambridge Community Alliance of Spring Garden - East Deutschtown Conestoga-Rovers & Associates Conewago Place Connellsville Cultural Trust Coopersburg Scouts and Coopersburg Borough Revitalization Program Coplay Town Watch Corsica Boy Scout Troop 61 Country Meadows Landscaping/Erich A. Meyer Covenant Life Fellowship CRAM Cranberry High School Adventure Club Crescent Hills Civic Association & Penn Hills Municipality Crispus Attucks Transitional Center Crystal’s Cleaners Cub Scout Pack 207, Steelton Community Clean-up Cub Scout Pack 21 Cub Scout Pack 90, New Milford Cub Scouts Pack 13 Cumberland Valley Christian School Cumberland Valley H.O.G. D.O.I.T. [Shippensburg Chamber of Commerce] Daisy Girl Scout Troop 465 Daisy Girl Scout Troop 61387 Dallastown Wildcats Football Program Davidson School DCW Business Organization, Inc. DDSP/DESSP Debbie Sterner-Houseman & Friends of Smithton Area Clean-up

Delco Anglers and Conservationists Derry Area Revitalization Corporation Dickinson College Discover Downtown Johnstown Partnership District Township Downtown DuBois Revitalization Group Dravosburg Ducks Unlimited High Point Chapter Duncannon Cloverleaf 4-H Club Duquesne Trash Bashers Duquesne University´s Spiritan Campus Ministry DWG Beautification Committee EAC of Emmaus & Upper Milford Earth Force East & West Side Neighbors East Goshen Township East Nantmeal Environmental Advisory Council East Washington Borough Eastburg Community Alliance Eastern PA Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation Eastern York Lacrosse - KNIGHTS Eco-Citizens of Carroll Township Edgewood Foundation Elk County Recycling Office Elk Lake Junior High Student Council Elk Township Elliott Garbage Grabbers Elmer C. Carrier Post #365 American Legion, Corry, PA. Elysburg Masonic Lodge #349 Employees of First Commonwealth Bank Emporium Garden Club English Clan Ephrata Mennonite School Ever Abundant Life Ministries Fairfield Township Board of Supervisors FAIRWAY Independent Mortgage Faithful Followers (Advent Lutheran Church) Falls Road Cleanup Crew Farnum Park’s Community United (FPCU) Fiddletown Friends Fighting Tigers Martial Arts Fineview Citizens Council First Presbyterian Church First United Methodist Church of Mercersburg Fix-It Shop Folmont Property Owners Association For the Wind, Water, Wood & Those Who Live There Too Forest Hills National Honor Society Fort Loudon Ruritan Club Franklin County Conservation District Frederick Douglass Kindergarten Litterbug Detectives Freeland Recreation Board French Creek State Park Friendly Residents Markleton Friends of Friend-Lea Road Friends of Linwood Park Friends of Little Aughwick Creek (FLAC) Friends of Midtown Friends of Mingo Creek Friends of Opossum Lake Conservancy Friends of Pennypack Park Friends of Raystown Lake Friends of Spring Creek Friends of Tamanend Park Friends of the North Versailles Public Library Friends of Whitehall Township GAUDENZIA Concept 90 Girl Scout Junior Troop #30549, Sugar Grove


Girl Scouts in the Heart of PA Troop 33600 Glassport GOAL (Greenbelt Overhaul Alliance of Levittown) Goshen Township Grace Valley Fellowship Grandview Task Force Graysonview Harrisburg Assisted Living Facility Great American Clean Up of New Kensington Great Bear Creek Township Great Modena Clean-up Greater Johnstown Athletic Ski Club Green Guides Green Lane Borough Green Streets Greene County Watershed Alliance Greene-Dreher Historical Society Greenwood Furnace State Park Grover Washington Elementary Hackett Club Hamiltonban Township Harborcreek Township Harrisburg Bicycle Club Harrisburg Clean Streets Project; Habitat for Humanity Harrisburg Community Corrections Center Harrisburg Keystone Rotary Club Hay Creek Watershed Association Health South Hospitals of Mechanicsburg Healthy Dragons Hilltop Community Healthcare Center Hogmaws Hykes Road Residence Ikea Environmental Fair Independence Conservancy James Buchanan HS Environmental Club Johnsonburg Rotary Club Jones Township Keep Allentown Beautiful Keep Collier Beautiful Keep Lancaster County Beautiful Keep Philadelphia Beautiful Keep York Beautiful Keepers of Gooseville Keller Williams of Central PA East Kids Korner Children’s Center Kiwanis Club of Cumberland County and East Penn K-Kids Club Kiwanis Club of Greater Reading - Berks County Knights of Columbus #8891 L.A.M.P. and Rapha Ministries Lackawanna County Conservation District Lackawanna River Corridor Association Lackawanna State Park Lafarge NA Lakeland Elementary School Lancaster County Youth Intervention Center Landmark Towns of Bucks County Langhorne Boro Recreation Board and EAC Lausanne Township Leadership Lehigh Lebanon Earth Day Clean up Committee Lebanon Valley Bicycle Coalition Leetsdale Against Litter Lewistown High School Conservation Club Liberty Community 4-H Club Life Point Church Ligonier Township Supervisors Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor Lititz Run Watershed Alliance Little Cove 4-H Little Shamokin Creek Watershed Assoc. Lockheed-Martin AeroParts Locust Lake Village Property Owners Association

Longswamp EAC Louis E. Dieruff High School JROTC PA-011 Love Your Park Day Lower Merion Township and Friends of the Cynwyd Heritage Trail Lower Milford Township Lower Paxton Township Lions Club Loyalhanna Watershed Association Lurgan Township Lions Club Lycoming County Conservation District Macungie Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts Troop 71 Makefield Glen Community Cleanup Manheim Township Community Life Task Force Manheim Township High School SADD Manheim Township Parks & Recreation Board Manyunk Celebrate Earth Day Marcel Lake Estate Martin Oil Company Marywood University’s GreenOn Committee Maxwell 4th & 5th Grade Science Classes Mercyhurst North East College-Criminal Justice Club Middle Spring Watershed Association Millvale Borough Development Corporation Morrisville YMCA Mount Airy Neighborhood Association Mountain Watershed Association Muncy Borough Municipality of Monroeville Myerstown Baptist Church Nanty-Glo Moose Lodge #207 National Guard 1st 110th IN National Nostalgic Nova Natrona Comes Together Association Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove Naval Support Activity Mechanicsburg Naval Support Activity Philadelphia Neighbors Who Care New Alexandria Borough New Franklin Ruritan Club New Oxford Elementary School Newport Township Community Organization Nockamixon Township Nolde Forest Environmental Education Center North Annville Youth League North by Northwest - Bethlehem North Strabane Township Parks and Recreation Board North Suburban Chamber of Commerce Nyia Page Memorial Park Olde Getty Place-Elm Street Orchard Hill Coach Homeowners Association Board of Directors Our Lady of Peace School Caring Kids PA CleanWays of Butler-Lawrence Counties PA CleanWays of Cumberland County PA CleanWays of Fayette County PA CleanWays of Huntingdon County PA CleanWays of McKean County PA CleanWays of Mifflin County PA CleanWays of Mifflin County And MCPD PA CleanWays of Perry County PA CleanWays of Royal Gardens in Morris Park, West Philadelphia PA CleanWays of Venango County PA CleanWays of Washington County PA DCNR Forestry and Local Scouting Units Paint Creek Regional Watershed Association Park Avenue UMC Park Forest Elem Parker Dam State Park Paupack Township Supervisors

Paxtonville Small Group Ministries Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station Peck’s Lake Sportsman’s Association Penn Cambria Primary School Penn State Club of Franklin County Penn Wynne Elementary School Fifth Grade PennDOT Adopt-A-Highway Groups Penns Valley Conservation Association Pennsylvania Environmental Council Pennsylvania National Guard Perkiomen Watershed Conservancy Peters Township Clean Up Day Phi Sigma Pi Alpha Zeta Chapter Phi Theta Kappa Chapter Alpha Lambda Nu Philadelphia More Beautiful Committee Phillips Mushroom Farms Philly Spring Clean Up Phoenixville Green Team Picture Rocks Borough Spring cleanup Pike County Conservation District Pipeline 4-Wheelers Pitcairn Community Renaissance Pitt Ohio Pitt Ohio Express - Cranberry, PA Pitt Ohio Express - Strip District Pleasant Hall Volunteer Fire Company Pocopson Township Port Vue Borough Council Portage Area High School Interactive Club Presque Isle State Park Pride in Chestnuthill Project Greensweep R.B. Winter Chapter Trout Unlimited Raiders Boosters of York, PA Rail-Trail Council of NEPA Raylon Corporation Reading Beautification, Inc. Redbank Renaissance, Inc. Redbank Valley School District Regional Environmental Education Center Remarkable Cleanup Crew Residents of Bagdad Road and Indian Hill Road Residents of West Glenmoore Richland Township Road Clean Up Day Ridgway Township Roaring Creek Valley Conservation Association Roaring Run Watershed Association Rotary Club of Langhorne Rotary Club of the Stroudsburgs Rotary Club of Waynesboro Ryerson Station State Park Sauder Eggs Schuylkill Canal Association SCI Pine Grove CWP Scott Township Second Presbyterian Church Youth Group Senator Rich Alloway and Conococheague Watershed Alliance Sewickley Creek Watershed Association Sheraden Community Council Shiremanstown Communitywide Cleanup Siemens Industry, Inc. Sierra Club Kittatinny Chapter SKIP Snyder County Solid Waste Management Authority Snyder/Girotti Middle School Solebury Township EAC Somerset County Parks and Recreation Board South Coventry Township South Eburg 4H Community Club South Park Township South Side 3rd Grade

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G r e at Am e r i can Cleanup // 2010 R eport

Southampton Kiwanis Spring Brook Solution Seekers St. Luke´s Ev. Lutheran Church St. Mary´s of Leckrone St. Mary’s Episcopal Church St. Michael the Archangel School St. Rose Academy Illegal Dumpsite Cleanup St. Thomas Area Ruritan Club State Rep. Kenyatta Johnson Sunbury Hill Neighborhood Susquehanna Greenway Partnership Susquehanna Lions Club TAG (Totally Against Graffiti) Tail Chasers Grooming Take Pride in Titusville Committee Tarentum Borough Tau Kappa Epsilon Taylor Neighborhood Crime Watch Taylor Township & Roaring Spring Borough 8th Annual Clean Up Day TEAM Charleroi The City of St. Mary’s The Factoryville Shade Tree Commission The Gate House for Women The Newport Township Community Organization The PEAK Center’s Senior Environment Corps Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Tidioute Community Charter School Tidioute Oil Co., Inc. Tidy Up Tredyffrin Timblin Borough Residents TIME (The Improved Milton Experience) Tobyhanna Army Depot Tobyhanna Conservation Association Town of McCandless Tracy Second Grade Clean Up Trainer Residents Tree of Life Lutheran Church Tri-County Trout Club Troop 79 Trout Run Watershed Assn./Portage Area School District Troy’s River Road Crew Twin Valley Rotary Club Tyrone Borough Union County Conservation District United Block Captains United Brotherhood Of Carpenters Local Union 1419 United Way of Erie County Day of Caring Upper Salford Township Upper Saucon Township EAC US Army Corps of Engineers Vale Wood Farms Valley Forge Chapter of Trout Unlimited Valley Forge Middle School Builder’s Club Valley Township Venango County Chapter of PA CleanWays Village of Arts & Humanities Village of Valley Green Virtual Farm Creative Volunteers R. B. Winter State Park Wadsworth Computers Walker Township Community 4-H Club Walter Miller Elementary School Warminster Township Parks Recreation Washington County Parks & Recreation Watershed Alliance of York Watsontown Borough Waynesboro Area Lioness Club Weed and Seed/United Way Youth Day of Caring West Chester University Adopt a Block Program

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West Donegal Township West Fallowfield Christian School West Lampeter Township Recycle Committee West Reading Elm Street West Rockhill Township West Whiteland Township West York Church of the Brethren Westmoreland Cleanways Westmoreland County Parks & Recreation Westmoreland Land Trust Wharton Furnace Church WHIM and Masontown Matters White Clay Creek Preserve Volunteers Whitsett Community Civic Center Society Wildlands Conservancy Wildwood Park and Nature Center Wilkinsburg Borough-Weed and Seed Initiative Williamsburg Borough Winfield Township Wingate Elementary School Winnie Palmer Nature Reserve Winslett Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association WIXQ 91.7 Doc & Mama Roc Women’s Action Group & Thiel College Women’s Club of Altoona Wooddale United Methodist Church Wrightsville Borough Great American Cleanup of PA York Springs Lions Club York Traditions Bank...Eastern Boulevard Young Friends of Pennypack Creek Youngsville Cub Scout Troop #30 Youngwood Borough Youth of St. Michael Catholic Church Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church RHODE ISLAND Keep Blackstone Valley Beautiful (Pawtucket) Naval Station Newport SOUTH CAROLINA Keep South Carolina Beautiful Greenville County Solid Waste division (Honea Path) Jasper Conservation District/Blue Heron Nature Center (Was Keep Jasper Beautiful) (Ridgeland) KAB of Anderson County Keep Beaufort County Beautiful Keep Charleston Beautiful Keep Colleton Beautiful (Walterboro) Keep Darlington County Beautiful Keep Dorchester County Beautiful Keep Edisto Beautiful / EdistoPride Keep Florence Beautiful Keep Georgetown Beautiful Keep Greenwood County Beautiful Keep North Charleston Beautiful Keep North Myrtle Beach Beautiful Keep Oconee Beautiful Association (Seneca) Keep Orangeburg Beautiful Keep the Midlands Beautiful (Columbia) Keep Williamsburg Beautiful (Kingstree) Rock Hill Clean and Green St. John’s High School (John’s Island) Sumter County Keep America Beautiful (Sumter) York County Solid Waste Collection & Recycling and Keep York County Beautiful SOUTH DAKOTA Keep Hot Springs Beautiful Keep Yankton Beautiful

TENNESSEE Keep Tennessee Beautiful Anderson County Bedford County Extension Program Benton County Bi-County Solid Waste Management System Bledsoe County Executive’s Office Campbell County Cannon County Cheatham County Government Clay County Solid Waste Cleveland/Bradley KAB System, Inc. Clifton Chamber of Commerce County Executive’s Office Crockett County Chamber of Commerce Cumberland County Recycling Decatur County DeKalb County Chamber of Commerce Dept Economic and Community Dev. Dickson County Dyer County Elizabethton/Carter County Chamber of Commerce Fayette County Fentress County Solid Waste Freed-Hardeman University Giles County Highway Dept. Grainger County Grundy County Mayor’s Office Hancock County Sheriff’s Department Hardeman County Executive’s Office Hardin County Solid Waste Hartsville/Trousdale County Chamber of Commerce Haywood County SW & Landfill Henderson County Reenactment Association Hendersonville Beautiful Henry County Highway Department Hickman County Chamber of Commerce Houston County Mayor Humbolt Housing Authority Humphreys Co. Recycling & LGP Interlocal Solid Waste Authority Jackson County Executive Office & LGP Jefferson County Executive’s Office Johnson County Litter Control Keep Blount Beautiful (Maryville) Keep Bristol Beautiful Keep Cocke County Beautiful (Newport) Keep Coffee County Beautiful (Manchester) Keep Fayetteville/Lincoln County Beautiful, Inc. (Fayetteville) Keep Goodlettsville Beautiful Keep Greene Beautiful (Greeneville) Keep Jackson Beautiful Keep Johnson City Beautiful Keep Kingsport Beautiful Keep Knoxville Beautiful Keep Maury County Beautiful, Inc. (Columbia) Keep McMinn Beautiful (Athens) Keep Roane Litter Free (Harriman) Keep Sevier Beautiful (Sevierville) Keep Tipton County Beautiful (Covington) Keep Union County Beautiful (Maynardville) Keep Williamson Beautiful (Franklin) Lake County Government Lauderdale County Lawrence County government Lebonon City Beautification Committee Lewis County Three Star Program Loudon County Macon County Sheriff’s Dept


Marshall County Mayor’s Office McNairy County Chamber of Commerce Memphis City Beautiful Commission Metro Beautification & Environmental Comm. (Nashville) Monroe County Beautiful Monterey Senior Citizen Center Moore County Excutive’s Office Morgan County Litter Prevention Program Morristown/Hamblen KABS Murfreesboro Park and Recreation & Friends of the Greenway Overton County Litter Grant Program Perry County Environmental Group Pickett County Executive Office Polk County Litter Grant Program Rhea County Beautification Commission Rogersville/Hawkins County Chamber of Commerce Scenic Cities Beautiful Commission (Chattanooga) Scott County Solid Waste Sequatchie County Government Shelby County Public Works Smith County Mayor Office Springfield Chamber of Commerce Stewart County 4-H Club Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation The Sewanee Mountain Grotto TN Federation of Garden Clubs, Inc. Unicoi County Chamber of Commerce Union City Beautiful Commission Van Buren County Warren County Government Weakley County LGP White County Litter Control TEXAS Keep Texas Beautiful Amarillo TxDOT District Andrews Chamber of Commerce Beautify Corpus Christi City of Arlington City of Bastrop City of Baytown City of Borger City of Burleson City of Cedar Park City of Cleveland City of Coppell City of Denison City of Duncanville City of Fort Worth/Keep Fort Worth Beautiful City of Garland Environmental Waste Services City of Garrett City of Grand Prairie City of Haltom City City of Hutto City of Ingleside City of Katy City of Keller City of La Porte City of Lake Dallas City of Lake Jackson City of Lancaster City of Lowry Crossing City of Mansfield City of McAllen City of Murphy City of Plano City of Richardson City of Richwood

City of Roanoke City of Sachse City of San Saba City of Seagoville City of Stafford City of Sudan COB/PUBLIC WORKS Environmental Co-op Keep Abilene Beautiful Keep Allen Beautiful Keep Athens Beautiful Keep El Paso Beautiful Keep Houston Beautiful Keep Irving Beautiful Keep Killeen Beautiful Keep Longview Beautiful Keep Midland Beautiful Keep Odessa Beautiful Keep Rowlett Beautiful Keep South Padre Island Beautiful Keep Sugar Land Beautiful Keep Victoria Beautiful Keep Whitehouse Beautiful MEDC Texarkana College Town of Horizon City Town of Quintana TxDOT TxDOT - Beaumont TxDOT - Brownwood TxDOT - Bryan TxDOT - Childress TxDOT - Dallas TxDOT - Lubbock TxDOT - Lufkin TxDOT - Paris TxDOT - Pharr TxDOT - San Angelo TxDOT - San Antonio TxDOT - Wichita Falls TxDOT - Yoakum Valley Proud Environmental Council (Harlingen) Village of Vinton

WEST VIRGINIA City of Wheeling Keep New Cumberland Beautiful Philippi Main Street, Inc. WISCONSIN BIO 111 Galloway Creek (Menomonie) Keep Greater Milwaukee Beautiful WYOMING Keep Casper Beautiful CANADA Take Pride Winnipeg!

UTAH Take Pride in Utah (Salt Lake City) VERMONT Vermont State Parks (Springfield) VIRGINIA Alliance for Chesapeake Bay (Richmond) Citizens for a Clean Lynchburg, Inc. City of Chesapeake Virginia Frederick County Clean Sweep (Winchester) Gloucester County Clean Community (Gloucester) Hampton Clean City Commission (Hampton) HandsOn Greater Richmond (Altria Group, Inc. Richmond Organizer) Keep Norfolk Beautiful Keep Southwest Virginia Beautiful (Abingdon) Keep Spotsylvania Beautiful Keep Suffolk Beautiful Newport News Recycling Prince William Clean Community Council (Woodbridge) WASHINGTON Naval Station Everett Recycle Navy Whidbey Recycle (Oak Harbor) Whitman Mission National Historic Site (Walla Walla)

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G r e at Ame r i can Cleanup // 2010 Report

National Sponsors and Partners Make it Happen

The Glad Products Company

Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co.

Pepsi-Cola Company

From the dawn of Keep America Beautiful’s national cleanup events, The Glad Products Company has continued its support of KAB’s mission. For 25 years, Glad has supported cleanups by donating 3.5 million GLAD® ForceFlex® and other GLAD® trash bags to organizations nationwide. Our volunteers could not clean up their communities without them!

As an 11-year sponsor, the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co., a subsidiary of Mars, Inc., provides in-kind product donations to volunteers of Great American Cleanup events. In addition, for the first time in 2010, Wrigley orchestrated an on-pack promotion in both general and Hispanic markets that resulted in the donation of funds to support Keep America Beautiful’s local activities.

As a 12-year sponsor, Pepsi-Cola Company once again donated beverages to help quench the thirst of volunteers at hundreds of events nationwide. The company also played an invaluable role in rallying volunteers, producing event posters promoting the “Green Starts Here” campaign. Program posters for organizations nationwide were graciously shipped by the Pepsi-Cola Company as well.

o.b.® tampons

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company

Troy-Bilt® Lawn and Garden Equipment

As a new sponsor to this year’s Great American Cleanup, o.b.® tampons challenged college-aged student organizations around the country to form small but mighty teams to compete for the chance to win funding for their local affiliates. The volunteer teams who made the mightiest impact received a $5,800 to their local KAB affiliate, along with a $5,800 donation to the charity/organization of their choice.

The Scotts-Miracle Gro Company, in its sixth year as a sponsor, launched a national initiative in conjunction with selected participating organizations to create edible community gardens in seven cities. Through the “Give Back To Gro” program, volunteers created community edible gardens and donated a portion of the harvest to local food pantries.

For the 12th year, Troy-Bilt continued its in-kind support by donating Troy-Bilt® Lawn and Garden equipment upon request to local organizations participating in the Great American Cleanup. The company also supplied sturdy work gloves to the volunteers. The donated equipment will continue to be used in the selected communities long after the cleanups and green-ups have ended, with great appreciation.

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In addition to providing funding through their generous National Sponsorship donations, the 2010 Great American Cleanup National Sponsors leveraged their partnership with Keep America Beautiful through strategic activation programs.

Waste Management

Nestlé® Pure Life® Purified Water

The Dow Chemical Company

Waste Management (WM) has proudly supported the Great American Cleanup for the past eight years. The company enhances its sponsorship by providing essential environmental services such as recycling and waste disposal to help clean up and beautify communities across the nation. Over 100 local KAB affiliates have also benefited from WM volunteer efforts and through the award of Community Improvement Grants.

A new 2010 sponsor, Nestlé® Pure Life® Purified Water is the Official Bottled Water National Sponsor of the Great American Cleanup. The top 25 state and local affiliates, who collected the most PET bottles for recycling during the 2010 Great American Cleanup, were each awarded $1,000 each for a Nestlé® Pure Life® PET Recycling Award. Nestlé Waters North America also provided 6 million bottles of Nestlé® Pure Life® water to keep busy volunteers hydrated.

For the third consecutive year, Dow supported the Great American Cleanup by marshalling its employees from 26 company locations around the nation in community cleanups and service projects including “trash bashes,” hazardous material collections, river, beach and bayou cleanups, tree and flower planting, invasive plant removal and recycling programs nationwide. Grants to local KAB affiliates and like-minded organizations further supported Dow’s commitment to Keep America Beautiful in a number of the community improvement events.

Solo Cup Company Returning as a second-year sponsor, Solo Cup Company donated Bare™ by Solo® cups and plates—made with renewable and recycled materials—to Great American Cleanup affiliates across the country, providing an environmentally preferable alternative to traditional single-use food service products. Hundreds of Solo volunteers also created and implemented community improvement events near nine of its facilities.

Keep America Beautiful would also like to thank its Great American Cleanup Promotional Partner, Crescent Art and Framing Products, and Educational Partner, the Rubber Manufacturers Association.

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G r e at Am e r i can Cleanup // 2010 R eport

Get Involved More than 30,000 Great American Cleanup events happen in communities across America. Get involved through your local participating organizations or Keep America Beautiful affiliates, or if there isn’t something happening in your area, you can even hold your own event. Volunteering for the Great American Cleanup Contact your local KAB affiliate or participating organization to find out dates, locations and details for local events. A full listing of organizations can be found at http://kab.org/gac.

Organizing Your Own Event The Great American Cleanup offers opportunities for concerned individuals, schools, community or church groups, or even local businesses to take control of their local environment, take action, and get involved. If you don’t have a local KAB affiliate or participating organization near you, here are a few steps to help you get started with your own activity or event.

1

Create a Steering Committee

Organize a cleanup committee by seeking out a few people who share your passion for the cause. Set a meeting date and let the ideas flow. Decide which project your group wants to tackle, and define responsibilities.

2

Set a Date

Set dates for your activities. Saturday mornings are often best, with an alternate rain date scheduled for the following weekend. Make sure your event doesn’t conflict with other major happenings or events in the community, especially ones that involve volunteers.

3

Tell Us What You’re Doing

Register your event at http://kab.org/gac_registration or email gac@kab.org and tell us your plans. Registrants can access an online Program Kit with lots of useful resources and tips, marketing materials and more. You may be eligible for receiving other in-kind support as well!

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4

Engage Local Government

Contact your local sanitation or public works department. They can advise you on the special trash bags or receptacles you may need, hauling, bulk items, illegal dumpsites, and any other special requirements. And talk to elected leaders about your plans—they can be great allies.

5

Enlist the Local Business Community

Turn to local business owners and your local chamber of commerce to support your efforts. Ask them to donate supplies, tools or refreshments, and to help you with promoting the event to their customers and employees.

6

Outreach and Promotion

Reach out to potential allies like scout troops, environmental clubs, church groups and other community organizations and enlist their help. Use Great American Cleanup promotional tools like posters, banners and press releases to promote your event. Contact local media and make them aware of your plans.

7

Prepare Your Volunteers

Make a checklist of the equipment you will need, permits and permissions required, and other important concerns. Be sure volunteers know what equipment to bring, and encourage them to be prepared at the event with sunscreen, hydration, and appropriate clothing for your project.

8

Don’t Forget to Say “Thank You”

Celebrate your achievements and say “thanks” to your volunteers and partners for a job well done. Consider hosting a picnic after activities are complete, and include local officials and others who helped you along the way.


How to Become a Great American Cleanup

About Keep America Beautiful

National Sponsor

Keep America Beautiful is the nation’s largest nonprofit

Keep America Beautiful’s Great American Cleanup is the

education and community improvement organization,

nation’s largest organized annual community improvement

whose network of nearly 1,200 city, county, statewide

program, built on a foundation of civic pride and individual

and international affiliates, as well as its Great American

responsibility. Great American Cleanup National Sponsors

Cleanup participating organizations, engage individuals in

provide substantial support to the Great American Cleanup

programs that prevent litter, reduce waste, and promote

program in a variety of ways, from in-kind donations to

recycling and the beautification of public spaces. Through

employee volunteer participation.

partnerships and strategic alliances with citizens, busi-

For more information on becoming a National Sponsor of Keep America Beautiful’s Great American Cleanup please contact: Gail Cunningham Senior Vice President - Keep America Beautiful Managing Director - Great American Cleanup Keep America Beautiful, Inc.

nesses and government, Keep America Beautiful’s programs motivate millions of volunteers annually to clean up, beautify and improve their neighborhoods, thereby creating safer and more livable community environments. Our Mission

To engage individuals to take greater responsibility for improving their community environments.

1010 Washington Blvd.

Our Guiding Principles

Stamford, CT 06901

• Individual responsibility

Tel: 203.659.3008

• Education

Email: gcunningham@kab.org

• Volunteer action • Public-private partnerships

Supporting Keep America Beautiful

Keep America Beautiful is committed to educating and involving individuals in productive solutions that care for a community’s environment. Whether supported through an outright gift or a life-income gift, all Keep America Beautiful programs and services are made possible through the generosity and commitment of organizations and individuals. If you would like to make a gift by using your credit card,

Our Focus

Keep America Beautiful provides sustainable solutions to improve the physical and visual aspects of community environments that individuals can directly influence through their own actions in the areas of: • Waste reduction and recycling • Litter prevention • Beautification and community greening

make a gift of securities, receive information about Keep America Beautiful’s Planned Giving Program, or become a corporate supporter, please contact Keep America Beautiful’s Development Office at 203.659.3018 or write to: Keep America Beautiful

Keep America Beautiful, Inc. 1010 Washington Boulevard Stamford, Connecticut 06901 www.kab.org

1010 Washington Boulevard Stamford, CT 06901 Attn: Development Office You can also find more information about Keep America Beautiful and the services and programs it provides by visiting its Web site at www.kab.org.

Design: Taylor Design Printing: Success Printing and Mailing, Inc. Paper: Rolland Enviro, manufactured with 100% post-consumer fiber using biogas energy. This review was printed using soy-based inks.


KEEP AMERICA BEAUTIFUL, INC. 1010 WASHINGTON BLVD, STAMFORD, CT 06901 Phone: (203) 659-3000 | Fax: (203) 659-3001 | Email: info@kab.org | Web site: www.kab.org


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