Great American Cleanup 2011 Annual Report by Keep America Beautiful

Great American Cleanup â&#x201E;˘

201 1 Report

Mobilizing Volunteers and Improving Communities All Across America

The Great American Cleanup, Keep America Beautifulâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;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 Letter

Green Starts Here

National Kickoff Events

2011 Great American Cleanup Highlights

Cleanups are Just the Beginning

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

Gardens and Greenspaces Help Communities Flourish

Educational Programs and Volunteering Energize Communities

Measuring Results State-by-State

2011 Great American Cleanup Results Summary

Affiliates and Participating Organizations

Great American Cleanup National Sponsors

Get Involved

Dear Great American Cleanup Friends and Supporters, The Great American Cleanup takes place annually in communities from coast to coast, and reaches a zenith of activity during the spring months of March, April and May. More than 3.8 million individuals this year joined hands to produce more vibrant, beautiful and cleaner towns, cities, parks and roadways in what continues to be the nation’s largest grassroots community improvement program. The activities documented in these pages pay testament to the people, organizations and sponsors that made it all a reality.

Love has its practical side, too. As many local and state government budgets continued to tighten in 2011, volunteer hours have become even more important. The 5.2 million hours volunteered during this year’s Great American Cleanup are valued at over $111 million in services returned to the community, according to current Independent Sector statistics.

Of course these armies of volunteers shoveled and raked mountains of topsoil and mulch, planted gardens and scoured roadsides for litter. They held recycling drives, tended saplings, and inspired schoolchildren. They built playgrounds and painted murals. This year, an unfortunately large number responded to natural disasters that shook them to their core.

We Americans have always risen to our challenges, and volunteer service is an important way that anyone can contribute to a better workplace, a better school, and a better community. The Great American Cleanup continues to be a vehicle for individuals and organizations to take a hands-on approach to building unity, strengthening bonds, and living with love. We hope you’ll join in an event in your community soon, and get involved.

But even much more than that, every one of them declared their love.

Sincerely,

Maybe they didn’t realize it—in fact, the thought probably never crossed their minds. But service to the community is the ultimate declaration of love for where you live and for the people—neighbors—who share the elements of your life. This becomes the foundation for truly united and cohesive communities that aren’t just aesthetically pleasing, but are more effective at overcoming challenges and addressing their needs directly.

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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Green Starts Here When nearly 4 million volunteers and participants unite with thousands of grassrooots organizations and commit 5.2 million hours to cleaning, greening and beautifying their communities, big things happen. Hometowns become better places to live, to conduct business and to raise a family. Campuses become better places for learning. Waterways become cleaner environments, habitats are restored, and pride grows. Keep America Beautiful’s 2011 Great American Cleanup accomplished this and more, with more than 30,000 events taking place in 16,500 communities nationwide. The 2011 campaign theme, “Green Starts Here,” was again 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, public art, 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

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 2011 Great American Cleanup—sponsors, volunteers, local organizations and coordinators—the results highlighted on these pages offer proof of the power of green.

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National Kickoff Event

Phoenix Hosts Desert Kickoff Keep Phoenix Beautiful’s Corporate Challenge Highlights Kickoff Activities

Keep Phoenix Beautiful (KPB) was one of three cities— Philadelphia and New York being the others—to serve as a host for 2011 Great American Cleanup National Kickoff celebrations with a weekend of fun and competition. Kickoff activities got underway on Friday, March 11, with an event at Phoenix’s CityScape, where dedicated volunteer George Young was presented with the President’s Volunteer Service Award, which included congratulatory letters from both President Barack Obama and Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon. Keep America Beautiful President Matt McKenna presented this prestigious award to Young for his phenomenal work spanning almost two decades as director of South Mountain Village Clean and Beautiful.

7,900

700

pounds of trash, trees and brush w e r e R e m ov e d

On March 11, KPB hosted a dinner at the Phoenix downtown Sheraton Hotel which included special guest of honor Terry Goddard, who was Phoenix’s mayor when Keep Phoenix Beautiful made its debut in 1982. Goddard provided an excellent tribute after a “KPB - 80’s style” retrospective was shown. The retrospective, produced by Terry Ricketts of APS Energy Services, KPB’s first executive director, was a great trip down memory lane. Barry Caldwell, Waste Management’s senior vice president of government affairs and corporate communications, was the dinner’s keynote speaker and Vice-Mayor Thelda Williams provided a warm welcome to the crowd. Saturday morning, KPB staffers were up early to gather with the 12 esteemed companies that participated in KPB’s third annual Corporate Challenge event. This year’s Corporate Challenge spanned 10 locations in both Phoenix and Tempe with more than 700 volunteers participating. The hard-working volunteers did everything from painting at Papago Park to turning compost at the Garden of Tomorrow to removing trash at Tempe Rio Salado.

(From left) Dedicated volunteer George Young, Keep America Beautiful President Matt McKenna, and Keep Phoenix Beautiful Executive Director Tom Waldeck.

Among the many generous donations provided were trees from APS and SRP, snacks and beverages from Pepsi, trash bags from Glad Products Company, water from from Nestlé® Pure Life® Purified Water, hand sanitizer from Henkel, and

Photos by Jim David, Jim David Photography

Children of Waste Management employees enjoy their painting.

Volunteers from SRP, a Phoenix utility company, planted trees at Papago Park.

Keep Phoenix Beautiful (KPB) conducted numerous activities during the Great American Cleanup program period. Here are some highlights: Collected five tons of discarded clothing and 1.7 tons of water bottles at the start of the PF Chang’s Rock N’ Roll Arizona Marathon. Adopted Cesar Chavez Plaza across from Phoenix City Hall where, with the help of APS, KPB volunteers planted trees and new shrubs. Renewed KPB’s adoption of the light rail stop at 1st Avenue & Jefferson. KPB’s Recyclesaurus made presentations to over 1,500 kids in 25 schools, teaching children about better recycling habits and litter prevention.

Hosted the national kickoff of the Great American Cleanup, which included an expo in downtown Phoenix as well as the annual Corporate Challenge with over 750 volunteers from 12 Phoenix companies. KPB hosted its third Earth Day Phoenix with major support from Nestlé Waters North America. This year, KPB had close to 100 exhibitors. Diverted thousands of toner cartridges out of the landfill by recycling them for area businesses.

plates and cups from Solo Cup Company. ScottsMiracleGro provided soil and Troy-Bilt® Lawn and Garden Equipment provided much-needed equipment. Keep Arizona Beautiful provided bags that were filled with fun giveaways for the volunteers. Waste Management was KPB’s title sponsor of this year’s Corporate Challenge event and made sure each site had bagsters and dumpsters, which were put to great use. More than 7,900 pounds of trash, trees and brush were removed, making way for a cleaner, greener community. Waste Management volunteers cleared away brush and debris at Papago Park.

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National Kickoff Event

Come Clean, Go Green! Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter Leads Charge for 4th annual Philly Spring Cleanup

by joining in on the theme song. Following his opening remarks, Mayor Nutter led volunteers in a ceremonial tree planting in the park. Organized by Keep Philadelphia Beautiful, the project’s volunteers worked throughout the day along a seven-mile stretch of the Cobbs Creek Park and the watershed, conducting tree plantings, creek-side cleanups and trail restorations.

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter addresses the volunteers.

Keep America Beautiful joined Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter, Keep Philadelphia Beautiful and the Philadelphia Streets Department for the 4th Annual Philly Spring Cleanup, one of the three 2011 Great American Cleanup National Kickoff events. This year’s mega-event in Philadelphia had a total of 12,574 volunteers participating in 252 cleaning and greening projects—the most ever registered for a Philly Spring Cleanup—with volunteers removing a total of more than 1.2 million pounds of trash.

Keep America Beautiful representatives and Miss America 2011 Teresa Scanlan joined Mayor Nutter on the second stop of the day at the Walnut Hill Spring Cleanup. Mayor Nutter also traveled to cleanup sites across Philadelphia to meet with volunteers and assist them with their projects. Volunteer projects included trash and debris removal, tree plantings, mulching and weeding, tire removal and water cleanups.

“Together, we rolled up our sleeves to make our city shine, block by block, in neighborhoods across Philadelphia.” M ichael nutter, Philadelphia Mayor

Mayor Nutter was joined by Keep America Beautiful President and CEO Matt McKenna, 2011 Miss America Teresa Scanlan, Keep Philadelphia Beautiful Executive Director Phoebe Coles, Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful President Shannon Reiter, local elected officials and community leaders, and many Great American Cleanup National Sponsor representatives at the Saturday morning kickoff at the Laura Sims Skate House in Cobbs Creek Park. The event began with live music from the West Powelton Steppers and Philadelphia rapper Tone Love, who performed the cleanup theme song, “Come Clean, Go Green.” The Mayor showed off his own rapping skills

“I want to express my appreciation to the thousands of volunteers who joined us on Saturday to show their love for our great city,” said Mayor Nutter. “Together, we rolled up our sleeves to make our city shine, block by block, in neighborhoods across Philadelphia and this year turned out to be another remarkable effort. The Philly Spring Cleanup is reflective of the great things that happen when neighbors, families and friends come together in support of a common goal to keep Philadelphia healthy and sustainable for many generations to come.” Photos courtesy of Andre Hunt, Hunt4Photos

Streets Commissioner Clarena Tolson said, “The Philly Spring Cleanup was a tremendous success for the fourth year in a row. The Streets Department worked long and hard with volunteers to keep up with the scale of items placed out for pick up. As we ‘Keep Up the Sweep Up,’ I urge residents to stay engaged in a year-round effort to keep our city beautiful.” The 4th Annual Philly Spring Cleanup’s theme—“Keep Up the Sweep Up”—is a rallying call to Philadelphians to be part of a year-round beautification effort. The first Philly Spring Cleanup in 2008 was recognized by Keep America Beautiful as the largest single-day, citywide cleanup on record (at the time) in the United States. City partners that participated in the effort included Keep Philadelphia Beautiful, Philadelphia More Beautiful Committee, Greater Philadelphia Cares, the Department of Parks & Recreation, City Year, The Mayor’s Office of Civic Engagement and Volunteer Services, UnLitter Us, the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability and Philadelphia Recycling Rewards.

Philly Spring Cleanup volunteers cleaned up everywhere from in front of their home (below) to a seven-mile stretch of Cobbs Creek Park and watershed (top). The West Powelton Steppers & Drum Squad (below) helped kick off the day’s celebration.

Keep Philadelphia Beautiful’s Token of Appreciation Awards took place the day prior to the Philly Spring Cleanup, with Mayor Nutter and executive staff from KAB and National Sponsor organizations joining in the celebration of Philadelphia’s volunteers. This community-driven award celebrates neighbors doing good works.

Philly Spring Cleanup

Keep America Beautiful and Keep Philadelphia Beautiful were joined by Philly Spring Cleanup local sponsors as well as Great America Cleanup National Sponsors. Lead sponsors of the event included Dow Chemical, Target and Waste Management. The City of Philadelphia also extended thanks to Dow for donating 1,000 gallons of paint to help cover up graffiti and repaint communities. Thanks were also extended to The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company and Troy-Bilt Lawn and Garden Equipment for the in-kind contributions for a number of beautification projects that were undertaken on the day of the kickoff.

Results Overall 252. . . . . . . . . . project sites (the most projects ever registered for a Philly Spring Cleanup) 12,574. . . . . . . . volunteers 1,240,360 . . . . pounds of trash removed 149,860. . . . . . pounds of material recycled 1,104. . . . . . . . . blocks cleaned 3,750 . . . . . . . . recycling bins distributed 255. . . . . . . . . . Recycling Rewards signups 7,280 . . . . . . . . tires removed 28. . . . . . . . . . . parks cleaned 17. . . . . . . . . . . . recreation centers cleaned

Supplies Distributed 44,204 . . . . . . trash and recycling bags 3,884 . . . . . . . . brooms 1,226 . . . . . . . . shovels 1,952 . . . . . . . . rakes 1,011 . . . . . . . . . gallons of paint 1,422. . . . . . . . . paint brushes City Assistance 103 . . . . . . . . . . rubbish and recycling crews 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . tire trucks 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . front-end loaders

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National Kickoff Event

Celebrating a Greener New York Keep New York City Beautiful Coalition’s Times Square Rally Recognizes President’s Volunteer Service Award Winners Keep America Beautiful’s Great American Cleanup (GAC) Times Square Kickoff, which was the official launch of Keep New York City Beautiful (KNYCB) coalition’s GAC activities throughout all five boroughs of the city, also served as the fourth anniversary of both Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s PlaNYC and the formation of KNYCB.

Students from Holy Cross School posed with Miss America 2011 Teresa Scanlan in Times Square.

Miss America 2011 Teresa Scanlan was among the many celebrities and dignitaries sharing the stage for the “Green Starts Here” rally. The event also featured local and national nonprofits, business leaders, and government officials as well as performances from Broadway’s “Mamma Mia,” teen hip hop artist J.Xavier and environmental magician Steve Trash. Because volunteerism is an essential component of the success of the GAC, Take Pride in America Executive Director Lisa Young, representing the U.S. Department of the Interior, presented President’s Volunteer Service Awards (PVSA) to Luis and Natividad Rosario, and Maggie Burnett for their commitment to clean and green New York City neighborhoods. In the last 10 years, Luis and Natividad Rosario have volunteered more than 20,000 hours each. Growing up in Puerto Rico, they wanted to reconnect with the land in their new country. With the help of friends, they cleaned up a lot adjacent to PS 43 in the Bronx, and started planting vegetables. They named their new garden “Wanaqua,” after the legendary chief of an ancient

Caribbean tribe. The Rosarios encouraged the students and staff from the school to experience Wanaqua Garden first-hand by volunteering and enjoying the fruits of the garden. For the past 60 years, Maggie Burnett has volunteered more than 40,000 hours in a neighborhood garden in Harlem. When the house across the street was torn down, Burnett kept the lot clean by removing discarded tires and garbage, while discouraging illegal activity. In time, this green space became a community gathering place. In the late ’90s, the New York Restoration Project, founded by Bette Midler, wanted to help with Burnett’s garden. Hundreds of people attended the official opening of “Maggie’s Garden” in 2002, including Midler and President Bill Clinton. Burnett said, “This garden has meant so much to me. Like for so many community gardeners, this garden is my life.” Keep New York City Beautiful coalition leaders including David Bragdon, director of planning and sustainability for New York City; Peter Kostmayer, president, Citizens Committee for New York City; and Marcel Van Ooyen, executive director, GrowNYC, all participated in the kickoff celebration. Moreover, check presentations were made to Keep New York City Beautiful coalition by Wayne Park, president and CEO, LG Electronics USA; Mike Carbonara, president, northeast region, The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company; and Kim Frankovich, vice president, sustainability, Solo Cup Company.

(From left) Gail Cunningham, KAB; Wayne Park, LG Electronics USA; Tim Gardner, Illinois Tool Works; Matt McKenna, KAB.

The cast of Broadway’s “Mamma Mia” entertained the crowd.

Photos by Jeff Connell, Camera·1

Great American Cleanup Highlights

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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 2011 alone, 177 million pounds of litter and debris were collected by volunteers throughout the country.

Cleanups Take On New Meaning after Tornadoes During the 2010 Great American Cleanup (GAC), Keep Tennessee Beautiful (KTnB) affiliates faced down nature in the form of floods. This year, nature showed its awesome force again, hitting KTnB affiliates—and Tennessee’s neighboring states—with another force of nature: tornadoes. Keep Cleveland/Bradley Beautiful (KCBB) and Keep Greene Beautiful (KGB) both had to deal with the aftermath created from late April tornadoes. The two affiliates “rolled up their sleeves,” as KCBB Executive Director Joanne Maskew put it, and got to work. Maskew had organized and completed at least 15 GAC events before several tornadoes hit the Cleveland/Bradley County area on April 27. The southern and northwest portions of the community received the most damage. Several schools were damaged beyond recognition. “Volunteers from various organizations began meeting within a day or two of the tornadoes, reviewing what needed to be done, and what type of equipment was needed,” Maskew said. “I began to think of ways KCBB could help, and immediately began delivering water, work gloves, and trash bags to the Salvation Army.”

As you can imagine, KCBB’s GAC totals increased dramatically because of the tornado cleanup. KCBB reported that a total of 11,388 volunteers from 1,555 community groups cleaned up 57,000 tons—yes, tons!— of litter from 215 miles of road in the Cleveland/Bradley County area during 54 different GAC events. Forty-five junk cars were also collected for recycling. In addition to the tornado debris pickup, KCBB gathered 16,540 pounds of plastic, 29,720 pounds of glass, 1,192 pounds of aluminum, 228,500 pounds of paper, 13,038 tires, 1,897 pounds of batteries, and 2,273 pounds of electronics. The organization also collected 90 pounds of clothing for reuse, which was given to The Caring Place. Maskew still found time to host 65 education workshops, attended by 1,011 adults and 1,235 children.

greene County, TN

Fort worth, TX

sidney, NE

phoenix, az

“When something this traumatic hits your community, we have to review the priorities, and work toward the goal of meeting needs,” she said. “In other words, you just toss your agenda, and roll up your sleeves. I grew up on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, so hurricanes and tornadoes were a way of life. I know how real this is, and saw relatives lose it all when Hurricane Katrina hit.” Keep Greene Beautiful Director Jennifer Reynolds faced her own challenges in Greene County. Reynolds said, “I took trash bags that [KTnB Executive Director] Sutton [Mora Hayes] sent me for the tornado, and some food, but KGB didn’t really go out to the area because it was so chaotic afterwards, and they weren’t letting people out there for a long time.”

Photo by Jim David, Jim David Photography

The southern section of Greene County took the worst part of the damage from the storm. Regardless, Reynolds did the best she could to help the area despite the bad predicament. KGB reported that a total of 430 volunteers participated in 40 events, and gathered 24 tons of litter from 58 miles of Greene County roads. Sixteen education workshops were held, attended by 300 adults and 500 children. KGB also did its share of recycling, gathering 39,627 pounds of electronics. Regardless of the obstacles faced by the tornadoes, Keep Tennessee Beautiful achieved 100-percent county participation for the Great American Cleanup for the fifth year in a row.

“ When something this traumatic hits your community, we have to review the priorities, and work toward the goal of meeting needs.” Joanne Mas kew, Executive Director of Keep Cleveland/Bradley Beautiful

greene County, TN

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Memphis Post-Flood Volunteers Rally on ‘Mud Island’

San Diego’s Creek to Bay Cleanup Posts Impressive Results

The banks of the Mississippi River began overflowing in Memphis in April, cresting at nearly 48 feet on May 10. With the tributaries that feed the river backed up, there were an estimated 2,500 damaged properties left in the flood’s wake, with debris everywhere.

The 9th annual Creek to Bay Cleanup, coordinated by I Love A Clean San Diego (ILACSD), reached more cleanup sites than ever before, with 75 coastal and inland locations manned by 5,350 volunteers, who removed 80 tons of debris on April 30.

Keep America Beautiful affiliate Memphis City Beautiful (MCB) was bombarded with calls from volunteers who wanted to help do something after the great flood, said Cyndy Grivich Tucker of MCB. Unlike a flash flood, this type of flood water recedes slowly, allowing chemicals and major health hazards to ferment, she noted.

“Not only did these volunteers protect communities countywide, they additionally prevented marine debris caused by litter that travels from San Diego’s creeks, streams and storm drains to the coast where it contaminates our bays and beaches,” said Natalie Roberts, director of community events for ILACSD.

As a result, volunteer opportunities for local cleanups were initially very limited. Memphis City Beautiful met with representatives from the Mayor’s office and the public; it was decided that the city’s public works department would carve out public areas and specific streets for MCB to make available for its volunteers.

While the Creek to Bay Cleanup is primarily focused on litter removal, ILACSD conducted a wide variety of side projects to accompany cleanups at various locations countywide. There were tree plantings, invasive plant removal, weeding, a graffiti paint-out and park restoration, among many other initiatives. River, lake and shoreline cleanups are among the most common activity during the GAC with 6,400 miles being cleaned up across the country from March through May.

The first available site was at Harbor Town’s Greenbelt Park on Mud Island—an “island” in the middle of the Mississippi River that is a mix of a residential area, a school, greenbelt and the Mud Island River Park. Mounds of litter and driftwood had been left behind as the water receded. Memphis City Beautiful, which provided bags, gloves and other supplies, teamed with a homeowners’ association and the Riverfront Development Corporation to clean up along the river, playground, park, and more, on May 21. More than 140 volunteers braved more rain and the Tennessee heat to help their fellow citizens clean up around their homes, picking up trash left behind by the receding flood waters.

memphis, tn

While volunteers removed the typical items including cigarette butts and plastic bags, there were a few unusual items that appeared. This year’s unusual items included: a bathroom sink, AstroTurf and an Easy Bake oven. Many volunteers noted an unusually large amount of tires at their cleanup sites; there were more than 800,000 scrap tires collected overall for recycling during the Great American Cleanup. In 2011, ILACSD focused on reducing the disposable plastic cleanup supplies used at the event, Roberts added. “With over 5,000 volunteers, we end up going through thousands

san diego, CA

of plastic bags and single-use gloves,” she said. “To help solve this problem, we asked volunteers to bring their own reusable cleanup supplies, such as buckets, burlap, and reusable water bottles, and we gave away reusable work gloves as to all volunteers to use during the cleanup. We were not only able to minimize waste for such a large-scale event, but also better prepare volunteers for the nature of work at several sites. Sturdier gloves were a large improvement for volunteers doing planting, invasive plant removal, and other heavy duty volunteer work.”

lexington, KY

“Bicyclists are giving back by cleaning up the trails they use,” Stevens said about the bicycle cleanup, which was one of five major KIB projects taking place that day. During the 2011 GAC, 3,800 miles of biking, hiking and nature trails were cleaned or beautified, which was a 12.4 percent improvement over the 2010 total.

Great Indy Cleanup … with Bikes! The forecast was for a gloomy, rainy April day, but 25 volunteers on bicycles made sure to leave Indianapolis’ Monon Trail looking bright and shiny as the day progressed.

IndyCog, Indianapolis’ only bicycle education and advocacy group, and KIB teamed up for the Great Indy Cleanup Monon Cleanup to clear the eight-mile walking/biking trail of debris. Volunteers collected litter in recycled kitty litter buckets that had been retrofitted into bike “saddle bags,” and left their trash bags at cross streets, which were then picked up by city waste haulers later that day, according to Tammy Stevens, KIB’s program manager of litter/recycling, volunteers and neighborhood cleanups.

Jamison Hutchins of IndyCog commented: “I think we made some great progress, especially at the dead end street of 28th Street, which seems to be a city favorite for people to dump everything from vinyl siding and carpeting to just general junk. We are going to work with the city to block this area off so it will not be quite as inviting for illegal dumping in the future.”

2 0 1 1 GA C F A C T

While Keep Indianapolis Beautiful (KIB) conducted more than 250 events that included more than 11,000 volunteers during the Great American Cleanup, this particular cleanup effort was quite unique.

INDIANAPOLIS, IN

12.4% INCREASE IN MILES

OF BIKING, hiking and nature trails cleaned or beautified over the 2010 total

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Keep Carson Beautiful Cleans Dominguez Channel Keep Carson (Calif.) Beautiful (KCB), a new Keep America Beautiful affiliate, partnered with Adopt a Storm Drain and Goodyear in its very first Great American Cleanup. The cleanup site was the water’s edge of Dominguez Channel at Main Street in Carson. Regular efforts by organizations like KCB and Adopt a Storm Drain, as well as responsible municipalities like the City of Carson, have reduced the amount of trash along the channel over the years; but, it continues to be a daunting and ongoing task. The Dominguez Channel drains 72 square miles of the 133 square miles of the Dominguez Watershed in heavily populated, southwestern Los Angeles County. Approximately 42 percent of this 15-mile long channel flows through Carson and, ultimately, discharges into the Los Angeles Harbor.

Carson, CA

At the Great American Cleanup, 70 KCB volunteers focused their efforts on the Main Street crossing of the Dominguez Channel, which provides a secluded location for an encampment for homeless people. Small pieces of trash and plastic bags made up the majority of items recovered from the steep sides of the channel. The volunteers overcame unsteady footing and the hot morning sun to gather 350

columbia, MS

pounds of trash during their three-hour effort. An encore cleanup event at the same location took place in June with a smaller group of volunteers—another 350 pounds of trash was collected from the banks of the channel as well as a dozen recently-dumped computer screens. Maintaining clean, healthy watersheds is one important byproduct of the Great American Cleanup. In 2011, 6,400 miles of rivers, lakes and shorelines were cleaned as well as an additional 12,200 acres of wetlands.

No More Litter Llamas An estimated 400 volunteers turned out for the semi-annual Keep Sevier (Tenn.) Beautiful Roads and Rivers Day Cleanup on March 26. As part of the organization’s Great American Cleanup event, volunteers of all ages were given maps, trash bags, and equipment at eight different sites. Nearly half of these volunteers registered at Sevierville Primary School, where they had help from some special guests: “No More Litter Llamas,” courtesy of Smoky Mountain Llama Treks, who assisted in the cleanup by transporting some of the collected litter. Owner Sandy Sgrillo brought four llamas to one of the eight sites; the “Llamas Against Litter” helped draw more than 200 volunteers to the cleanup project, according to Keep Sevier Beautiful Executive Director Elizabeth Reed. “People who never considered picking up litter came to see the llamas and left promising to come back and help again,” she said.

Sevierville, tn

vero beach, FL

sebring, fl

Milwaukee, WI

Great American Cleanup volunteers have to be pretty hardy individuals in the Midwest and Northeast—in places such as Milwaukee or Buffalo—as the spring thaw arrives at different times and stages throughout the early spring months. Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, for example, called upon all Milwaukeeans to help clean their neighborhoods once winter’s icy grip was melting away, revealing litter and debris. “Nuisances like broken bags of garbage are real public health hazards,” said Mayor Barrett. “When the public pitches in, it saves the limited city resources for more urgent needs. Everyone wins with a clean city.” To further make his point, Mayor Barrett, Alderman Jim Witkowiak and other Milwaukee officials joined a number of community groups in picking up litter with Keep Greater Milwaukee Beautiful (KGMB) helping residents to coordinate their neighborhood cleanups. KGMB provided cleaning supplies and tools, such as rakes and shovels. In return, volunteers were rewarded with coupons for discounted admission to a number of Milwaukee County Park attractions.

“ When the public pitches in, it saves the limited city resources for more urgent needs. Everyone wins with a clean city.” To m B a r r e t t, Milwaukee Mayor

Keep Greater Milwaukee Beautiful conducted 430 events and engaged more than 54,000 volunteers during the GAC. One of KGMB’s more successful partnerships during the GAC is with the Milwaukee Riverkeepers. More than 3,000 volunteers participated in an April project that cleaned more than 100 miles of river parkway with volunteers collecting more than 6,000 bags of trash and debris. “With the rivers being an important part of the water system in Milwaukee, it is essential that they be cared for,” said KGMB Executive Director Joe Wilson.

2 0 1 1 GA C F A C T

Spring Thaw is Welcome Sight for Milwaukee Cleanup Volunteers

Rome, GA

177,000

acres of park and public lands cleaned

“Trash Trek” for Litter Keep Beatrice (Neb.) Beautiful sponsored a Beatrice Elementary School “Trash Trek for Litter” in April, preparing 1,200 bright yellow flyers with a folded Glad trash bag attached. The flyers were sent home with each elementary student in Beatrice. Students were asked to walk a square block near their home or a park area (with a parent) and pick up litter. More than 200 bags filled with litter (4,000 pounds) were returned in midApril. It was estimated that 77 miles of roadways were cleaned as a result of this student effort. One winner from each school was chosen as “Mayor for a Day.” The six student winners met with Mayor Dennis Schuster and the City Council, received certificates of appreciation from the Mayor and $50 from Keep Beatrice Beautiful.

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Keeping Communities Clean

partne r p rof i le

Waste Management Serves as a Crucial Collaborator for the Great American Cleanup

Waste Management, the nation’s largest waste hauler and recycler, provides invaluable infrastructure support to communities and their volunteers, who are removing millions of tons of litter and debris from the nation’s roadways, highways and waterways during the GAC.

Keep Mississippi Beautiful/ PAL’s 2011 Great American Cleanup statewide kickoff took place in Bay Saint Louis with restoration and beautification activities taking place at its historic train depot, Valena C. Jones/Boys & Girls Club, City Hall Complex, Martin Luther King, Jr. Park, Cedar Rest Cemetery, Larroux Park, Seventh Street Park, and streets and roadways throughout Bay Saint Louis. This coastal community was one of hundreds—ranging from Queens, N.Y. to Antelope Valley, Calif.—that received additional support from National Sponsor Waste Management, now in its ninth year of supporting the Great American Cleanup. Whether it’s providing manpower or waste collection infrastructure, Waste Management and its more than 100 local offices are always at the disposal of KAB affiliates and GAC participating organizations. At the Bay Saint Louis kickoff, for example, Waste Management Area Municipal and Public Affairs Manager Warren Guedry was responsible for the completion of the three gazebos with assistance from his company and local U.S. Air Force volunteers. Guedry has been a frequent

participant in the planning stages of this and past years’ Great American Cleanup events in Mississippi. This year’s GAC Mississippi kickoff was orchestrated by Katharine Truett Ohman, the president of the Keep Bay Saint Louis Beautiful affiliate and the city’s volunteer coordinator, as well as Keep Bay Saint Louis Beautiful Executive Director Katie Stewart, in conjunction with the City’s Beautification Department, and Tommy Kidd, environmental consultant for Hancock County and Bay Saint Louis “Our biggest transformation was Larroux Park, which was heavily damaged by Hurricane Katrina, and has been untouched since then,” said Stewart. “Also, we started a community garden at this GAC, which is being utilized by the Boys & Girls Club and senior citizens.” Thirteen volunteer members of the 22nd Naval Construction Regiment from the Naval Construction Battalion Center in Gulfport, Miss., reported to the Bay Saint Louis City Yard to construct picnic tables and park benches that would be located in city parks and other public areas. Morever, an organization of Mennonite volunteers, Christian Public Service, also volunteered for the event by helping to prepare the sites at Larroux Park, the newly-created Al Smith Park and the east side of City Hall with concrete footings and corner posts for the gazebos.

Bay St. Louis, Ms

brevard county, fl

Bay St. Louis, Ms

“We’re extremely fortunate to have people like these young men come forward to do what’s needed, when it’s needed,” said Mayor Les Fillingame. “Their work here paves the way for other volunteer groups.” Marlin Miller of Ft. Walton Beach, Fla., returned to Mississippi to carve an angel outside the Christ Episcopal Church. Miller has carved wooden sculptures in trees that died as a result of Hurricane Katrina’s storm surge from Ocean Springs to Waveland. He has donated his time to sculpt trees in Pass Christian and Waveland during previous KAB events. Other Great American Cleanup events that received additional support from Waste Management included river cleanups, e-cycling events, a lake restoration, and the transformation of a sports complex, among many other projects. The St. Johns River Celebration is a one-day volunteer cleanup of Florida’s St. Johns River and its major tributaries. Volunteers from a host of KAB Florida affiliates including Keep Clay County Beautiful, Keep Volusia Beautiful, Keep Jacksonville Beautiful and Keep Brevard Beautiful, among others, worked at cleanup sites to help raise awareness of river issues. Keep Pearl (Miss.) Beautiful transformed a highly-used softball complex by placing brick pavers around the complex, adding greenery and flowers, and updating the trash receptacles. Forty volunteers representing a variety of organizations, including the Pearl Parks & Recreation Department, Urban Forestry Board and members, Pearl Chamber of Commerce, members of the local softball league, Spring Lake Garden Club, Master Gardens, and other community volunteers made this transformation happen. In Louisiana, Keep St. Martin Beautiful focused its cleanup and restoration of Lake Martin and the Cypress Island Preserve. Keep Livingston Beautiful’s 50 volunteers picked up litter and beautified the town of Denham Springs, La. The Team Green of Southwest Louisiana’s annual Trash Bash, which focuses on collecting non-hazardous, residential trash at Lake Charles’ airport, was another great success this year.

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Waste Management presented a donation to Keep Mobile (Ala.) Beautiful and Mobile Mayor Sam Jones in support of its Electronics Recycling Event at the Greater Gulf State Fairgrounds. More than 150 volunteers helped accept electronics with Waste Management providing equipment for the event. The Antelope Valley (Calif.) Illegal Dumping Task Force planned various cleanup events across the entire valley, with support from Waste Management. The cleanup took place at an open desert location that has experienced a high number of incidents of illegal dumping. Volunteers, including local stakeholders such as a Town Council member and local scout troops, aided in the cleanup effort.

“We’re extremely fortunate to have people like these young men come forward to do what’s needed, when it’s needed.” L es fillin gam e, Bay Saint Louis Mayor

In another California project, the nesting of an endangered Least Bell’s Vireo caused the postponement of another proposed cleanup. Partnering with a local Waterkeeper Alliance member, volunteers participated in a beautification project and learned the importance of protecting the local waterways. Keep It Moving, a Great American Cleanup participating organization in Detroit, conducted a cleanup and flowerplanting event in Pinegrove Park in May. Waste Management also provided an educational tour of the Waste Management Detroit Recovery Center for a group of local students.

G r e at Am er i can C leanup // 2011 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 2011 effort created the most significant recycling results in the history of the event.

Newport Recycling Event Wide-Ranging The Great American Cleanup brings together people from all walks of life to share in the experience of cleaning and improving the place they call home. One of the most popular GAC activities is the proverbial citywide “spring cleanup.” The Clean City Program of Newport, R.I., a GAC participating organization, conducted its “Spring Recycling Day,” attracting more than 450 people throughout the city. The amount and variety of recyclables collected was impressive. Clean City Program Coordinator Kristen Littlefield reported that more than 5,000 pounds of electronic items, 1,700 pounds of bulky plastics, 220 pounds of Styrofoam, more than 3,100 pounds of shredded paper, and even 40 pounds of cooking oil were collected for recycling or reuse.

In the reuse category, 25 bikes were collected as well as nearly 5,000 pounds of clothing and household items, which went to the local Big Sisters organization. More than 6.2 million pounds of clothing were collected during the GAC, a 10 percent increase over the 2010 GAC results. As impressive, the Clean City Program sold 65 sets of recycling bins and 19 compost bins during the event and prevented 18,000 pounds of material from going into the local landfill.

Did You Know? 3 hrs

Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run your television for three hours.

NEWPORT, RI

greenville, sc

‘Recycling Rodeo’ Corrals Asheville Residents The Recycling Rodeo is an annual event that brings together a host of nonprofits at the City Tailgate Market in Asheville, N.C., to provide a day of recycling education. “We use the ‘Recycling Rodeo’ to corral hard-to-recycle items at an already popular community event,” said Eric Bradford, clean communities coordinator for Asheville GreenWorks. “We tie this into the Great American Cleanup to promote more recycling awareness.” Bradford indicated that this collaboration allows the participating nonprofits to share costs, spread exposure about their recycling message, and highlight odd items that can be recycled. This year, Asheville GreenWorks introduced the Asheville BagMonster, a new character who educates people about plastics recycling, at this popular organic tailgate market. Each of the nonprofits bring something different to the experience. Beside Asheville GreenWorks, other participants include Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project, which puts together the “City Tailgate Market,” bringing in local farmers and craftspeople to a central location; Curbside

“ We use the ‘Recycling Rodeo’ to corral hard-to-recycle items at an already popular community event.” Eric Bra dfo rd, Clean Communities Coordinator for Asheville GreenWorks

Management, which handles all of the heavy and old plastics; Rainbow Recycling, which recycles styrofoam; EcycleUS, which is an e-cycling organization; and Asheville GreenWorks, which provided the volunteers and coordinated the media outreach for this event.

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Prescription Drug Take-Back Days Americans participating in the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA’s) third National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day on Oct. 29 turned in more than 188.5 tons of unwanted or expired medications for safe and proper disposal at the 5,327 take-back sites that were available in all 50 states and U.S. territories. When the results of the three Take-Back Days to date are combined, the DEA and its law-enforcement and community partners have removed nearly 1 million pounds of medication from circulation in slight more than a year. Prescription Drug Take-Back Days took place during the Great American Cleanup as well. Dickson County, Tenn., led the charge in its state with its effort coordinated by Litter Grant Program Educator Kim Sensing. Sensing conducted a Prescription Drug Take-Back Event in which residents of Dickson County and surrounding areas brought in nearly 50,000 pills. Of those pills, more than 5,250 were controlled substances. To add to the success of the prescription pill “take-back” drive, 23 pounds of plastic pill bottles were also recycled. Close to 100 pounds of medication, including pills and liquids, were brought in to the Greenwood Sheriff’s Office for Keep Greenwood County Beautiful’s program. All the drugs

Mobile, Al

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collected were sealed in large boxes and are taken to secure facilities for weighing and incineration, according to the DEA. The purpose of this event was not only to provide a safe and secure way to prevent OTC and prescription drugs from getting into the wrong hands; it also helped to educate citizens on environmental hazards of flushing or improperly disposing of these drugs into the environment. In Bellevue, Neb., Green Bellevue, conducting its second Great American Cleanup, helped promote Take-Back Day with a program sponsored by its local police. It collected approximately 2,500 pounds of unwanted or expired medications. Keep Cobb Beautiful collected a similar amount of pharmaceuticals—2,700 pounds—during its Medication Disposal Day.

Nestlé® Pure Life® Contest Spurs PET Recycling More than 290 million PET (plastic) bottles were recycling during the 2011 Great American Cleanup, another recycling milestone for volunteers across the country. Nestlé® Pure Life® Purified Water, which is the Official National Bottled Water Sponsor of the GAC, worked with Keep America Beautiful to conduct its second Nestlé® Pure Life® PET Recycling Awards, which recognizes the top 24 KAB affiliates that collect the most pounds of PET for recycling based on the affiliates’ population. Nestlé Waters North America also provided 3 million bottles of water to quench the thirst of GAC volunteers. There were eight awards given in each of three population categories, per capita based on population served: small (less than 50,000); medium (50,000–250,000); and large (more than 250,000). Keep Tennessee Beautiful was recognized as the state affiliate who achieved the most PET collected for recycling based on population served. Keep Schuyler (Neb.) Beautiful, recognized in the small city category, conducted a Plastics (PET) Recycling Contest for students of Schuyler Elementary School. During April students recycled 41,927 PET containers. The students brought their PET containers to the Colfax County Recycling Facility with the staff tracking the bottles. The contest brought in new families to visit the facility, a residual benefit.

Chattanooga, TN

Scrap Tires Removed from Chattanooga Creek Years after millions of federal dollars were spent on a U.S. EPA Superfund cleanup to remove coal tar and thousands of scrap tires from Tennessee’s Chattanooga Creek, more tires had been dumped in the river. Thanks to a grant from Valvoline, as well as sweat equity from local Valvoline Instant Oil Change (VIOC) volunteers, nearly 600 scrap tires were removed from the creek. Scenic Cities Beautiful’s Program Coordinator Jeannette Eigelsbach coordinated the effort with the VIOC team. The scrap tire cleanup in Chattanooga was one of 10 similar community outreach initiatives supported by Valvoline grants for Keep America Beautiful affiliate and Great American Cleanup participating organization communities that took place during the GAC and into the fall. (See story on page 30.) Scenic Cities Beautiful had been seeking volunteers to remove scrap tires from the Chattanooga Creek. Because of its past history, there was great community interest in conducting a cleanup, commented Eigelsbach. The conditions were too difficult for the average volunteers, she said, so “the Valvoline guys’ experience and abilities made them very valuable.” “The tires were very hard to get to because they were thrown off a bridge down a steep bank and in the creek,”

Top right Photo by John Rawlston, Chattanooga Free Times Press.

Eigelsbach added. “It was nearly 100 degrees with unbearable humidity. They worked nonstop for five hours. Everyone was ready to give up, but not the Valvoline volunteers.” Dave Rednour, Valvoline’s Chattanooga-area manager, brought together Chattanooga-area store managers and other volunteers. “Our company slogan is ‘Get caught doing something great,’ and we’re doing everything we can to reach out in the community. So we’re happy to help with this,” Rednour told the Chattanooga Times Free Press. Scrap tire removal is a major effort among Great American Cleanup participating organizations. More than 800,000 scrap tires were removed, from small affiliate communities such as Keep Nassau Beautiful in Yulee, Fla. (more than 31,000 scrap tires) and Keep Etowah Beautiful in Gadsden, Ala. (more than 23,500 scrap tires) to statewide programs for the removal of tires from illegal dump sites, such as the one that Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful conducts.

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T i res co llected during the 2011 Great A mer i can C lean u p

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Charlotte County, FL

Recycling Opportunities Introduced at Florida Air Show With more than 2,200 significant general awareness events attracting 4.8 million attendees during the Great American Cleanup, event recycling plays a crucial role. The Florida International Air Show (FIAS) in Charlotte County, Fla., is a nonprofit show that attracts 40,000 attendees and is staffed entirely by volunteers. The FIAS never had recycling available at its event prior to the 2011 air show when Keep Charlotte Beautiful (KCB), located in Port Charlotte, Fla., took on the task. A recipient of a PepsiCo Dream Machine bin grant, a collaborative program among PepsiCo, Waste Management and Keep America Beautiful, KCB had already begun a recycling bin program in local schools and also had started a lend-a-bin program for community events. Working with Waste Management on collecting recyclables, KCB placed 35 recycling bins throughout the airport area and collected 1,600 pounds of PET and aluminum during the FIAS. Glenda Anderson, KCB’s executive director, reports that because the event recycling program was so successful, the FIAS in 2012 will have twice the number of recycling bins.

columbus, ga

Gwinnett Students Donate Used Clothing The Gwinnett (Ga.) School for Math, Science and Technology conducted a creative reuse project during the Great American Cleanup. The “Clothing Reuse Project” was used as a teaching and learning laboratory, according to Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful Executive Director Connie Wiggins. The lab was constructed within a classroom for students to browse and select clothing for a 21st Century job interview. The goal of the project was to help prepare and train students to succeed in a job interview and better understand the value of “gently-used” clothing, which was donated to a thrift store at the conclusion of the project.

2,180 S H OES

Did You Know? Keep Knoxville Beautiful conducted a shoe collection program with Souls4Souls, which resulted in 2,180 pairs of shoes being collected—as well as 19 single shoes.

Alliance Students Recycle “Crazy Crayons” Keep Alliance (Neb.) Beautiful partnered with Alliance Public Schools, Hemingford Public Schools, and St. Agnes Academy on various projects during the Great American Cleanup. There were three school-based events that took place: the “Crazy Crayon” Contest, a K-5 Calendar Art Contest and the Students 4 Recycling Contest. Before

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Emerson Elementary, Grandview Elementary and St. Agnes Academy participated in the Crazy Crayon collection. Broken, used or unwanted crayons were placed in collection boxes at the schools. The program collected more than 150 pounds of crayons, which were then shipped to a recycled crayon company to produce—yes, recycled crayons!

The Exhibit showcases artwork that is made from recycled materials and created by local art classes from Pre-K through Grade 12. For the 2011 show, there were over 330 entries. It was the first year that the event took place in conjunction with the Brunswick Downtown Merchant’s Association’s “First Friday.” The artwork was judged by local artists and ribbons were presented to students in several grade levels; all students received certificates of participation, and participating schools received recognition plaques.

pounds of newspaper recycled, in millions 2007

“TRASH Art” Raises Recycling Awareness Keep Brunswick-Golden Isles Beautiful (KBGIB) in Brunswick, Ga., raises awareness of recycling with local students through the Recycled TRASH Art Contest & Exhibit, which continues to be the most creative and unusual event that the affiliate sponsors, according to KBGIB Executive Director Marsha Smith.

2008 2009

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GRO1000 Gardens and Green Spaces Thrive

partner profi le

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company Cultivates Community Gardens and Green Spaces During the Great American Cleanup

Community edible gardening can foster public service and inspire community spirit. The ScottsMiracle-Gro Company’s GRO1000 initiative brings students and other volunteers together to produce generous harvests for the needy.

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company established GRO1000, a commitment to install 1,000 gardens and green spaces in the United States and select international sites by 2018. The last installation will be completed in 2018, which coincides with the 150th anniversary of the founding of ScottsMiracle-Gro. HOUSTON, TX

Throughout 2011, ScottsMiracle-Gro and its partners—Keep America Beautiful, Plant A Row for the Hungry, Garden Writers Association, the National Gardening Association and Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens—established gardens and green spaces in Tampa, Fla., Los Angeles, Houston and Chicago during KAB’s Great American Cleanup. A portion of all installed garden harvests were donated to support the hunger needs of the local community.

| The first GRO1000 green space was established on March 1, the opening day of the Great American Cleanup, at Morning Star School in Tampa, where teachers, students and other volunteers got their hands dirty planting edible and learning gardens on the school’s campus. Keep America Beautiful, Keep Tampa Beautiful, Tampa Bay Beautification, Morning Star School and ScottsMiracle-Gro gathered for the dedication and planting of edible gardens, a sensory garden, butterfly garden and grounds beautification. Held in conjunction with Unity Garden Event Day activities, the Morning Star School Unity Garden installation is for the educational and experiential benefit of students with learning disabilities and related learning challenges. Most Holy Redeemer Food Pantry will be the beneficiary of the Morning Star garden harvests. tampa

“Not only does gardening help promote discovery and imagination, it also encourages a healthier lifestyle by getting kids outside, active, and excited about planting and eating vegetables and fruit,” said Eileen Daly from Morning Star School. “As the site of the first GRO1000 garden of 2011, we are thrilled to bring important life skills to our children through hands-on learning in the garden.” | On March 18, Keep Los Angeles Beautiful, the City of Los Angeles, ScottsMiracle-Gro and KAB joined with other national partners to dedicate a series of reading, learning and community gardens in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of East Los Angeles. The installation event helped to kick off Keep Los Angeles Beautiful’s Great American Cleanup.

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Photos courtesy of The Scotts-Miracle Gro Company

HOUSTON, TX

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“We welcome GRO1000 and its efforts to bring our citizens, and particularly our youth, opportunities to get involved and learn firsthand the benefits of environmental stewardship while also beautifying our community,” said Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. “The City of Los Angeles and GRO1000’s public-private partnership will directly help organizations such as Proyecto Pastoral and the Guadalupe Homeless Project that feed some of our most vulnerable residents.”

Keep Illinois Beautiful and a group of national partners in the dedication of a series of community gardens and bird habitats at southwest Chicago’s Gage Park. The Gage Park installation is being incorporated into the Chicago Park District’s ongoing Harvest Garden Program that gives area children a threeseason, in-depth learning experience with edible gardening. Saint Clare of Montefalco Parish will be the local distribution agency for the Gage Park harvests.

More than 200 area students, as well as members of the Guadalupe Homeless Project, joined city officials and GRO1000 national and local partners in the garden installation and dedication as well as a series of educational activities geared around gardening. CHICAGO, IL The initiative dedicated a portion of ongoing harvests from the installed gardens to support the Proyecto Pastoral at Dolores Mission, which will be the point of distribution of harvests for the hungry.

“I join the City of Chicago in applauding the GRO1000 partnership, where a team of organizations has come together to provide the resources and know-how for expanding our neighborhoods’ access to fresh produce,” said Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. “These gardens support the City’s commitment to eliminate food deserts and better serve the reported 600,000 residents affected.”

houston | In Houston, students, parents, community members along with Keep Houston Beautiful, Keep Texas Beautiful, state and local officials, and ScottsMiracle-Gro participated in the local dedication and installation of a playscape and series of edible and wildlife gardens at Houston’s Piney Point Elementary, as part of the new GRO1000 initiative. GRO1000 partners installed edible gardens, a prairie garden, a butterfly garden, rain gardens and bird habitats, designed by landscape architecture firm Asakura Robinson Company. Students worked on a variety of interactive education stations under the direction of horticulturist Bill Dawson of nationally-recognized Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens.

| In May, ScottsMiracle-Gro returned to Chicago. In 2009, the company created an urban garden at Clarendon Park in the Uptown neighborhood. This year, ScottsMiracle-Gro worked with the Chicago Park District, Keep Chicago Beautiful,

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In addition to the public installation events, ScottsMiracle-Gro awarded Grassroots Grants in the amount of up to $1,500 of monetary and in-kind support to help foster the development of gardens and green spaces. The grants were awarded to deserving communities and organizations to get people involved in creating more community gardens and green spaces.

“These gardens support the City’s commitment to eliminate food deserts and better serve the reported 600,000 residents affected.” R ahm Emanuel, Chicago Mayor

“Something happens when communities grow and learn together,” said Jim King, ScottsMiracle-Gro’s senior vice president of corporate affairs. “People develop a sense of pride and accomplishment when they get involved in cleaning up their neighborhoods, growing flowers, or cultivating their own healthy local food, and we want to help them get the job done.”

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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 2011, 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.

Sowers of Sustainability Create Gardens In 2010, Keep Kansas City Beautiful (KKCB) received a Keep America Beautiful (KAB)/Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) Technical Services Grant, which provided the initial support for KKCB to develop the Sowers of Stainability (SOS), a comprehensive training program that furnished Kansas City citizens with skills to design, install and maintain rain gardens that align with their communityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s priorities. The staff of KKCB had the opportunity to meet with PHSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Tree Tenders and Garden Tenders program managers in Philadelphia, using what they learned to help develop the SOS program. Back in Kansas City, KKCB conducted two in-class sessions with additional outdoor installation workshops for hands-on learning. The program had 34 participants from nine neighborhoods attend the rain garden sessions as well as two hands-on rain barrel workshops. During the 2011 Great American Cleanup, the demonstration rain gardens were installed by more than 65 SOS participants, students and other volunteers; one at the Bluejacket-Flint Elementary School in Shawnee, Kan. and the other at the Beacon Light SDA Church in the Green

Impact Zone of Kansas City, Mo. In-class sessions for the community vegetable garden segment of the SOS training program, hands-on rain barrel workshops, and the installation of the demonstration community vegetable garden also took place. Rain gardens can cut t h e a m o u n t o f p o l lu t i o n r e ac h i n g cr e e k s a n d s t r e a m s by u p to 3 0 %

This signature community greening project was one of 5,600 such projects that took place during the 2011 Great American Cleanup, an 8.5 percent increase over the number of beautification and community greening initiatives that took place during the 2010 GAC. Nearly 730 of these projects were edible community gardens.

Bluejacket-Flint Elementary School Science teacher and Green Team Coordinator Lucas Shivers participated in the SOS training program to learn how to plan, install and maintain a community rain garden at Bluejacket-Flint Elementary School, the site for the demonstration garden in Johnson County.

KKCB Program Manager Kate Becker, Intern Caitlin Dix and Landscape Architect Carole Lechevin collaborated with Shivers to teach the students about how deep roots of native plants filter out impurities in water, and how rain gardens can slow and hold rainwater long enough for plants to absorb and filter it. On the planting day in May, more than 50 students, parents, faculty, community members and SOS participants learned the basics of rain garden planting and put their knowledge to work to yield a beautiful rain garden full of 537 native plants.

Beacon Light SDA Church The Beacon Light SDA Church was built into the side of a hill with a steep grade; after an addition was completed in 2009, Deacon Harry Brown began to notice problems with erosion caused by water runoff and feared flooding in the renovated building. As a preventive measure, he began researching rain gardens and other sustainable solutions. Unfortunately the timing was not in his favor. The church flooded before he could complete the SOS training course and install a rain garden. Luckily, the church grounds had been selected as the site for the demonstration rain garden in the Green Impact Zone. With landscape designer Hilary Noonan involved, a mild disaster became an opportunity for impressive sustainable solutions and permaculture designs. Photos courtesy of Glenn Burgess II, ESI Photography.

Sixteen dedicated church members, SOS participants and community volunteers shoveled heavy wet clay soil to create the correct slope for the deepest part of the rain garden. Others laid out the plants in the correct spacing or hauled rocks to line the adjoining parking lot to disperse and slow the water flow before entering the garden.

The SOS demonstration rain garden will keep water from reaching the foundation of the church. Switchback bioswales and holding ponds slow and hold the rainwater onsite and prevent erosion. Tiered retaining walls redirect the water around the building towards the bioswales. Six raised beds provide fresh, local food for the church and local community. A food forest of fruit and nut trees and bushes arranged in a â&#x20AC;&#x153;sun trapâ&#x20AC;? permaculture design densely layers plants to provide optimum sunlight and maximize yields.

Volunteers planted 369 native plants creating a lush garden with a path winding through it. The church should be safe from flooding and producing fresh food for the community for years to come.

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Allen’s Landing Gets a Makeover Keep Houston Beautiful Day took place on April 1 at Allen‘s Landing, which has often been described as Houston’s Heart and its Plymouth Rock. Lowe’s Heroes, a company-wide volunteer initiative that offers employees the opportunity to work on a project in their neighborhood, participated in the kickoff by revitalizing Allen’s Landing on Buffalo Bayou. Allen’s Landing is, according to legend, where August C. and John K. Allen first arrived to claim Houston. From that point on it became Houston‘s first port and successful commercial center. Thus, this process of revitalizing and rejuvenating Allen‘s Landing was the perfect addition to the celebration of Houston‘s 175th birthday. There were over 100 volunteers from Lowe’s and students from Paul Revere Middle School, as well as members of the Houston Rockets’ staff, and other volunteers. Lowe’s Senior Class award finalists in attendance included Devon Beitzel, Northern Colorado; Dodie Dunson, Bradley; Cameron Jones, Northern Arizona; David Lighty, Ohio State; E’Twaun Moore, Purdue and Tyrel Reed, Kansas, who were in Houston to attend the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.

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Volunteers picked up garbage and debris around the bayou, removed silt, pressure-washed the area, repaired and replaced the big marine chains, removed and/or covered graffiti, laid mulch and pulled weeds, and repainted park benches. Lowe’s donated shovels, rakes, wheelbarrows, paint, paint brushes, and brooms, among other tools. Living Earth Technology provided mulch made of trees and brush that was collected throughout Houston and recycled for this beneficial reuse.

Marietta, GA

Lowe’s Heroes also participated in other Great American Cleanup projects, including the revitalization of Marietta, Ga.’s Fair Oaks Park with Keep Cobb Beautiful. This park offers families a place of respite to enjoy the outdoors. Thirty-year-old playground equipment was broken and unused. The basketball court needed new backboards and nets. Picnic tables were worn, the pavilion needed repairs, and the volleyball court needed more sand. After the GAC initiative, this area of the park was clean and the playground equipment was repaired. New picnic tables are now sitting under freshly-painted pavilions. Dense underbrush was removed and the basketball hoops have new nets and a face-lift. There were 2,800 playgrounds and community recreation areas cleaned or restored during the 2011 GAC. Keep Vermilion County Beautiful in Danville, IL, enjoyed the presence of Lowe’s volunteers who helped paint a new downtown storefront as well as plant perennials along the entire length of the Vermilion County courthouse’s new annex building.

1,000 Rain Gardens Encourages Conservation and Greening Rock Hill (S.C.) Clean and Green launched a new program—1,000 Rain Gardens for York County—during the Great American Cleanup to encourage residents, businesses, schools, churches and other organizations to plant rain gardens to enhance beautification, water quality and water conservation. The 1,000 Rain Gardens for York County is a county wide collaborative effort with numerous agencies, nonprofits, city and countywide departments, and volunteer groups involved, including Keep York County Beautiful, Clemson Cooperative Extension, York County Master Gardeners, among many others. Ultimately, the effort is being made to beautify the county but also to control the damage that stormwater runoff can cause such as washing litter and pollutants into storm drains and, ultimately, into rivers and lakes. The raingardens can be a fun and attractive way to protect water resources. Local Master Gardeners are already taking up the call, having planted certified rain gardens. Moreover, local York County nurseries have set up rain garden displays and lists of suggested rain garden plantings.

Charlotte, NC

Charlotte Neighborhood Gets Adopted, Beautified Keep Charlotte (N.C.) Beautiful (KCB) selected the Madison Park Neighborhood for its 2011 Adopt-A-City Neighborhood Program. At the beginning of each year, KCB board members select a neighborhood to participate in their neighborhood adoption program through an application process. KCB works with resident volunteers to provide a community service/ beautification project of the neighborhood’s choosing. There is no cost for the neighborhood to participate; however, it is required that neighbors commit to volunteering and maintaining the project after completion. The Madison Park Neighborhood Garden, which was started about 15 years ago in this Southeast Charlotte neighborhood, was planted on the Pinewood Elementary School property, where the nearby school building was subsequently demolished. The school system maintenance crew inadvertently mowed over the bushes on occasion; as a result, weeds started to overtake the garden. Wendy Gigante, the executive director of KCB, rallied members of the neighborhood to resuscitate the garden in two phases. First, the volunteers collected newspapers (to be used in the garden as weed control) and then built a border around the garden and put fresh mulch into place. The project is being finished with new rose bushes, benches and the installation of a path from the sidewalk to the garden. Gigante indicated that approximately 70 percent of the rose bushes perished since the garden was first created. This rose garden is one of 5,600 beautification and community greening projects that took place during the GAC.

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G r e at Ame r i can C leanup // 2011 R eport

Stacy Raynor, Madison Park homeowners’ association director, commented about the revived Madison Central Park: “This garden is a symbol of the previous school that once stood on the site and the generations of students who attended the institution. We would like to honor these memories as the site is reborn as a park.”

Valvoline Grants Help Get Community Improvement Projects Off the Ground A number of much-needed community improvement projects received extra support during the Great American Cleanup thanks to GAC Promotional Partner Valvoline®, a brand of Ashland, Inc., which provided Valvoline Instant Oil Change Community Improvement Grants to select Keep America Beautiful affiliates and GAC participating organizations. Keep Cincinnati Beautiful (KCB) used its grant to improve a vacant lot in Over-The-Rhine. The corner of E. Clifton Ave. and Main St. needed face lift. Local Valvoline employees volunteered to clear the space of overgrown weeds and grass, removed brush, unveiled a beautiful stone wall and planted new trees. Regional Valvoline managers, joined by Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory, painted the fences that were recently installed, prime the stone wall for a mural, and put the finishing touches on the revitalized lot. “Many of our customers are increasingly aware and concerned about the environmental impact of their actions so we were extremely excited to partner with Keep Cincinnati Beautiful to improve the local community,” said Rob Stravitz, VIOC’s vice president of marketing.

Keep Cincinnati Beautiful’s 2011 Great American Cleanup— under theme of “Green Starts Here”—rallied more than 6,400 volunteers at more than 100 local events, including the Valvoline vacant lot cleanup. Elsewhere in Ohio, Valvoline grants helped support Keep Columbus Beautiful’s third annual Plant Pride on Parsons cleanup and beautification event as well as Keep Akron Beautiful’s new Community Pride Trailer. More than 130 volunteers came from all parts of Columbus representing Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Ohio State University, Chase and neighborhood groups to help beautify the heart of the South Side along Parsons Avenue. In the space of two hours, 10 teams collected more than 5,000 pounds of trash and litter and filled up 22 bags of recyclables. To top it off, another 50 hand-painted planters with new designs by the Heart of Ohio Tole Painters were added to the Avenue, making a total of 97 flowering pots. Keep Akron Beautiful (KAB), in celebration of its 30th anniversary, introduced a new community program during the GAC—the Community Pride Trailer (CPT), which is stocked with landscaping tools and cleanup supplies. KAB used its grant to purchase a new roto-tiller to be included in the CPT and used for its urban beautification program, Flowerscapes. The CPT is made available to residents and community volunteer groups free of charge. There is a minimum of five households or a group of five volunteers committed to the project to make the group eligible for use of the trailer. The goal is to provide a means to help residents revive vacant land so the abandoned lots become safe, appealing spaces where community gardens and green spaces can be developed by neighbors. Down Interstate 75 in Valvoline’s hometown of Lexington, Ky., Keep Lexington Beautiful conducted a cleanup in Shillito

Cincinnati, OH

Before

Palm City, FL

Park with nearly 70 community volunteers and 25 Valvoline employees and family members. Keep Lexington Beautiful’s Mark York reported that a crew of 25 city employees worked to remove bush honeysuckle. Nearly 50 bags of trash were collected along with 36 bags of recyclables.

2 0 1 1 G AC FAC T

In Pennsylvania, Valvoline supported an illegal dump cleanup in Penn Hills, outside of Pittsburgh, which is one of 26 illegal dump cleanups coordinated by Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful. The volunteers filled two dumpsters—one with trash and one with tires. The dumpster contained 12,520 pounds of trash. There were also 170 tires removed, which were among the 807,000 collected nationally throughout the GAC. In the next few weeks, the “dump busters” removed 416 more tires and 8,000 more pounds of trash.

5.2 million volunteer hours

More than 300 Memphis residents received Valvoline oil change coupons for participating in Metro Beautification & Environmental Commission of Nashville’s major e-waste event in May. And Valvoline provided additional support to Operation Brightside in Saint Louis for its Neighbors Naturescaping program, which is using its grant to focus on the Old North Saint Louis restoration project which provides more green spaces to various Saint Louis neighborhoods. In addition to the Valvoline Instant Oil Change Community Improvement Grants, Valvoline NextGen’s “Let’s Do M.O.R.E.” (motor oil recycling education) campaign educated consumers about the importance of motor oil recycling. Valvoline also donated to the broader cause of Keep America Beautiful with a $1 for each “Let’s Do M.O.R.E.” recycling pledge on nextgenmotoroil.com.

Shreveport, LA

Shreveport Green Partners in Tribute Garden After nearly a year of planning, Shreveport Green was finally able to get its “hands dirty” as a partner in the $75,000 Hummer/Louisiana State University-Shreveport (LSUS) Garden. The family of LSUS alumna Joanne Hummer, whose son is a Shreveport Green board member, provided a gift to LSUS and requested that Shreveport Green partner in the project. Shreveport Green donated both labor and maintenance of the garden, which is located at the entrance of LSUS’s library. The number of shrubs and other plants put into the ground on one day numbered more than 1,100. The garden was completed with more than 25 variations of trees, shrubs, perennials, grasses and herbs donated from the Hummer familyowned company, Monrovia Nursery. “The garden was designed and planting overseen by a prominent landscape architect,” said Shreveport Green Executive Director Donna Curtis, “and it gave our volunteers the opportunity to work closely with him, measuring distances, matching species, and delighting in the finished ‘work of art.’” Shreveport Green participated in a number of other greening projects during the Great American Cleanup, including the Captain Shreve High School Outdoor Classroom. Shreveport Green worked with Lowe’s to assist in the planning and building of the classroom. Lowe’s provided plants and pavers at cost—and an assistant manager contributed “sweat equity,” Curtis reported. Shreveport Green provided 45 plants, 10 trees and technical assistance. Another significant beautification project that took place during the GAC, again with Lowe’s assistance, was Shreveport’s Veterans’ Community Garden. During the GAC, Shreveport Green cultivated and planted the garden with the help of the local veterans and Barksdale Air Force volunteers.

G r e at Am er i can C leanup // 2011 R eport

Orbit® Gum’s “Live Clean”

pa rtne r p rofil e

The Cast of MTV’s “The Buried Life” Paint a Mural

Hundreds of fans joined the cast of MTV’s reality show The Buried Life (TBL) as they checked off #61 from their bucket list, “Paint a Mural,” in partnership with Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company’s Orbit® Gum, Keep America Beautiful and Keep Chicago Beautiful.

Fans showed up as early as 8:00 a.m., driving from cities as far away as Saint Louis and Ann Arbor, Mich., to meet and cheer on The Buried Life guys. After the mural was painted, 50 volunteers and more than one dozen Wrigley associates participated in a beautification and cleanup effort, which included trash pickup along Grand and Illinois streets, Ohio Beach and Jane Addams Memorial Park, as well as planting efforts in front of two apartment complexes. Moreover, the TBL cast painted a mural as part of Wrigley’s “Live Clean” program. The mural was part of the Navy Pier Walk 2011 Art Exhibition for the duration of the summer and through early November. “I think the energy demonstrated was nothing short of fabulous,” said Jennifer Jackson-Luth, Senior Manager, Marketing Communications, Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company. In support of the 2011 Great American Cleanup, Orbit® gum consumers voted for one of five cities (New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas and Miami) to determine which location

the TBL cast (Ben Nemtin, Duncan Penn, Dave Lingwood and Jonnie Penn) would paint the mural as part of its “Live Clean” online promotion. The city that received the most consumer online votes at the end of the promotion won. The cast also filmed a PSA for their cause, which aired on MTV. The promotion involved consumers entering the code from limited edition Orbit® gum packs online to trigger a 50-cent donation to Keep America Beautiful, with a total contribution from the Orbit® brand of up to $300,000. The online sweepstakes gave consumers the chance to vote on one of five cities across the U.S. to determine where the cast of The Buried Life should conduct their mural painting and a beautification event at the end of the program, and also automatically entered them for a chance to win $5,000.

300,000

d o l l a rs co n t r i b u t e d by t h e Or b i t ® b r a n d

Photos courtesy of Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company.

Hundreds of fans joined the cast of MTV’s reality show The Buried Life (TBL) as they painted a mural in partnership with Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company’s Orbit® Gum, Keep America Beautiful and Keep Chicago Beautiful.

G r e at Am er i can C leanup // 2011 R eport

Educational Programs and Volunteering Energize Communities Volunteerism is at the heart of the American spirit. In 2011, 3.8 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 5.2 million hours to efforts that improved their local surroundings and taught valuable lessons about the merit of taking responsibility for one’s community environment.

Future Farmers of America Clean Up Arkansas’ Camp Couchdale The Keep Arkansas Beautiful Commission (KAB) partnered with Arkansas Green Industry Association (AGIA) and Arkansas’ Future Farmers of America (FFA) to educate students about the horticultural industry and its impact on Arkansas’ economy and environment. The KABAGIA-FFA partnership seeks to “educate and inspire lifelong leadership through horticultural service learning.” The partnership’s first educational project took place during the Great American Cleanup at Camp Couchdale in Hot Springs, Ark., near Lake Catherine State Park. More than 100 Arkansas students volunteered in a service-learning project to clean up the FFA camp. Students raked and composted leaves, painted outbuildings, managed and removed weeds, pruned shrubs, trimmed trees and installed new plantings. More than 2,800 playgrounds and community recreation areas were cleaned or restored during the Great American Cleanup.

Hot Springs, AR

“A tenet of our mission is to inspire Arkansans’ to make our state appealing through beautification projects,” said Sarah Wruck, volunteer services coordinator at KAB. “Our state’s economy and environmental quality of life are positively impacted when our communities are improved with plants, flowers and trees. This partnership will help educate our state’s young people about the importance of horticulture

and beautification to our state’s future vitality.”

Orlando School Gets Boys & Girls Club’s Keystone Club Makeover Five-hundred members of The Boys & Girls Club of America’s “Keystone Club,” which provides leadership opportunities for young people ages 14 to 18, participated in an elementary school makeover in Orlando, Fla., during its annual Keystone conference, which coincided with the Great American Cleanup in early March. The Tangelo Elementary School, and its surrounding community, was chosen by the Keystone members as their community service project, which was hosted by the BGCA and Keep Orlando Beautiful (KOB). Coordinated by KOB and the City of Orlando, this event engaged BGCA members in a variety of community improvement projects.

2,800

Number of community recreation areas cleaned or restored DURING THE 2011 GAC

2 0 1 1 G AC FAC T

Tangelo Elementary School, Orlando, FL

The Keystone Club members pulled weeds, planted new bushes and greenery, and replaced tree stumps with flowering trees. Moreover, they painted school picnic tables, window sills and walkway/parking lot lines, bike racks and house numbers at the curbside of more than 800 homes in the neighborhood. Raking and moving mulch was another activity for the groups of eight to 10 Keystoners, who were guided by more than 75 adult volunteers. The Sherwin-Williams Company donated paint and local stores offered a significant discount on the additional paint. Keep Orlando Beautiful Executive Director Jody Buyas provided rakes, shovels, litter grabbers, Glad trash bags, work gloves, and more.

G r e at Am er i can C leanup // 2011 R eport

Students Promote Clean Campuses Keep Yankton (S.D.) Beautiful enlisted the Yankton High School’s Senior Honor Society students’ help in generating volunteer sign-ups among high school students for the Great American Cleanup. The Honor Society did a great job—300 students participated in cleaning up their campus and along a two-mile stretch of road near their high school where illegal dumping often occurs. “It was a great success and a great way to reach the students and encourage them to take ownership, responsibility and stewardship for their community and their environment,” said Keep Yankton Beautiful Executive Director Julie Perakslis.

“ It was a great success and a great way to reach the students and encourage them to take ownership, responsibility and stewardship for their community and their environment” J u l i e P e r a ks lis, Keep Yankton Beautiful Executive Director

Yankton’s Sacred Heart Middle School students cleaned up around their campus and along a one-mile stretch of the Marne Creek/Auld Brokaw Bike Trail near their school. Moreover, the Boys & Girls Club Just for Kids after-school program cleaned up every single elementary school campus in Yankton and along the streets surrounding their schools. Another after-school program also worked on cleaning up their school area as well as Morgan Park and a half-mile section of the Marne Creek/Auld Brokaw Trail.

“Since studies show people who clean up public areas feel a sense of ownership and pride for the condition of the area, we felt getting the youth heavily involved would have tremendous long-term benefits,” said Perakslis. “In the end, almost 500 students participated in these cleanups. The teachers and adults aiding our efforts felt rewarded and are interested in doing it again next year.” This was one of many “clean campus” programs that took place during the GAC throughout the country.

Lending a Hand to Seniors during the GAC A number of Great American Cleanup programs focus on community service projects that can help out senior citizens. Keep Miles City (Mont.) Beautiful launched its “Lending a Hand” program in which the KAB affiliate contacted the local Meals on Wheels and Council on Aging programs indicating that volunteers would provide assistance for seniors who need help with yard cleanup projects or hauling items to the recycling center and local landfill. At Keep Lincoln & Lancaster County (Neb.) Beautiful, it conducted a “Flower Power” program at the North Platte Senior Center. This program is designed to bring together 3 and 4-year-olds from a local Headstart Program with the elderly at the Senior Center. The seniors work with the children to beautify the building by planting flowers. The children help dig in the dirt and decide on the flowers to be planted, while their elders help ways that the young children cannot. It’s proven to be a great way for the older and younger generations to come together, while making the Senior Center a more colorful place.

Spring Training Fans Take the Green Bus Keep Lee County Beautiful in Fort Myers, Fla., in partnership with the Boston Red Sox, exposed more than 75,000 spring training baseball fans to KLCB’s mission by providing transportation to 10 Red Sox home games on KLCB’s new “Green Bus.”

Fort Myers, Fl

“The Red Sox support of our efforts has helped us increase awareness tremendously,” said KLCB Executive Director Rudy Busch. With the construction of the Red Sox’s new JetBlue Park and spring training complex in 2012, the partnership has the potential for great growth.”

AUSTIN, TX

Owings Mills, Md

Austin Volunteers Celebrate A Job Well Done In the 25th anniversary year of its April Clean Sweep program, Keep Austin Beautiful (KAB) engaged 5,285 volunteers, breaking the record of the previous year by nearly 900 volunteers. Volunteers registered to participate in 138 cleanup events throughout the Texas state capital. The project sites were in 31 zip codes, leaving no doubt that this really is a city-wide event. The event included a major focus on waterways with 378 pre-registered volunteers targeting Lady Bird Lake in kayaks, canoes, paddleboards, and along the shoreline. There were 53 cleanups along Austin creeks, two cleanups along Lake Austin, and another on the bank of the Colorado River. This year, KAB featured cigarette litter collection to raise awareness about cigarette-related waste. But the Great American Cleanup isn’t just about hard work. After so many of the cleanup and green-up events, GAC event organizers celebrate the volunteer spirit of their community with a “thank you” party, concert or environmental fair. In the case of the Clean Sweep, KAB did all three!

138

C l e a n u p Ev e n ts co n d u ct e d throughout the T e x a s C a p i ta l

And when KAB throws a volunteer party, they go all out. After the Clean Sweep, there was live music with Miranda Dodson, an environmental fair with hands-on, kids’ environmental activities and exhibits by local nonprofits, businesses and city agencies. Kids also enjoyed a climbing wall and face-painting. A free lunch was provided by H-E-B with Waste Management employees manning the grills. And there were many local dignitaries in attendance including Mayor Lee Leffingwell, Travis County Commissioner Ron Davis, Mayor Pro-Tem Mike Martinez, and City Council Members Sheryl Cole and Chris Riley. Austin Photos by Emily Fitzgerald, Emily Fitzgerald Photography.

Solo Cup Volunteers Restore Ft. McHenry Marshland One of great benefits of the Great American Cleanup is that it offers a wide host of volunteer opportunities, ranging from family volunteering to corporate employee engagement—and, sometimes, both at the same time. A number of GAC National Sponsors are committed to engaging their employees in volunteer opportunities in addition to all of the other support the companies offer in making the Great American Cleanup such a strong and vibrant national program. The Solo Cup Company has participated in the GAC for three years as a National Sponsor. This year, Solo Cup employees participated in volunteer activities in nine different locations. One specific project—the Ft. McHenry Wetland Restoration—took place near its manufacturing plant in Owings Mills, Md. The National Aquarium in Baltimore recruits volunteers to help restore habitats for wildlife, remove debris, and maintain trails at Ft. McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine. Eighteen Solo Cup employees spent a day in April participating in the debris cleanup of the marshland. They collected 22 large bags of waste; the dominant items collected were water bottles, Styrofoam, and cutlery. The Solo Cup volunteers were organized and led by Yvonne Sylvia, a corporate human resources manager, and were joined by Holly Fowler of the National Aquarium’s conservation department, and volunteers from the National Aquarium, National Park Service and other local companies. Solo Cup also launched a new program during this year’s GAC—the “Solo Cup Brigade” with TerraCycle. Individuals, schools and nonprofits are collecting used Solo Squared plastic cups and returning them to TerraCycle for recycling with the material being up-cycled to make other items such as equipment for playgrounds, park benches and outdoor furniture.

G r e at Am er i can C leanup // 2011 R eport

Southwest Virginia

Plam Beach County, FL

Emory & Henry College Students Organize River Cleanups Three students in the Emory & Henry College Public Policy and Community Organizing Class collaborated on the Great American Cleanup with Keep Southwest Virginia Beautiful (KSVB) Coordinator Carol Doss, who served as their mentor during the entire spring semester.

To promote the program, the students hung one of the GAC banners in the school’s science building. A banner was also hung up at a boat ramp, which was used as a meeting place for each cleanup. The students prepared a summary presentation for class at the end of the semester. There were 6,900 educational workshops or presentations conducted during the GAC, ranging from elementary schools to colleges in both formal and informal educational settings.

2 0 1 1 G AC FAC T

Collegiate Sports Teams Volunteer in GAC Numb e r o f E d ucat i o n a l wo r ksh o p s o r p r e s e n tat i o n s co n d uc t e d

6,900

The students organized two river cleanups on the North Fork of the Holston River as their class project. A local foundation provided an endowment to the college for students to conduct ongoing cleanups along the river. Doss helped launch the project by collaborating with the students to start the first activity. KSVB had conducted stream cleanups in 2010 under a grant from the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA); the TVA agreed to extend the grant through the 2011 GAC at Doss’s request, so additional stream cleanups needed to be done. The first student-led cleanup in March resulted in 15 volunteers filling 21 bags and pulling a number of bulky items out of the river and off the river banks. The second cleanup in April resulted in 21 volunteers filling 44 bags with trash as well as a trailer with scrap metal and other bulky material. During the second cleanup, the volunteers separated plastic and aluminum cans for recycling.

The weather was nice and the atmosphere was positive as volunteers for the Great American Cleanup participated in the environmental event of the season at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB). Approximately 150 volunteers donated four hours of their time to clean, beautify and improve the neighborhood surrounding the university campus, University Avenue and the walking path along Lake Pine Bluff. The volunteers picked up over 100 garbage bags of litter from the neighborhood along with four old couches and two toilets that were left on the side of the street.

“In addition to beautifying the community, the soccer team hopes to build positive relationships with local community residents, businesses and with other UAPB student organizations,” said Meghan Eddy, assistant soccer coach and event coordinator.

This event would not have been possible without the support of the UAPB Department of Athletics, Pine Bluff Clean & Beautiful Commission, Keep America Beautiful, Keep Arkansas Beautiful, Waste Management, ICVR Pine Bluff Weed & Seed and the volunteers from UAPB’s football, softball, women’s basketball and women’s tennis teams as well as the UAPB Regulatory Science Club, the White Hall Boys Soccer Club and Steven Mays (4th Ward Alderman). “I was really happy to get out and do something positive for the community. Also, what made this event so cool was that we were able hang out with other student-athletes from UAPB and have fun while doing a good deed together,” says freshman soccer player Britney Boler.

“ Watching our student-athletes give back to the place where I grew up is a one of a kind feeling.” J ess i ca A r m ij o, Assistant Coach to the New Mexico Highlands University Cowgirls basketball team

The New Mexico Highlands University Cowgirl basketball team also participated in a Great American Cleanup in March. The Cowgirls chose to clean up the River Walk in downtown Las Vegas as part of their effort to Keep Las Vegas Beautiful. This was one of a number of community service projects that the team has undertaken. “Watching our student-athletes give back to the place where I grew up is a one of a kind feeling,” said Assistant Coach Jessica Armijo. “It’s amazing to see such wonderful young women take pride and ownership in a place that I’ve called home for 23 years and making it a home of their own.”

Palm City, FL

Keep Martin Beautiful Helps Restore Oyster Habitats Keep Martin Beautiful in Palm City, Fla., partnered with the Florida Oceanographic Society for Martin County’s Oyster Reef Restoration. The project is designed to restore important oyster habitats in the St. Lucie and Loxahatchee Estuaries, leading to ecological improvements to the health of the river as well as providing additional recreational and economic benefits to the community. Hundreds of volunteers showed up to fill mesh bags with oyster shells and regular shells that are then placed in local rivers via a deployment assembly line. At one such event, 1,800 10-pound bags were moved into the estuary by volunteers who worked for four hours on the project.

G r e at Am er i can C leanup // 2011 R eport

Corporate Volunteerism Leads to Community Impact

partn e r p rofi le

Dow Chemical Employees Plant Seeds of Sustainability

Dow Chemical’s employees drove its corporate sponsorship of the Great American Cleanup to new heights by partnering with Keep America Beautiful affiliates, like-minded community organizations, and by conducting solely Dow-sponsored events at the grassroots level.

“Dow is proud to be a National Sponsor of the 2011 Great American Cleanup, as it directly aligns with our 2015 Sustainability Goals by Contributing to Community Success,” said Howard Ungerleider, Senior Vice President for Dow, President of the Performance Plastics Division and Board member of KAB.“ For the fourth year in a row, our Dow employees have driven this sponsorship to a whole new level of community engagement excellence.”

Employees from Dow’s Cincinnati site partnered with City of Reading (Ohio) Parks and Recreation to beautify three playgrounds that had not been up to state safety codes. The playgrounds, that are well-used by local school children, have since been restored to the state’s safety standards through Dow volunteer’s re-mulching efforts. Additionally, Dow partnered with Keep Cincinnati Beautiful on a Future Blooms project in a neighborhood near the entrance of the Cincinnati Zoo.

Dow employees participated in approximately 50 different events during the national campaign. The diversity of programs ranged from cleanups to park restorations and even to graffiti paint-outs.

In Bristol, Penn., Dow teamed up with Silver Lake Nature Center, the Mary Devine Elementary School and the Croydon Little League to clean up Croydon Woods; 175 acres of high-value environmental property that is coastal plain wet woodland. The woods had not had a cleanup in over eight years; to begin the effort, representatives from Dow and Silver Lake visited the elementary school to conduct an environmental education assembly. Just over 180 community volunteers then filled a 30-yard dumpster with debris from the 175-acre lot. After the main cleanup, a front loader picked up where the volunteers left off—hauling away their choice finds—a stack of 50 tires, a refrigerator door, a tool shed, a baby swing, and even a toilet. The Dow Chemical Company Foundation is following up by providing the school with a grant for environmental education books recommended by Silver Lake staff and selected by the school librarian.

Cincinnati, OH

Bristol, PA

Port Allen, LA

Dow’s six Louisiana facilities took part in eight Great American Cleanup events across the state in 2011. Over 100 Dow volunteers assisted to clean and beautify their local communities in five different Trash Bash Events. Dow also sponsored and provided volunteers for four parish-wide Household Hazardous Material Collection Day events promoting education on the proper disposal of household hazardous materials as well as providing a location for the material. In recent years, Dow has played an integral part in facilitating growth of new affiliates for Keep Louisiana Beautiful, the state affiliate of Keep America Beautiful. Dow has donated more than $70,000 and hundreds of volunteer hours to Keep Louisiana Beautiful affiliates since 2009.

Philadelphia, PA

a general face-lift to the playground equipment by scraping off old paint and re-finishing the equipment with lively new colors. The Dow Water & Process Solutions headquarters site in Edina, Minn., hosted a Great American Cleanup event in Lewis Park, which is adjacent to the company’s biggest production facility. Twenty-two employees volunteered to perform a cleanup and helped to install 10 bluebird houses throughout the park. In Minnesota, bluebird populations declined greatly from the 1930s to the 1960s and the installation of the houses will help bring back this songbird. In fact, Minnesota now has one of the most successful bluebird recovery projects in the nation and the bird houses provide a safe place for bluebirds to nest. Houston Dow Center employees celebrated Earth Day this spring by participating in a week-long Electronics Recycling Event with 16 Dow employees serving as volunteers. The collection was open to Dow employees, contractors and retirees. Volunteers assisted with unloading and packing items for recycling.

Bristol, PA

In partnership with Dow’s Great American Cleanup efforts, Dow’s Pittsburg, Calif. site held an Environmental Faire at the Dow Wetlands in Antioch, Calif. Nearly 600 fourth graders (and their chaperones) participated in a variety of workshops, learning about the wetlands, the local birds, animals and plants in the area, and the impact of pollution and trash on the local environment. In addition to the education event, 60 volunteers also participated in the Keep Pittsburg Beautiful Creek Cleanup, which involved cleaning up creek beds and the local park. In Marietta, Ga., Keep Cobb Beautiful and Dow conducted a GAC Park Rejuvenation project at Fair Oaks Park. The Dow employees worked with students from a local high school, overhauling the play areas with new mulch. They also provided

And at the Great American Cleanup national kickoff in Philadelphia—the Philly Spring Cleanup—Dow played an integral role in one of the nation’s largest one-day volunteer cleanup events. Dow made a significant $10,000 contribution to Keep Philadelphia Beautiful as well as 1,000 gallons of concretehiding exterior paint. Moreover, 65 volunteers participated in Keep Philadelphia Beautiful’s Cobbs Creek cleanup with additional volunteers working at the Philadelphia History Museum.

To see more photos of Dow-supported Great American Cleanup volunteer events, check out the Dow Chemical Company’s Facebook page.

G r e at Am er i can Cle anup // 2011 Rep ort

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 2011 responses and provide an interesting snapshot of activities spanning the nation.

State

Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware

Florida

Georgia

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

iowa

kansas

Kentucky

Events/Volunteers Events Held

1,097

RNA

211

1,598

RNA

6,807

1,493

239

RNA

329

306

444

129

Volunteers/Participants

592,981

RNA

1,606

33,870

84,818

7,559

3,903

RNA

809,751

276,924

28,716

RNA

24,969

16,901

3,345

142,077

54,360

Volunteer Hours

628,413

RNA

3,341

45,699

212,186

24,801

12,649

RNA

382,699

214,323

27,370

RNA

59,308

60,950

7,196

155,304

103,179

Communities Involved/ Community Groups that Participated

536/932

RNA

31/12

141/143

732/599

4/53

49/54

RNA

476/1,572

519/2,195

124/155

RNA

47/613

292/519

11/43

11/56

341/328

3,992,570

RNA

27,000

1,221,917

1,484,546

1,066,878

508,830

RNA

2,650,014

1,922,393

147,380

RNA

351,656

2,073,135

18,103

410,810

2,203,990

11,497

RNA

1,692

2,165

277

240

RNA

14,783

4,403

293

RNA

331

385

246

5,786

Parks & Public Lands Cleaned (acres)

846

RNA

632

917

283

RNA

10,433

861

279

RNA

2,655

1,570

514

218

Hiking/Biking/Nature Trails Cleaned (miles)

259

RNA

123

RNA

209

173.2

RNA

105

–

RNA

–

RNA

206

191

RNA

345

RNA

–

184

109

RNA

2,106

240.2

RNA

–

RNA

–

RNA

–

607

RNA

–

265

RNA

7,121

188

RNA

–

RNA

117

RNA

247

402

113

RNA

357

–

Clothing Collected for Reuse (lbs)

36,530

RNA

10,000

24,310

1,505

200

150

RNA

16,607

88,898

707

RNA

106,980

–

Aluminum & Steel Recycled (lbs)

377,892

RNA

–

110,049

12,559

500

5,725

RNA

732,103

1,897,329

4,817

RNA

91,647

865,494

151,424

8,935

5,024,628

RNA

3,000

193,103

12,950

200

5,200

RNA

4,851,960

3,383,409

785

RNA

2,230

1,302,719

–

805,542

9,383

30,312

RNA

–

9,864

16,222

–

195

RNA

50,727

66,225

417

RNA

1,775

1,868

5,166

250

7,947

RNA

165

1,830

183

–

RNA

37,333

65,103

5,795

RNA

875

–

270,676

RNA

8,500

325,917

60,722

–

150

RNA

358,336

781,701

21,500

RNA

159,795

161,779

41,825

69,167

1,016

PET (Plastic) Bottles Collected for Recycling

12,182,660

RNA

200,000

451,420

326,040

96,000

16,240

RNA

17,790,260

11,029,340

5,440

RNA

30,020

19,061,400

680

5,024,340

13,640

Glass Collected for Recycling (lbs)

902,121

RNA

200

320

5,207

342

252

RNA

2,115,772

1,502,176

1,793

RNA

535

941,021

171

293,940

364

RNA

–

RNA

457

488

RNA

–

Beautification/Community Greening Projects

367

RNA

150

128

319

–

RNA

263

409

RNA

124

Edible Community Gardens Planted/ Replanted

RNA

–

RNA

115

–

189,282

RNA

3,208

4,880

4,664

–

540

RNA

48,918

26,892

3,750

RNA

2,465

5,747

850

145,150

170

13,081

RNA

1,818

1,217

1,428

233

RNA

2,023

8,753

233

RNA

2,233

452

6,600

Residential & Commercial Buildings Painted/Renovated/Built

330

RNA

–

RNA

191

107

RNA

–

Graffiti Sites Removed or Abated

412

RNA

1,500

110

RNA

449

297

RNA

211

332

RNA

462

654

RNA

161

125

8,663/ 21,300

RNA

1,460/ 2,857

1,985/ 5,536

5,028/ 1,910

176/1,247

90/25

RNA

58,957/ 49,857

18,545/ 72,185

3,632/ 5,400

RNA

913/ 3,009

29,837/ 11,314

104/577

75/2,590

78/215

120

RNA

183

317

RNA

279,013

RNA

5,601

15,174

19,797

–

1,000

RNA

1,745,955

305,954

35,900

RNA

7,098

–

2,747

4,150

5,239

Cleanups Litter & Debris Collected (lbs) Roads, Streets, Highways Cleaned/Beautified (miles)

Playgrounds/Community/Recreation Areas Built, Cleaned, or Beautified Rivers, Lakes, or Shorelines Cleaned (miles) Underwater Cleanups Conducted Wetlands Cleaned or Improved (acres) Illegal Dump Sites Cleaned Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Paper Collected for Recycling (lbs) Tires Collected for Recycling Batteries Collected for Recycling (lbs) Electronics 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.

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

253

112

380

767

187

2,603

718

Volunteers/Participants

40,759

955

3,220

8,654

11,835

36,448

865

2,702

35,257

1,482

159

523

30,404

151,263

72,199

Volunteer Hours

56,549

140

744

18,896

18,068

8,970

98,343

1,224

2,793

47,161

3,620

240

281

66,436

574,056

102,245

187/340

1/1

25/16

1,418/41

72/71

35/8

306/437

30/7

8/15

154/642

16/49

1/1

8/14

126/292

709/2,707

258/1,037

1/1

374,927

1,200

5,390

167,080

811,910

74,700

2,876,916

7,000

95,875

1,651,448

177,700

2,500

3,920

1,323,225

1,216,895

908,759

1,015

133

529

–

2,972

3,606

623

905

12,564

–

412

–

393

–

848

118

710

2,144

397

6,206

5,497

–

Hiking, Biking & Nature Trails Cleaned (miles)

–

176

396

–

Playgrounds/Community/Recreation Areas Built, Cleaned, or Beautified

–

116

–

Rivers, Lakes & Shorelines Cleaned (miles)

–

111

122

–

Wetlands Cleaned or Improved (acres)

–

Illegal Dump Sites Cleaned

–

108

1,539

144

–

Clothing Collected for Reuse (lbs)

3,340

–

300

–

9,044

–

13,610

–

510

1,250

112,440

1,668

–

Aluminum & Steel Recycled (lbs)

97,161

–

1,010

51,500

–

83,540

–

2,600

231,498

200

142,980

1,866,900

216,277

–

585,267

–

900

50,000

–

1,432,110

–

195,956

–

300

32,493

64,197,000

1,110,659

–

3,557

–

369

1,738

–

12,051

100

3,198

294

–

1,575

16,040

9,288

–

Batteries Collected for Recycling (lbs)

13,098

–

570

–

5,004

–

6,291

–

4,680

–

1,593

1,300

2,492

–

Electronics Collected for Recycling (lbs)

63,517

–

5,000

75,000

23,100

–

139,010

–

233,180

–

123,791

505,000

350,373

–

PET (Plastic) Bottles Collected for Recycling

1,821,140

–

1,200

400

8,000

–

1,829,440

2,000

440

878,160

1,000

4,000

420

2,078,320

116,664,600

16,260,740

–

Glass Collected for Recycling (lbs)

5,680

–

25,000

–

103

–

21,345

100

150

1,555,390

858,810

–

263

–

272

–

212

993

3,031

–

Beautification/Community Greening Projects

–

181

–

102

–

129

–

334

862

–

Edible Community Gardens Planted/ Replanted

–

25,805

–

4,545

1,500

–

58,721

–

14,188

2,000

–

10,000

4,855

65,583

573,917

–

1,822

–

124

–

3,121

–

2,055

–

2,971

40,282

4,194

–

Residential & Commercial Buildings Painted/Renovated/Built

–

237

–

Graffiti Sites Removed or Abated

–

100

–

529

–

120

3,479

459

–

106

–

141

277

–

126

239

289

–

1,236/6,334

–

88/14

–

2,655/ 1,057

–

1,636/ 14,614

40/500

39/0

6,382/ 12,276

5/373

–

25/10

4,474/ 16,096

6,363/ 11,442

3,183/ 9,434

–

174

–

139

100

–

28,969

–

150

–

363

–

90,718

–

4,050

18,623

300

–

37,265

25,580

71,110

–

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

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Paper Collected for Recycling (lbs) Tires Collected for Recycling

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.

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

1,486

771

RNA

4,256

683

1,657

1,905

–

1,084

440

Volunteers/Participants

108,580

47,233

RNA

161,956

1,656

73,976

1,123

454,415

285,430

50,000

291

46,750

2,164

304

59,303

351

Volunteer Hours

163,379

74,982.8

RNA

641,930

3,826

77,453

1,607

358,345

417,448

151,404

575.5

70,169

2,144

445

163,393

1,033

800/1,674

381/937

RNA

4,836/23

7/57

1,696/542

4/10

637/2,594

912/29

24/0

–

396/618

46/18

11/15

37/514

1/19

3,698,008

6,392,860

RNA

7,102,558

13,800

1,859,281

20,580

121,098,794

6,315,737

680,000

–

527,177

980

11,720

1,086,790

3,360

4,113

2,619.58

RNA

12,742

2,370

9,008

2,440

111

–

5,067

4,222

8,408

3,862.8

RNA

5,761

5,404

15,778

94,391

–

395

5,404

151

308.5

RNA

210

308

452

–

164

Playgrounds/Community/Recreation Areas Built, Cleaned, or Beautified

264

247

RNA

222

316

161

–

138

–

Rivers, Lakes & Shorelines Cleaned (miles)

162

114.5

RNA

199

210

528

1,134

–

261

139

–

RNA

–

107

–

Wetlands Cleaned or Improved (acres)

144

1,810

RNA

128

–

1,179

–

383

–

100

–

Illegal Dump Sites Cleaned

221

RNA

205

2,259

–

121

–

Clothing Collected for Reuse (lbs)

54,948

8,979

RNA

17,467

4,950

51,367

–

549,897

26,942

–

7,200

1,300

600

5,000,000

–

Aluminum & Steel Recycled (lbs)

335,123

139,383

RNA

7,435

402

1,759,579

–

1,392,284

2,361,078

–

46,758

775

215

411,774

–

Paper Collected for Recycling (lbs)

990,396

22,499

RNA

2,000

2,691,704

–

3,947,367

8,025,596

–

234,056

555

3,100

4,599,636

–

70,598

5,570

RNA

14,628

55,969

115

343,940

71,439

–

12,848

200

–

400

–

11,331

22,737

RNA

120

17,309

–

45,344

34,340

–

2,900

–

390

–

438,797

109,864

RNA

22,748

5,034

159,589

–

653,014

1,237,432

–

250,916

160

500

1,250,000

–

PET (Plastic) Bottles Collected for Recycling

5,292,600

75,100

RNA

5,000

1,560

11,609,780

–

20,492,140

16,917,880

–

1,560,860

9,300

4,000

28,369,260

–

Glass Collected for Recycling (lbs)

256,765

1,272

RNA

–

578,037

–

844,684

–

139,410

385

200

2,025,376

–

RNA

–

554

–

Beautification/Community Greening Projects

741

106

RNA

239

295

534

–

Edible Community Gardens Planted/ Replanted

RNA

–

123,828

22,668

RNA

2,918

21,000

11,733

85,143

22,909

6,342

–

3,000

40,000

–

8,141

12,902

RNA

603

1,127

35,824

6,129

1,927

174

7,000

Residential & Commercial Buildings Painted/Renovated/Built

117

RNA

–

560

290

–

Graffiti Sites Removed or Abated

150

RNA

–

250

347

–

195

–

196

–

1,068

118

RNA

–

230

1,233

500

–

313

130

3,715/ 31,545

2,390/ 5,764

RNA

2,292/ 2,326

–

2,534/ 18,627

88/405

71,289/ 47,180

87,433/ 56,037

–

1,594/ 21,087

250/20

31/10

230/2,280

10/150

179

RNA

–

306

128

–

82,004

524,913

RNA

2,480

450

111,471

875

460,657

640,555

–

39,640

2,100

210

178,930

–

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

Underwater Cleanups Conducted

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Tires Collected for Recycling Batteries Collected for Recycling (lbs) Electronics 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 Am er i can Cle anup // 2011 Rep ort

EVENTS/VOLUNTEERS

Volunteers/participants............................................ 3.8 million Volunteer hours.......................................................... 5.2 million Communities involved/events.......................... 16,500/30,600

2011 Official Results

Community groups that participated............................20,100 CLEANUPS

Litter & debris collected (lbs)..................................177 million Roads, streets, highways cleaned/beautified (miles).............................................110,000 Parks & public lands cleaned (acres)............................ 177,000 Hiking, biking & nature trails cleaned (miles)...............3,800 Playgrounds & community recreation areas cleaned/restored/constructed.......................................... 2,800 Rivers, lakes & shorelines cleaned (miles)..................... 6,400

The following reflects Keep America Beautifulâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Great American Cleanup results. These figures were derived from reports obtained from KAB affiliates and Great American Cleanup participating organizations.*

Underwater cleanups conducted.......................................... 171 Wetlands cleaned & improved (acres)...........................12,200 Illegal dump sites cleaned................................................. 6,400 REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE

Clothing collected for reuse (lbs)...........................6.2 million Aluminum & steel recycled (lbs)............................13.4 million Newspaper recycled (lbs)........................................104 million Tires collected for recycling......................................... 807,000 Batteries collected for recycling...................................289,000 Electronics recycled (lbs)..........................................7.9 million PET (plastic) bottles collected for recycling...... 290 million Glass collected for recycling (lbs)..........................12.1 million Junk cars removed/collected for recycling.....................7,100 BEAUTIFICATION

Flowers & bulbs planted............................................1.5 million Beautification and community greening projects.........5,600 Edible community gardens planted or replanted............ 728 Trees planted.................................................................... 166,000 Residential & commercial buildings painted/renovated/built.................................................... 2,600 Graffiti removal/sites abated........................................... 10,100 EDUCATION

Educational workshops held............................................ 6,900 Educational workshop attendees (total)....................760,000 Adults.............................................................................326,000 Children.........................................................................434,000 General awareness events held........................................ 2,200 General awareness event attendees.......................4.8 million MEDIA *Based on reports from 92% of the participating organizations.

Media impressions.......................................................3.8 billion

G r e at Am er i can C leanup // 2011 R eport

Affiliates and Participating Organizations ALABAMA Keep Alabama Beautiful Keep Athens-Limestone Beautiful, Inc. Keep Auburn Beautiful Keep Birmingham Beautiful Commission Keep Etowah Beautiful, Inc. Keep Guntersville Beautiful, Inc. Keep Mobile Beautiful, Inc Keep Opelika Beautiful Keep Saraland Beautiful Keep The Shoals Beautiful Montgomery Clean City Commission Operation Green Team Keeping Huntsville Beautiful ARIZONA Keep Arizona Beautiful Globe Clean and Beautiful Keep Phoenix Beautiful ARKANSAS Keep Arkansas Beautiful Keep Benton County Beautiful CALIFORNIA Keep California Beautiful American River Parkway Foundation CA Adopt A Highway California Electronic Asset Recovery CalTrans Castro Valley Sanitation District CIEDM City of Apple Valley City of Campbell City of Clearlake City of Highland City of Huntington Park City of Laguna Hills City of San Jose City of San Leandro Cosumnes Services District DPR - SD Coast District Environmental Services Bureau Friends of El Mirage Friends of Jawbone Friends of the Los Angeles River I Love A Clean San Diego, Inc. Keep Bakersfield Beautiful Keep Carson Beautiful Keep Downey Beautiful Keep Los Angeles Beautiful Keep Oakland Beautiful Keep Riverside Clean & Beautiful McDonald’s National Park Service North Tahoe Business Association Orinda Community Foundation Redwood City Public Works Sacramento Area Creeks Council Santa Monica Mountains NRA

Scripps Memorial Hospital Solano RCD The Snowmelt COlorado Keep Colorado Springs Beautiful, Inc. Keep Denver Beautiful Keep La Junta Beautiful The Meadows Neighborhood Company CONNECTICUT Friends of the Lake (Lake Lillinonah) Keep New Milford Beautiful Keep Norwalk Beautiful Knox Parks Still River Cleanup Town of Stratford FLORIDA Keep Florida Beautiful Florida International University Keep Alachua County Beautiful Keep Brevard Beautiful Keep Broward Beautiful Keep Calhoun County Beautiful, Inc. Keep Charlotte Beautiful Keep Citrus County Beautiful Keep Clay Beautiful, Inc. Keep Collier Beautiful, Inc. Keep Fort Pierce Beautiful Keep Highlands County Beautiful, Inc. Keep Indian River Beautiful, Inc. Keep Jacksonville Beautiful Keep Lake Placid Beautiful Inc Keep Lee County Beautiful, Inc. Keep Manatee Beautiful Keep Marion Beautiful, Inc. Keep Martin Beautiful Keep Nassau Beautiful, Inc. Keep Orlando Beautiful Keep Palm Beach County Beautiful, Inc. Keep Pasco Beautiful Keep Pinellas Beautiful, Inc. Keep Polk County Beautiful, Inc. Keep Port St. Lucie Beautiful Keep Putnam Beautiful Keep Sarasota County Beautiful Keep Tallahassee Leon County Beautiful Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful Keep Taylor County Beautiful Keep Volusia County Beautiful Keep Wakulla County Beautiful Keep Winter Park Beautiful Lakeland Clean & Beautiful Pensacola-Escambia Clean Community Commission Santa Rosa Clean Community System, Inc.

GEORGIA Keep Georgia Beautiful Foundation Alpharetta Natural Resource Commission Atlanta Alumni Kappa Alpha Psi Brookhaven Chamblee Home Owners and Neighborhood Butts County 4-H Camak Railroad Days Chatt. Chamber, JR ROTC & Elem. Honor Students Chattooga County Commissioner Chickamauga Woman’s Club and City of Chickamauga City of Alma City of Auburn City of Berkeley Lake City of Blythe City of Elberton City of Emerson City of Fitzgerald City of Glennville City of Helen City of Jackson City of Keysville City of Leesburg City of Locust Grove City of Manassas City of Marshallville City of Metter City of Milton City of Mount Vernon City of Mount Zion City of Norcross City of Offerman City of Reynolds City of Sandersville City of Senoia City of Sky Valley City of Sylvester City of Thomaston City of Thomson City of Warm Springs City of Warm Springs City of Woodstock Cochran Better Hometown Evans County Commissioners - Code Enforcement Friends of Lake Eufaula Gwinnett 4-H Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful Services, Inc. Harris County 4-H Club Hawkinsville Better Hometown Help Keep a Gateway to The Beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains Jefferson County MSWL, B.O.C and Library System Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Atlanta, Georgia Alumni Chapter Keep Albany-Dougherty Beautiful Keep Americus Sumter Beautiful Keep Athens-Clarke County Beautiful Keep Atlanta Beautiful

Keep Bartow Beautiful Keep Brunswick-Golden Isles Beautiful Keep Bulloch Beautiful Keep Carroll Beautiful Keep Chamblee Beautiful Keep Chatsworth-Murray Beautiful Keep Cobb Beautiful Keep Columbus Beautiful Commission Keep Covington/Newton Beautiful Keep Crisp Beautiful Keep Dade Beautiful Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful Keep Dawson County Beautiful Keep Decatur County Beautiful Keep DeKalb Beautiful Keep Douglasville Beautiful Keep Dublin Laurens Beautiful, Inc Keep East Point Beautiful Keep Forest Park Beautiful Keep Forsyth County Beautiful Keep Fort Stewart/Hunter Army Airfield Beautiful Keep Grady County Beautiful Keep Habersham Beautiful Keep Hall Beautiful Keep Jackson County Beautiful Keep Jones Beautiful Commission Keep Liberty Beautiful Keep Lowndes/Valdosta Beautiful Keep Macon-Bibb Beautiful Keep Madison County Beautiful Keep Marietta Beautiful Keep McIntosh Beautiful Keep Newnan Beautiful Keep North Fulton Beautiful, Inc. Keep Oconee County Beautiful Keep Paulding Beautiful Keep Peach County Clean & Beautiful Keep Perry Beautiful Keep Polk Beautiful Keep Randolph Beautiful Keep Roberta/Crawford Beautiful Keep Rome Floyd Beautiful Keep Roswell Beautiful Keep Savannah Beautiful Keep Screven Beautiful Keep Smyrna Beautiful Keep South Fulton Beautiful Keep Thomas County Beautiful Keep Tift Beautiful Keep Toccoa Stephens County Beautiful Keep Troup Beautiful Keep Walton Beautiful Keep Warner Robins Beautiful Kingsland DDA Lee County Code Enforcement Lincoln County Board of Commissioners M. L. King Male Youth Leadership Development Program McIntosh County 4-H McIntosh County Extension Millen Better Hometown Screven Citizen Volunteers Sparta Chapter Property Owners Association Stonewall Tell Elementary School Town of Alto Town of Clermont Town of Dearing Town of Tyrone Public Works Villa Rica Beautiful

Walnut Grove Marshal Dept. White County Chamber of Commerce HAWAII Keep the Hawaiian Islands Beautiful Adopt-a-Beach Hawaii Community Work Day Program Keep Hawaii Beautiful Keep Honolulu Beautiful Keep Kauai Beautiful Nani ‘O Waianae ILLINOIS Keep Illinois Beautiful City of Chicago Keep Carbondale Beautiful Keep Centralia Beautiful Keep Chicago Beautiful Keep Moline Beautiful Keep Northern Illinois Beautiful Keep Oak Park Beautiful Keep Peoria Beautiful Keep Rock Island Beautiful Keep Salem Beautiful Keep Vermilion County Beautiful The Volunteer Center of Northwest Suburban Chicago in coordination with U.S. Smokeless Tobacco INDIANA City of Fort Wayne Keep Evansville Beautiful Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, Inc. Keep Stockwell Beautiful, Inc. Keep Terre Haute Beautiful IOWA Keep Iowa Beautiful Decatur County Rotary Club Keep Council Bluffs Beautiful Keep Scott County Beautiful Pride In Community Appearance KANSAS Keep America Beautiful-Topeka/Shawnee County Keep Dodge City Beautiful Operation Brightside Inc. KENTUCKY Clean Kentucky Brightside (Louisville) Keep Covington Beautiful Keep Lexington-Fayette County Beautiful US Smokeless Tobacco Co., an Altria Company LOUISIANA Keep Louisiana Beautiful 100 Black Men of St. Mary Bishop Noland Episcopal Day School City of Lake Charles - Team Green of Southwest Louisiana Friends of the Lafitte Corridor G.M.U.E.S. Club R.E.D. (Recycle Every Day) Golden Meadow Upper Elementary Junior Achievement New Orleans Keep Abbeville Beautiful Keep Assumption Beautiful Keep Baton Rouge Beautiful, Inc.

Keep Cenla Beautiful Keep Covington Beautiful Keep DeRidder Beautiful Keep Hammond Beautiful Keep Iberville Beautiful Keep Lincoln Parish Beautiful Keep Mandeville Beautiful Keep Monroe Beautiful Keep Morehouse Beautiful Keep Natchitoches Beautiful Keep Ouachita Parish Beautiful Keep Red River Parish Beautiful Keep Slidell Beautiful Keep St. John Beautiful Keep St. Mary Beautiful Keep West Baton Rouge Beautiful Keep West Monroe Beautiful New Orleans Museum of Art NOLA Green Roots Northwestern State University Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Department Salmen High School Shreveport Green St. James Parish Litter Awareness and Beautification Board/ Keep St. James Parish Beautiful Town of Bunkie Town of Jena MAINE Portland Parkside Neighborhood Association MARYLAND CCBC Dundalk Cecil County Solid Waste Management Division Community College of Baltimore County—Essex Campus Greenbelt Park, NCP East Keep Prince George’s County Beautiful MASSACHUSETTS Keep Mansfield Beautiful Keep Springfield Beautiful LBIA Long Beach Improvement Association MICHIGAN Keep Genesee County Beautiful Keep it Moving Keep Liberty Beautiful Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore MINNESOTA Keep Minneapolis Beautiful MISSISSIPPI Keep Mississippi Beautiful Keep Bay Saint Louis Beautiful Keep Cleveland Beautiful Keep Clinton Beautiful Keep Columbia and Marion County Beautiful Keep Columbus/Lowndes Beautiful Keep Copiah County Beautiful Keep Corinth-Alcorn Beautiful Keep Hattiesburg Beautiful Keep Horn Lake Beautiful Keep Indianola Beautiful Keep Jackson Beautiful, Inc. Keep Laurel/Jones County Beautiful

G r e at Am er i can C leanup // 2011 R eport

Keep Lincoln County Beautiful Keep Madison Beautiful Keep Natchez Adams County Beautiful Keep New Albany/Union County Beautiful Keep Oxford Lafayette County Beautiful Keep Pascagoula Beautiful Keep Pearl Beautiful Keep Pike County Beautiful Keep Simpson County Beautiful Inc. Keep Tupelo Beautiful Lowe’s Mississippi Power Pepsi TroyBilt Waste Management MISSOURI Keep Kansas City Beautiful MONTANA Bright n’ Beautiful Keep Miles City Beautiful NEBRASKA Keep Nebraska Beautiful Homestead National Monument of America Keep Alliance Beautiful, Inc. Keep Beatrice Beautiful, Inc. Keep Chadron Beautiful Keep Columbus Beautiful Keep Fremont Beautiful Keep Keith County Beautiful Keep Kimball Beautiful Keep Lexington Beautiful Keep Lincoln & Lancaster County Beautiful Keep Loup Basin Beautiful Keep Norfolk Beautiful Keep North Platte & Lincoln County Beautiful Keep Northeast Nebraska Beautiful Keep Schuyler Beautiful Keep Scottsbluff-Gering Beautiful Keep Sidney Beautiful South Sioux City Middle School Student Council NEVADA Keep Las Vegas Beautiful Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful National Park Service - Lake Mead National Recreation Area NEW HAMPSHIRE Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site NEW JERSEY Beta Alpha Phi Chapter, Phi Theta Kappa, Hudson County Community College Woman’s Club of Arlington, EMD and The Junior Woman’s Club of Arlington NEW MEXICO New Mexico Clean & Beautiful Artesia Clean and Beautiful Bernalillo County City of Grants City of Portales Curry County Farmington Clean & Beautiful Hobbs Beautiful Keep Alamogordo Beautiful

Keep Albuquerque Beautiful Keep Carlsbad Beautiful Keep Clovis Beautiful Keep Doña Ana County Beautiful Keep Las Cruces Beautiful Keep Las Vegas Beautiful Keep Luna County Beautiful Keep Rio Rancho Beautiful Keep Roswell Beautiful Keep Ruidoso Downs Beautiful Keep Santa Fe Beautiful Keep Tularosa Beautiful Tierra Bonita of Valencia County Town of Elida Town of Taos Village of Angel Fire Village of Causey Village of Cloudcroft Village of Eagle Nest Village of Ruidoso - Keep Ruidoso Beautiful Village of San Jon NEW YORK Allentown Association Belle Center Boys & Girls Club of Eden Buffalo Board of Block Clubs Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper Buffalo State College Volunteer and Service- Learning Center C.R.U.C.I.A.L. Center City of Buffalo Community Action Organization of Erie County E.C. Daycare East Buffalo Sculpture Center Ellicott District Council Office Elmwood Village Association Glen Cove Beautification Commission and Litter Prevention Program Groundworks Buffalo Heart of Neighborhood Center Juneteenth Festival, Inc Keep Islip Clean Keep New York City Beautiful Keep Rockland Beautiful Keep Western New York Beautiful Larkin Development Group Masten District Council Office Monroe County Parks Department Niagara Falls Fire Dept. People, Inc. Power Drives, Inc. Queen City Farm Rome Clean and Green Schiller Park Community Center South Buffalo Crew Stop the Violence Coalition Sunset Bay Association Tapestry Charter School Town of Brookhaven Town of Hamburg University at Buffalo Center for Student Leadership & Community Engagement University District Council Office Village of Williamsville

NORTH CAROLINA Keep NC Beautiful Asheville GreenWorks Clear Channel Greensboro Beautiful Harris Teeter High Point Keep America Beautiful KAB of Nash & Edgecombe Counties Keep America Beautiful of New Hanover County Keep Brunswick County Beautiful Keep Charlotte Beautiful Keep Franklin County Beautiful Keep Gastonia Beautiful Keep Greenville Beautiful Keep McDowell Beautiful, Inc. Keep Mecklenburg Beautiful Keep Moore County Beautiful, Inc. Keep North Carolina Beautiful Keep Onslow Beautiful Keep Shelby Beautiful Keep Wake County Beautiful Keep Winston-Salem Beautiful Lincoln Harris GSC McDonald’s USA NC Beverage Association NC Division of Environmental Assistance & Outreach NC DOT Office of Beautification NC Travel & Tourism Coalition PepsiCo Progress Energy Sonoco Recycling The Garden Club of NC Town of Cary Waste Management Valley Middle School OHIO Keep Ohio Beautiful City of Barberton Beautification City of Cuyahoga Falls Division of Recycling & Litter Prevention City of Mansfield Litter Prevention & Recycling Defiance County Environmental Services KAB Geauga-Trumbull Solid Waste Management District Hopewell Culture National Historical Park Keep Akron Beautiful Keep Allen County Beautiful Keep Cincinnati Beautiful Keep Clark County Beautiful Keep Columbus Beautiful Keep Delaware County Beautiful Keep Grove City Beautiful Keep Hardin County Beautiful Keep Jefferson-Belmont Beautiful Keep Lake Milton Clean and Beautiful Keep Mentor Beautiful Keep Montgomery County Beautiful Keep Perrysburg Beautiful Keep the Mahoning Valley Beautiful, Inc. Keep Toledo/Lucas County Beautiful, Inc. Keep Wickliffe Beautiful Lawrence-Scioto County Solid Waste Management District Lorain County Beautiful Richland County Regional Solid Waste Management Authority Wayne National Forest Youngstown Litter Control and Recycling

OKLAHOMA Keep Oklahoma Beautiful Oklahoma Department of Transportation Oklahoma Tourism & Recreation Department Oklahoma Turnpike Authority Walmart Stores A Third Place Community Foundation Ada Main Street Adair Scout Troop 167 Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town Albion City Council and Community Alva 4-H Alva Alive Beautification Committee Antlers Garden Club Antlers Lions Club Apache Tribe Environmental Program Ardmore Beautification Council Asbury United Methodist Church Atoka Main Street Beavers Bend State Park Believers in Boswell Community Coalition, Inc Billings Community Improvement Committee Black Mesa B&B Blackwell Pride Committee Bluff Community Center Bokoshe FCCLA Chapter Boley Trashoff Bristow Area Chamber of Commerce Broken Arrow Beautification Committee Broken Bow Main Street Bryan County District 3 Calumet Chamber of Commerce Cargill Salt Employees Chandler Park Community Center Checotah Chamber of Commerce Chelsea Area Chamber of Commerce Cherokee County Solid Waste Cherokee Main Street Chickasha Chamber of Commerce Citizens for a Cleaner Eufaula Citizens for a Litter Free Choctaw County City of Blanchard City of Bristow City of Catoosa City of Commanche City of Coweta City of Dewey City of Durant City of Edmond City of Elmore City City of Garber City of Garvin City of Grove City of Guymon City of Healdton City of Lehigh City of Miami - Solid Waste Department City of Midwest City City of Moore City of Noble City of Norman City of Nowata Beautification Committee City of Oilton City of Oklahoma City Parks and Recreation City of Perry City of Ralston City of Stroud City of Tahlequah

City of Tishomingo City of Warr Acres City of Wilburton City of Hooker Copan Community Action Team CORE Crescent Community Development Council Crowder Lake Parks and Recreation Management Cub Scout Pack 146 Cub Scout Pack 287 Cub Scouts Pack #183 Delaware County District 1 Delaware Nation Environmental Programs Delaware Youth Committee DOT - Federal Highway Administration Dry Creek Farm Eagletown Public School East Highway Five Cleanup Eastwood Community Association Eufaula Area Chamber of Commerce Fairview 4H Club Family of Faith School Family Support Center of Oaks FCCLA Fletcher Elementary School Fort Sill Apache Tribe Environmental Program Friends of Lake Eufaula State Park Friends of Lake Overholser & Stinchcomb Wildlife Refuge Friends of NW 10th Beautification Task Force Friends of Okmulgee State Park Friends of Roman Nose State Park Friends of the Park - City of Yukon Girl Scout Troop 640 Grand Lake State Parks - Bernice Area Greater Tenkiller Area Association Green/Clean/Beautiful - Weatherford Greenleaf State Park Greenwood Family and Friends Greer County 4H Guymon Central Jr. High School Guymon Jr 4-H Guymon National Junior Honor Society Guymon Panhandle Lions Club Harper County Home & Community Education Liberty Club Harvey & Irene Randall Family Heavner Chamber of Commerce Hobart Beautification Commission Idabel Main Street Jefferson County District #2 Jet Lions Club Keep Bryan County Beautiful Keep Nowata Beautiful Keep Pine Creek Road Clean Kingfisher Rotary Club Lake Murray State Park Latin American Community Club Laverne Main Street Lawton Enhancement Trust Authority Leisure Studies Program Little Axe Community Locust Grove PWA Main Street Guymon Main Street Paulâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Valley Marshall County Chamber of Commerce McClain County District #3 McCurtain County McClean Team Memorial Hospital

New Jerusalem Community Center & Park Newkirk Junior Main Street Northwest Chamber of Commerce Nowata Area Chamber of Commerce Oak Park United Methodist Church OKC Beautiful Okeemah Chamber of Commerce Okeene Chamber of Commerce Oklahoma City Community College Oklahoma Department of Transportation Oklahoma Earthfriends Oklahoma Route 66 Association Oklahoma Tourism & Recreation Department Oklahoma Turnpike Authority Okmulgee Main Street Okmulgee/Dripping Springs State Park OSU Cooperative Extension/4-H Youth Development OSU/OKC GoGreen Otoe-Missouria Environmental Department Perkins Parks & Recreation Perry Noon Lions Club Pickens-Clebit Communities Pocola Lions Club Pontotoc County Conservation District Poteau Chamber of Commerce Pride In McAlester Pride In Sapulpa Quapaw Tribe Environmental Office Rebuilding Together OKC Redbud Canyon HOA RedFork Main Street Robbers Cave State Park Rogers County Commissioners Rogers County District 1 Rogers County District 2 Salina Area Chamber of Commerce Sandite Child Development Center Sapulpa Chamber of Commerce Sayre Main Street Seminole Chamber of Commerce Sequoyah State Park Shawnee Chamber of Commerce Beautification Committee Shidler Area Chamber of Commerce Skiatook Chamber of Commerce Southern Cheyenne & Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma Spencer Chamber of Commerce Stigler Haskell County Chamber of Commerce Stringtown Community Sulphur Main Street Team Up to Clean Up Tenkiller State Park Thackerville Cleanup Thai Students Association - Oklahoma State University The Metropolitan Environmental Trust The Tree Bank Foundation Tonkawa Chamber of Commerce Town of Aline Town of Arnett & Arnett Chamber of Commerce Town of Avant Town of Bethel Town of Bokoshe Town of Boynton Town of Braman Town of Burbank Town of Caddo Town of Cameron

G r e at Am er i can C leanup // 2011 R eport

Town of Carneige Town of Cheyenne Town of Chouteau Town of Copan Town of Coyle Town of Earlsboro Town of Fort Gibson Town of Goldsby Town of Hammon Town of Headrick Town of Helena Town of Howe Town of Hulbert Town of Langston Town of Laverne Town of Macomb Town of Manitou Town of Maysville Town of Mounds Town of Nash Town of Oakland Town of Okay Town of Ringling Town of Slaughterville Town of Spavinaw Town of Tatums Town of Tyrone Town of Valleybrook Town of Velma Town of Westport Tri-County Technology Center Tulsa County Conservation District US Army Corps of Engineers, Oologah Lake Valliant Chamber of Commerce Vinita Area Chamber of Commerce Wagoner County District 1 Wardrop Farm Waurika Kids 4 Community 4-H Club We Love Hollis Welch Christian Church William S Key Correctional Center Wister Pride Wood Family Woodward Main Street Wyandotte Nation PENNSYVLANIA Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful 3rd Grade South Side 3rd Grade Steelton-Highspire Elementary 432 Spackman Lane Junk Yard Dogs 4th annual Newhouse Park Clean-up Abington Township Environmental Advisory Council ACRP Hastings Agostine Family Alleghany Outdoor Club Allegheny CleanWays Allegheny Valley Land Trust Allegheny Valley Trails Association Allison Christian Church Amanda’s Clean-Up Crew Appleton Papers Asbury Woods Nature Center Aultman Watershed Association for Restoring the Environment Avella Boy Scout Troop 1366 Avondale Borough Baker Creek Watershed Association

Bakersville Clean-up Bannon Family BARC and Brownsville Neighborhood Watch Barrett Elementary Center Bear Creek Township Homeowners Bear Creek Watershed Association Benner Comm. 4-H Club Berks County Solid Waste Authority Bilger’s Rocks Association Black Moshannon State Park Blacklick Valley H.S. Blue Mountain Eagle Climbing Club Borough of Carnegie Borough of Catasauqua Borough of Mifflinburg Borough of Pennsbury Village Boy Scout Troop #93 Boy Scout Troop 1391 Boy Scouts of America Troop 710, Steelton Brady’s Bend Township Brandts church of the Brethren Brian Hamrick, Linda and Keith Bristol Township Brownie Troop 43029 BSA Troop 89 Buchanan State Forest Butler Junior High School Trout Fishing Club Butler Township Caledonia Cutoff crew California University of PA Parks and Recreation Society Caln Township Cambria Co. CoGen Canoe Creek State Park Carbondale Area 6th Grade Class Carlisle Elm Street Program Carroll Eco-Citizens Cathy Mangus CBCB: Cowell’s Beach Cente County Solid Waste Authority CenterMoreland U M C Central Cambria Elementary Grade 4 Century Club of Wilkins Township Charlestown Township Chestnut Ridge / Laurel Mountain Horse and Pony 4-H Clubs Chiques Cares Chiques Creek Watershed Alliance Christian Recovery Aftercare Ministry City of Allentown City of Washington Civil & Environmental Consultants Cleaner and Greener 4 ClearWater Conservancy Clifford Township Clinton County CleanScapes Close the Loop Coca-Cola Refreshments Coca-Cola Refreshments-Erie Committee to Clean and Beautify Ambridge Compass Road Neighborhood Watch Corsica Boy Scout Troop 61 Covenant Life Fellowship Crescent Hills Civic Association and Penn HIlls Municipality Crispus Attucks Association Crystal´s Tree Huggers Cub Scout Pack 14 Cub Scout Pack 339

Cub Scouts, Troop 13, Den 3 Dallastown Football DARC Dave Matta DCNR - Promised Land State Park Delaware Canal State Park Delaware Township Recreation & Environmental Councils Delaware Valley College Discover Downtown Johnstown Partnership District Township Divine Touch Hair Studio Down Town Organizations Investing Together/ Shippensburg Kiwanis Downtown West Newton, Inc Dravosburg Clean Up Day Ducks Unlimited High Point Chapter Duncannon Cloverleaf 4-H Duquesne University’s Spiritan Campus Ministry Dutch Corner Historical Society East Goshen Township East Nantmeal Environmental Advisory Council Elk County Recycling Office Elk Township Elysburg Masonic Lodge #349 Emmaus and Upper Milford EAC Employees of PA DEP Environmental Health Committee, Trinity Lutheran Church, New Holland Ephrata Mennonite School Everson Troop 160 FAIRWAY Independent Mortgage Corporation Falls Road Cleanup Crew Fayette County One Fayetteville Volunteer Fire Department Junior Members Fighting Tigers Findlay Township First District Elementary School Grade Two Fix It Shop Auto Center Folmont Property Owners Association Forest Hills National Honor Society Forks Community Service Fox Hollow Gang Frances Slocum State Park Franklin County Environmental Conservation Program Freedom Township Freeland Recreation Board French Creek State Park Friends of Hague Lane Friends of Kocher Park Friends of Laurel Hill Friends of Little Aughwick Creek (FLAC) Friends of McConnells Mill State Park Friends of Pine Grove Furnace State Park Friends of Raystown Lake Friends of Shikellamy State Park Friends of Tamanend Park Friends of the Delaware Canal Friends of the North Versailles Public Library Friends of Vetera Road Girl Scout Troop #20462 Girl Scout Troop 33941 Girl Scouts 22115 Girl Scouts Cadette Girl Scouts Heart of PA Stroudsburg Service Unit 517 GOAL (Greenbelt Overhaul Alliance Of Levittown)

Going Green Beaver Grace Valley Fellowship Great American Cleanup of PA-Ten Mile Creek Great Cleanup of New Kensington Greater Johnstown Athletic Ski Club Greater Prospect Community Group and ACRP Greensboro Borough and Cornerstone Care Greenville Women’s Action Group Greenwood Furnace State Park GSWPA Troop #20462 GSWPA Troop #30658 Hamilton District Main Street Program Hamiltonban Township Hanna Penn Middle School Hanover Citizens Harborcreek Township Harford Pack 98 and Harford Troop 98 Harrisburg Bicycle Club Harrisburg SCUBA Center Hay Creek HealthSouth Acute Rehab. Hospital Heidelberg Borough Heming Family Heritage Conservancy Heron´s Eye Communications Highland Park Community Highland Ridge Elm Street Hudak Family Independence Conservancy & Potter Township Interact Club of Quakertown Community High School Irick, Eberhardt & Mientus, Inc Jacobsburg Environmental Education Center James and Anna Mae Van Dyne Jay Township Jim Marvin Judith Jabara Kara and Company Keep Allentown Beautiful Keep Bedford County Beautiful Keep Cambria County Beautiful Keep Collier Beautiful Keep Harrisburg Beautiful Keep Huntingdon County Beautiful Keep Lancaster County Beautiful Keep Perry County Beautiful Keep Philadelphia Beautiful Keep Royal Gardens Beautiful Keep Washington County Beautiful Keep York Beautiful Keep York County Beautiful Ken Gwizdak Kennett Township Kids Connection Kiskiminetas Watershed Association Kiwanis Club of Greater Reading Berks County Lackawanna River Corridor Association Lafarge North America - Whitehall Plant Lakeland Elementary LAMP and Rapha Ministries Church Langhorne Boro Rec Board and EAC LaSalle Academy Preschool Lausanne Township Lebanon Great Earth Day Clean Up! Ligonier Township Supervisors Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor Lititz Run Watershed Alliance Louis E. Dieruff High School Air Force Junior ROTC Lower Merion Township & Friends of the Cynwyd

Heritage Trail Lower Milford Township Lower Penns Creek Watershed Association Loyalhanna Watershed Association Lynn Twp. Lehigh Co. EAC Macungie BSA Troop 71 MANA Manheim Christian Day School Trash a Thon Manheim Township Great PA Cleanup Mansfield University Marianne Berryman Matamoras Republican Club Maxwell Elementary Meadville Moose Lodge Modena Clean-up Crew Monaca Volunteer Community Outreach Moraine State Park Morningside Area Community Council Mount Calvary Christian School Muncy Borough Municipality of Monroeville Natrona Comes Together Naval Support Activity Mechanicsburg Naval Support Activity Philadelphia Nescopeck State Park New Franklin Ruritan Club New Horizon School Newberry Community Partnership Newport Township Community Organization Newport Township Community Organization/ South Valley Chamber of Commerce No Junk in Tunk! Nockamixon State Park Nockamixon Township North Annville Youth League Octorara High School Leo Club Our Lady of Peace School Caring Kids PA CleanWays of Blair County PA CleanWays of Butler-Lawrence Counties PA CleanWays of Fayette County PA CleanWays of McKean County PA CleanWays of Mifflin County PA Dept. of Corrections Training Academy Pack 14 Tiger and Wolf Cub Scouts Paint Creek Regional Watershed Association and Kiski-Conemaugh Stream Team Park and Recreation Committee Park Ave UMC Parker Dam State Park Penbrook Revitalization Inc Penn Cambria Primary Penn State Berks Penn State Club of Franklin County Penn State Erie, The Behrend College PennDOT Adopt-A-Highway Groups Pennhurst Memorial and Preservation Alliance Penns Valley Conservation Association Pennsbury Environmental Science Classes Pennsylvania Environmental Council Pennsylvania Environmental Council/Newport Twp. Community Organization Pennsylvania National Guard / Doc Fritchey Chap. Trout Unlimited People to People Student Ambassador Perry County One Perry County Two Peters Township Environmental Quality Board PHS; Parks & Recreation; Greater Philadelphia Cares

Picture Rocks Borough Annual Cleanup and Beautification Pike-Wayne Trout Unlimited /Fontinalis Fly Fishermen Pitcairn Community Renaissance Pitt Ohio Express Employees Pittsburgh trail advocacy group Pocono Geocachers Pride in Chestnuthill Project Greensweep R. B. Winter Chapter Trout Unlimited Rail-Trail Council of NEPA Reading Beautification, Inc. Reaxis Inc Adopt a Highway Day Red Lion Municipal Authority Redbank Renaissance, Inc. Redbank Valley Trails Association Residents of Bagdad Road and Indian Hill Road Residents of Glenmoore Residents of Gray Station Road Richland Township Rivendell Residents River Rock Leadership Wilkes-Barre Roaring Run Watershed Association/Rivers Edge Canoe and Kayak Robinson Township Cleanup Day Rosegarden Civic Association Route 553 Neighbors Saddle Club Road residents Salford Township Save Stony Valley/ Doc Fritchey Trout Unlimited Schuylkill Canal Association Schuylkill Township EAC Scott Township Second Presbyterian Church Youth Group Sewickley Creek Watershed Association, Inc. Sharon Beautification Commission Sharon Neighborhood Revitalization Committee Shiremanstown Borough Shuff Family Silver Lake Nature Center SKIP Schuylkill Keep it Pretty Snyder County Solid Waste Management Authority Society of Environmental Advocates Somerset County Parks and Recreation Board South Ebensburg 4H Community Club SSELC Ophelia Team St. David Parish CYO St. Hippolyte/ Our Lady of Lourdes Youth Group St. Joe’s Rd Cleanup St. Mary’s Church of Leckrone Standing Stone Township Stony Creek Anglers Strengthening Families Take Pride in Titusville Taylor Township The 3700 Garden Club The 700 Block of Stnabridge Street Norristown The Beerhill Gang - Timothy Kalar The City of St. Mary’s The Factoryville Shade Tree Commission The Gate House for Women The Londonderry School The Morrisville YMCA The Shawnee Institute Ltd. The Stitt Family The Swain School Tinicum Township Clean-up days Tionesta Lake, Army Corps of Engineers.

G r e at Am er i can C leanup // 2011 R eport

Tobyhanna Elementary ESL Class Township Road Cleanup through East Carroll Township Tri-County Trout Club Trinity High School Environmental Club Triple Crown Corporation Trout Run Watershed Assn/ Portage Area School District Troy Hill Citizens Troy’s River Road Crew TU, BHCWA, Trout in the classroom Tullytown Borough PA Cleanup Union Local 1419 Carpenters Uniontown Downtown Business District Authority/ Main Street Program United Way of Erie County Day of Caring Upper Pottsgrove Township Upper Saucon Township Valley Green Village West Recreation Association Valley Township Venture Lititz Wade Glessner Walter Miller Elementary School Wampum Chapter North Country Trail Association Washington County Parks & Recreation Waste Not Tech Watershed Alliance of York Watsontown Borough Waymart Horizons 4-H Club West Branch Area Elementary School West Donegal Township West End Park & Open Space Commission West Lampeter Recycle Committee West Nottingham Township West Reading Elm Street West Rockhill Township West Ward Neighborhood Partnership West Whiteland Township Westmoreland Cleanways Westwood Kiwanis White Clay Creek State Preserve Volunteers Wildlands Conservancy Wildwood Park and Nature Center Wilkinsburg Weed and Seed Initiative Williamson Sportsmen’s Club Winnie Palmer Nature Reserve at Saint Vincent College Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association WLRI 93FM Women’s Club of Altoona Woodland Retirement Community Wormleysburg Yacht Club Wrightsville Waste Warriors Wyomissing Borough York Township York Traditions Bank Young Professionals of Warren County Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church RHODE ISLAND City of Newport - Clean City Program Keep Blackstone Valley Beautiful Naval Station Newport SOUTH CAROLINA Keep South Carolina Beautiful Greenville County Solid Waste Division KAB of Anderson County Keep Beaufort County Beautiful

Keep Charleston Beautiful Keep Colleton Beautiful Keep Darlington County Beautiful Keep Dorchester County Beautiful Keep Edisto Beautiful/Edisto Pride Keep Florence Beautiful Keep Georgetown Beautiful Keep Greenville County Beautiful Keep Greenwood County Beautiful Keep Hampton County Beautiful Keep North Charleston Beautiful Keep Oconee Beautiful Association Keep Orangeburg County Beautiful Keep the Midlands Beautiful Keep Williamsburg Beautiful Keep York County Beautiful Rock Hill Clean and Green SOUTH DAKOTA Keep Hot Springs Beautiful Keep Yankton Beautiful TENNESSEE Keep Tennessee Beautiful AT&T Pioneers Tennessee Chapter 21 Bedford County Extension Program Benton County Government Bi-County Solid Waste Management System Bledsoe County Executive’s Office Campbell County Government Cannon County Government Cheatham County Government Clay County Solid Waste Cleveland/Bradley KAB Clifton Chamber of Commerce Crockett County Chamber of Commerce Cumberland County Recycling Decatur County Government DeKalb County Chamber of Commerce Dickson County Government Dyer County Government Elizabethton/Carter County Chamber of Commerce Fayette County Government Fentress County Solid Waste Freed-Hardeman University Giles County Highway Department Grainger County Government Grundy County Mayor’s Office Hancock County Sheriff’s Department Hardeman County Executive’s Office Hardin County Solid Waste Haywood County Solid Waste & Landfill Henderson County Reenactment Association Hendersonville Beautiful Henry County Highway Department Hickman County Chamber of Commerce Houston County Mayor’s Office Humbolt Housing Authority Humphreys County Recycling & Litter Grant Program Interlocal Solid Waste Authority - Franklin County Jackson County Executive Office & Litter Grant Program Jefferson County Executive’s Office Johnson County Litter Control Keep Anderson County Beautiful Keep Blount Beautiful Keep Bristol Beautiful Keep Cocke County Beautiful

Keep Coffee County Beautiful Keep Fayetteville/Lincoln County Beautiful, Inc. Keep Goodlettsville Beautiful Keep Greene Beautiful Keep Jackson Beautiful Keep Johnson City Beautiful Keep Kingsport Beautiful Keep Knoxville Beautiful Keep Maury Beautiful Keep McMinn Beautiful Keep Monroe County Beautiful Keep Morristown Hamblen Beautiful, Inc Keep Roane Litter Free Keep Sevier Beautiful Keep Tipton County Beautiful Keep Union County Beautiful Keep Williamson Beautiful Lake County Government Lauderdale County Government Lawrence County Government Lebanon City Beautification Committee Lewis County Three Star Program Macon County Sheriff’s Dept Marshall County Mayor’s Office Martin Methodist College McNairy County Chamber of Commerce Meigs County Executive’s Office Memphis City Beautiful Metro Beautification & Environment Commission Monterey Senior Citizen Center Moore County Executive’s Office Morgan County Litter Prevention Program Murfreesboro Park and Recreation & Friends of the Greenway Overton County Litter Grant Program Perry County Chamber of Commerce Pickett County Executive Office Polk County Litter Grant Program Rhea County Beautification Commission Robertson County/Springfield Chamber of Commerce Rogersville/Hawkins County Chamber of Commerce Scenic Cities Beautiful Commission Scott County Solid Waste Sequatchie County Government Shelby County Public Works Smith County Mayor Office Stewart County 4-H Club Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation Tennessee Department of Transportation Tennessee Federation of Garden Clubs, Inc. The Sewanee Mountain Grotto Trousdale County Government Unicoi County Chamber of Commerce Union City Beautiful Commission Van Buren County Government Warren County Government Weakley County Litter Grant Program White County Litter Control TEXAS Keep Texas Beautiful Andrews Chamber of Commerce Angelina Beautiful/Clean Beautify Corpus Christi Assoc.

City of Euless City of Lancaster City of McKinney- Envir. Stewardship Environmental Co-op Keep Aaes Beautiful Keep Abilene Beautiful Keep Allen Beautiful Keep Angleton Beautiful Keep Bay City Beautiful Keep Boerne Beautiful Keep Brownsville Beautiful Keep Brownwood Beautiful Keep Burleson Beautiful Keep Cisco Beautiful Keep Coppell Beautiful Keep Copperas Cove Beautiful Keep Denton Beautiful Keep El Paso Beautiful Keep Flower Mound Beautiful Keep Haltom City Beautiful Keep Houston Beautiful Keep Irving Beautiful Keep Junction Beautiful Keep Laredo Beautiful Keep Lewisville Beautiful Keep McAllen Beautiful Keep Murphy Beautiful - City of Murphy Keep Odessa Beautiful, Inc. Keep Pearland Beautiful Keep Port Aransas Beautiful Keep Roanoke Beautiful Keep Rowlett Beautiful Keep Sugar Land Beautiful Keep Tyler Beautiful Keep Whitehouse Beautiful Live Green in Plano Pioneer Crossing West HOA Port Arthur Beautification Commission Southwest Arlington Geocachers

VIRGINIA Keep Virginia Beautiful Citizens for a Clean Lynchburg City of Chesapeake Frederick County Clean Sweep Hampton Clean City Commission HandsOn Greater Richmond Keep Norfolk Beautiful Keep Southwest Virginia Beautiful Keep Suffolk Beautiful Keep Wise County Beautiful Newport News Recycling Prince William Clean Community Council Richmond Clean City Commission Spotsylvania County WASHINGTON Naval Station Everett Recycling Navy Whidbey Recycle, Naval Air Station Whidbey Island WEST VIRGINIA City of Wheeling Keep New Cumberland Beautiful Philippi Main Street, Inc. WISCONSIN Keep Greater Milwaukee Beautiful University of Wisconsin - Stout WYOMING Keep Casper Beautiful CANADA Keep Hamilton Beautiful Take Pride Winnipeg! Inc. PUERTO RICO KAB-PR Affiliate Group

UTAH Take Pride in Utah

Thank You Keep America Beautiful would like to extend its thanks to all of executive directors, staff and volunteers of the KAB affiliates and Great American Cleanup participating organizations as well as National Sponsors and Promotional, Educational and Retail Partners, for their unique contributions to the Great American Cleanup and for contributing to this annual report with program summaries and photographs. We couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have done it without you!

G r eat Ame ri ca n Cle a nu p // 2011 Rep ort

National Sponsors and Partners Make it Happen

Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co.

LG Electronics USA

The Glad Products Company

As a 12-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, the cast of MTV’s “The Buried Life” participated in the Orbit® gum “Live Clean” online consumer promotion resulting in a painted mural donated to the city of Chicago.

LG Electronics USA, the exclusive Consumer Electronics and Home Appliance National Sponsor, helped bolster the Great American Cleanup’s electronics recycling results through LG’s nationwide e-cycling program, including innovative programs during March Madness® and the NCAA® Final Four® in Houston.

From the dawn of Keep America Beautiful’s national cleanup events, The Glad Products Company has continued its support of KAB’s mission. For 27 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.

Troy-Bilt® Lawn and Garden Equipment

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company

Pepsi-Cola and Gatorade Companies

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, in its seventh year as a sponsor, launched the GRO1000 initiative, a commitment to install 1,000 gardens and green spaces in the United States and select international sites by 2018. Through this program, gardens and green spaces were established in five KAB communities, with a portion of the harvest donated to local food pantries.

In its 13th year of sponsorship, Pepsi-Cola Company once again donated soft drinks to help quench the thirst of volunteers at hundreds of events nationwide. The company also played an invaluable role in rallying volunteers and producing and distributing event posters promoting the “Green Starts Here” campaign.

Troy-Bilt® Lawn and Garden Equipment, for the 13th year, continued its in-kind support by donating equipment upon request to local organizations. The donated equipment will continue to be used in the selected communities long after the cleanups and green-ups have ended.

Solo Cup Company

Nestlé® Pure Life® Purified Water

The Dow Chemical Company

Returning as a third-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.

Nestlé Pure Life Purified Water was the Official Bottled Water National Sponsor of the GAC for the second year. The top 25 state and local affiliates, who collected the most PET bottles for recycling, were awarded $1,000 each for a Nestlé® Pure Life® PET Recycling Award. Nestlé also provided 3 million bottles of water to keep busy volunteers hydrated.

For the fourth consecutive year, The Dow Chemical Company marshalled its employees to participate in 51 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 the Great American Cleanup.

Keep America Beautiful would like to thank Great American Cleanup Promotional, Educational and Retail Partners. Promotional Partners

Waste Management

Lowe’s Companies, Inc.

Waste Management (WM) has proudly supported the Great American Cleanup for the past nine 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 WM Community Improvement Grants.

Lowe’s Companies, Inc. through the Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation, was a first-time Great American Cleanup sponsor. Lowe’s engaged its stores to support local GAC programs and engaged its employees to volunteer in GAC activities. Lowe’s also featured Keep America Beautiful in its “Community Giving” social media campaign.

Educational Partner

Retail Partner

G r e at Am er i can C leanup // 2011 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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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: The Harty Press 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