2017 NATIONAL CONFERENCE
O UT OF NE MANY, O
Washington DC - JAN, 24-26
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STATE AGENCY PARTNERSHIP AWARDS
LEADERSHIP AWARD
7 ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS
SUE SMITH PROFESSIONAL LEADERSHIP AWARD
PROGRAM AWARDS
YOUTH & EDUCATION AWARDS
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ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
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LEADERSHIP AWARDS
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AFFILIATE AWARDS
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INNOVATION AWARDS
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NATIONAL COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT AWARDS
STATE AFFILIATE RECOGNITION AWARDS
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CAROLYN CRAYTON AWARD MRS. LYNDON B. JOHNSON AWARD IRON EYES CODY AWARD
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GREAT AMERICAN CLEANUP CIGARETTE LITTER PREVENTION PROGRAM AMERICA RECYCLES DAY
LAW ENFORCEMENT
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SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS
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2017 ALTRIA SCHOLARS 2017 DR PEPPER SNAPPLE SCHOLARS 2017 SHARE FUND SCHOLARS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SPONSOR RECOGNITION
SUPPORTING SPONSORS
Wrigley Company Foundation
Foodservice Packaging Institute Maryland Environmental Service Owens-Illinois, Inc.
LEADERSHIP SPONSORS
Altria Lowe’s Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company SCHOLARSHIP SUPPORT
Altria Dr Pepper Snapple Group The Share Fund STEWARDSHIP SPONSORS
Anheuser-Busch Steel Recycling Institute IN-KIND SUPPORT Special thanks to the following companies for providing product donations. Anheuser-Busch
STRATEGIC SPONSORS
Dickinson’s Witch Hazel Skincare
Dr Pepper Snapple Group Northrop Grumman
Keurig Green Mountain
DipJar Lowe’s Trish McEvoy Square
NATIONAL CONFERENCE SPONSORS
TITLE SPONSOR
2016 Keep America Beautiful National Awards Recipients LEADERSHIP AWARD
Sue Smith Professional Leadership Award Evelyn Copeland Keep Simpson County Beautiful Braxton, Mississippi Keep Simpson County Beautiful (KSCB) reorganized and re-launched as a nonprofit organization under the leadership of Evelyn Copeland in 2008. Copeland has successfully garnered the assistance of mayors, boards of aldermen, school superintendents, economic development leaders, and county board of supervisors, among others, to implement a variety of projects. At the state level, a key initiative was getting a law passed to grant tax-exempt status for all 501(c)3 Keep Mississippi Beautiful affiliates. In 2013, KSCB implemented a Hazardous Waste Cleanup campaign with the help of a $25,000 grant from the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality. With the aid of another grant, KSCB recently built a pollinator garden, with plans to expand it into an outdoor classroom. Most recently, Copeland obtained resources to create the first wildflower trail along a major U.S. highway in Mississippi. Copeland has made the very most of every project opportunity to enhance and beautify the communities of Simpson County and showcase the very best that those communities have to offer, with long-term, sustainable results.
PROGRAM AWARDS
Great American Cleanup Award Keep North Platte and Lincoln Beautiful North Platte, Nebraska Keep North Platte and Lincoln County Beautiful (KNPLCB) is a small, rural – and longest-standing – affiliate of Keep America Beautiful in Nebraska with a service area that covers more than 2,500 square miles. Because of this, the Great American Cleanup is a critical annual event that brings a collective sense of community pride to the region. While KNPLCB typically conducts four cleanups per year, this past 7
year it took on an all-encompassing river cleanup. An area between a local river and a strip mall became severely littered because dumpsters had damaged lids or were uncovered. That led to blackbirds “stealing” items from the dumpsters and dropping much of the trash in the river and business district. With the help of local policemen, business owners and various volunteer groups, KNPLCB had one of its most successful river cleanups in years – so much so that the City of North Platte was awarded Keep Nebraska Beautiful’s Deanie Anderson Community Award, in part because of the event’s impact.
Cigarette Litter Prevention Program Award Keep Liberty Beautiful Hinesville, Georgia Keep Liberty Beautiful (KLB), a Cigarette Litter Prevention Program participant for the past six years, has made great strides to decrease cigarette litter in its coastal community. To increase its impact in 2016, the affiliate expanded efforts in the downtown area, held frequent awareness events, and bolstered partnerships with local organizations. With grant funding from Keep America Beautiful, KLB was able to add 10 ash receptacles around its community and hand out hundreds of portable ashtrays to smokers. The Georgia-based affiliate has achieved more than a 45 percent reduction in cigarette litter in new sites as well as a sustained 32 percent reduction since 2013. The continuous awareness efforts and periodic monitoring has enhanced the affiliate’s ability to reduce the amount of cigarette litter at crucial transition points in its community.
America Recycles Day Award US Farathane Accepted by Joyce M. Evans Port Huron, Michigan US Farathane, a plastics manufacturer, has two shipping, receiving and manufacturing facilities in Port Huron, Michigan, that employ nearly 325 people. The company has participated in America Recycles Day since 2014 to demonstrate to its workforce the importance of recycling in the workplace as well as at home. While recycling bins were already being used on the production floor and daily trash audits conducted, the company realized it needed to do more. In 2015, US Farathane provided fun, daily activities during November to raise awareness about recycling. During the 2016 program, recycled crafts were made for all employees to demonstrate how
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their “garbage can be given a new life” and they were all encouraged to take the #BeRecycled Pledge. Even with the company experiencing sales growth that led to hiring 80 additional temporary employees, it still experienced a nearly 10 percent decrease in the waste generated this past year.
YOUTH & EDUCATION AWARDS Christi Fuchs Cuero, Texas Individual – Educator Christi Fuchs, a 4th grade teacher at Cuero Intermediate School, has worked tirelessly to impart knowledge about the environment to each and every one of her students. In 2010, Fuchs began working toward a more sustainable school by collaborating with cafeteria personnel to recycle paper, plastic, cardboard, and metal. This work led her to involve her students and help educate them about the importance of recycling by participating in Keep America Beautiful’s Recycle-Bowl. Raising awareness about the threat of extinction for monarch butterflies was another initiative that Fuchs took on. Since the monarch butterflies play such a chief role in the local environment, Fuchs brought together members of her classes, school district personnel, Keep Cuero Beautiful volunteers, and other member of the city to address the issue. Fuchs’ enthusiasm and use of technology in her environmental studies classes helped increase school-based recycling and raised the level of awareness about the plight of monarch butterflies in her community. Prairie View Green Team Ogallala, Nebraska Youth Group - Middle School Ogallala, Nebraska’s Prairie View Green Team has created an inclusive and engaging environment for youth of all ages to participate in community-based activities. The Green Team has used Keep America Beautiful initiatives to bring students outdoors and teach them about the importance of volunteering. The students have conducted America Recycles Day events to teach the importance of recycling, began a Litter Free Schools program to eliminate litter on their school campuses, and learned about the importance of tree planting through their work on the Global Youth Service Day. The results of their work have been significant. The Prairie View Green Team cleaned 14 miles of parks and streets, planted 50 trees, and committed to ending littering at their school. Their cohesive relationship with the new Youth Advisory Council forms a bond that grows through their school, their community and their state. 9
Grand Prairie Independent School District Grand Prairie, Texas Education Institution – School District The Grand Prairie ISD 2016 April Month of Service began as a simple idea to promote a district-wide community service project. This initiative, which was available to students from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, was the work of many dedicated community members and organizations. In April of 2016, all GPISD campuses completed service projects that included Adopt-A-Street, campus cleanup and beautification, as well as garden cleanup and replanting as part of the Great American Cleanup. A total of more than 1,700 students, staff and community volunteers contributed nearly 1,900 volunteer hours to clean and beautify 37 GPISD campuses. In addition, volunteers collected 2,135 pounds of trash and nearly 675 pounds of recyclable materials. The Month of Service will be an annual event that will enable all students to contribute to making Grand Prairie cleaner, greener and more beautiful. Cleveland High School EAA Cleveland, Tennessee Youth Group - High School The Cleveland High School Environmental Awareness Association (EAA) is a student-led environmental service club. EAA has empowered youth to make a difference in its school and community via a multi-pronged effort including recycling, energy savings, and stream cleanups. The service club provides opportunities for youth to design and lead sustainable activities, helps create schoolwide initiatives, and lets the students reach elementary school-aged kids to teach them about issues facing their community. The club, open to all students in grades 9-12, has approximately 50 members each year who work on projects to increase awareness of community issues. Through initiatives such as Keep America Beautiful’s America Recycles Day, the group had over 100 volunteers collecting nearly 27,800 pounds of recycled goods and cleaning up over 100 bags of garbage from local streams. Among EAA’s future goals is to encourage more elementary schools to develop recycling programs and expand stream cleanup efforts further downstream. Rebecca “Becca” Blair Keep The Rez Beautiful, Mississippi Youth - Individual
requirements in the studies of math, computer science, language arts, writing and science. Since March 2016, Blair has collected 1,700-plus pounds of plastics and, with the help of family and friends, has totaled over 120 volunteer hours. Not only has she reduced the waste stream of her family and neighbors, but she already has another 80 homeowners who have asked for her assistance. Blair’s efforts in her neighborhood, and in other Keep The Rez Beautiful projects, exemplify her outstanding accomplishments as a youth who is making a difference.
ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Young Professional Award Amy Tasto Lake Jackson, Texas Amy Tasto began her volunteer journey 30 years ago when she participated in her first Lake Jackson citywide cleanup. Little did she know that this small step as a five-year-old Brownie would lead her to one day receiving Keep America Beautiful’s 2016 Young Professional Award. Throughout her life, Tasto has remained an active Keep Lake Jackson Beautiful (KLJB) volunteer. In 2008, she became a KLJB board member and quickly rose to the position of Vice-Chair. She assumed the role of board Chairman four years ago. Being a Master Gardener helped Tasto with great ideas and leadership to develop and implement plans for Lake Jackson’s Xeriscape Park. This has been her passion since she began serving on KLJB. She helped secure a Keep America Beautiful/ Lowe's Community Partners Grant and recruit Dow employee volunteers to help with the project for the past two years, contributing over 200 volunteer hours herself and working with the KLJB Board during monthly work days. Among her many successful initiatives was the creation and implementation of the ongoing Business Affiliate Partner program through KLJB. Her leadership, motivation, organization and insights were crucial in successfully involving local businesses in the affiliate’s mission.
Nine-year-old Rebecca (Becca) Blair has been picking up litter and volunteering for kayak cleanups around Mississippi’s Ross Barnett Reservoir and down the Pearl River, since she was 4. In 2016, Blair moved to a new neighborhood and wanted to start a recycling program, since there was no curbside recycling in Rankin County. She would use this project to fulfill her homeschool 10
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LAW ENFORCEMENT LEADERSHIP AWARDS
AFFILIATE AWARDS
Law Enforcement Award - Department
Award of Excellence
Polk County Sheriff's Office Environmental Crimes Unit Bartow, Florida
Green Youngstown Youngstown, Ohio
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office Environmental Crimes Unit (ECU) s responsible for the investigation of unlawful dumping cases and the Polk County Sheriff's Office Environmental/Marine Unit is responsible for the patrol and enforcement of boating laws and ordinances on Polk's 500-plus lakes. Keep Polk County Beautiful (KPCB) has worked closely with both agencies to help promote clean communities, roadways, waterways, natural resource conservation and illegal dumpsite cleanup and abatement. In 2015 alone, the ECU responded to, investigated and, in many cases, sought prosecution on over 230 environmental calls. The unit actively participates in the Litter Trooper Program, which is designed to assist concerned citizens by reporting incidents of littering that they observe. The ECU also assists KPCB in all public recycling and cleanup events, including physically assisting in the collection and disposal of items such as tires. The ECU was recently honored by Keep Florida Beautiful with the Outstanding Law Enforcement Agency Award for its exemplary environmental efforts and local partnership with KPCB.
(Winner of Population 30,001-100,000. See page 19.)
Law Enforcement Award - Officer Dixie D. Walters Bakersfield, California Kern County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO) Sgt. Dixie Walters has been a significant leader in strengthening the enforcement of litter citations and enhancing Keep Bakersfield Beautiful’s litter/weed abatement crew program in and around the city. Working in collaboration with California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), Kern Council of Governments, Kern County Public Works, the City of Bakersfield and KBB, the KCSO continues to provide programs that have a great impact on litter prevention and beautification. With Sgt. Walters’ help, the “Tarp Your Trash” partnership has been instituted. She also supports events such as the Great American Cleanup and the world’s largest “Relay for Life” event. Sgt. Walters is the KCSO representative at KBB Freeway Litter Ad Hoc Committee meetings with Caltrans where the “Tarp Your Trash” program was coordinated. She also established inmate and correctional officer crews that work with Caltrans and Kern County to clear brush and weeds to significantly enhance the appearance and the cleanliness of Kern County’s roads, highways, and parks. 12
Keep Bakersfield Beautiful Bakersfield, California The Greater Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce bestowed its first-ever “Life As It Should Be” Award to Keep Bakersfield Beautiful (KBB) for KBB’s collaborative efforts with business and government to enhance the quality of life in Bakersfield. KBB received this honor largely by growing its “Be Part of the Crew” program that employs Bakersfield Homeless Center (BHC) clients to clean up litter and weeds. What started out as one crew of six individuals, blossomed into more than 50 crewmembers. This heartwarming partnership helped add jobs at the City’s animal shelter, green waste facility, water canals, and parks over the last three years. KBB was invited to present this life-changing program at a gathering of North American leaders on homelessness at Harvard University. The affiliate also received the Helen Putnam Award for Excellence from the League of California Cities for its innovative approach to using government resources to care for the environment, public safety, and the lives of individuals. Keep Golden Isles Beautiful Brunswick, Georgia Through leveraged resources, cultivated community partners and innovative outreach activities, Keep Golden Isles Beautiful (KGIB) remains a community force in protecting the thriving coastal estuarine/ beach ecology and marine environment of the Golden Isles that is put at risk by land litter and marine debris. KGIB secured a $20,000 federal Coastal Incentive Grant to create and promote a Coastal Litter Prevention Program. With KGIB as the lead agency, the Golden Isles Convention & Visitors Bureau, along with Glynn County government, has performed a city/county litter ordinance review and update. Once finalized, the updated litter ordinances and corresponding educational outreach campaign will be available for all coastal communities to emulate. KGIB has also been an active Cigarette Litter Prevention Program participant for three years, partnering with UGA Marine Extension Service and Georgia Sea Grant to expand the CLPP as well as to promote marine debris educational initiatives. KGIB also partners with a 13
variety of youth groups on beautification and recycling projects, including its annual School Recycling Challenge that involves students from 11 local schools. Keep Indian River Beautiful Indian River, Florida One of the primary initiatives of Keep Indian River Beautiful (KIRB) is the Upcycle It! Store, which provides an artistic solution to waste reduction and an innovative way to promote environmental education opportunities. One of its most notable accomplishments this past year was helping to plant 20,000 sea oats to stabilize the dunes along the coastline of the Atlantic Ocean. KIRB developed new programs such as the Indian River Green Market, the Recycle Regatta and the Environmental Awards, while improving upon existing programs such as Reuse Exchange Center, Great American Cleanup, Event Recycling and Adopt-A-Shore. The participation in the Great American Cleanup nearly doubled with 1,300 volunteers removing 15,000 pounds of litter from 90 locations. KIRB also kicked off a renewed beautification effort with a grant to plant 32 native trees in small community parks. By leveraging resources, recruiting new volunteers and creating new partnerships, KIRB has built a strong foundation for a sustainable future. Keep Macon-Bibb Beautiful Commission Macon, Georgia As one of the initial three models for Keep America Beautiful’s community-based affiliate program, the Keep Macon-Bibb Beautiful Commission (KMBBC) remains proud of its 43-year history. This organization has engaged in many new and creative litter prevention and beautification programs, including the Great American Cleanup/”Meet in the Middle” event. (See further description under National Community Improvement Awards – Litter Prevention on page 24.) Nearly 1,900 volunteers conducted 71 cleanups, collecting 20.4 tons of litter in other events. Working in partnership with the Macon Water Authority, more than 340 volunteers collected two tons of trash along the Ocmulgee River as part of the Rivers Alive program. KMBBC also works to beautify its community through daffodil planting and the sale and planting of numerous cherry trees, as a partner of the International Cherry Blossom Festival. In fact, it received a grant to trim or replace aging or dying cherry trees along the scenic routes of the trail. Approximately 500 trees were fertilized, 100 were trimmed, and 18 trees were removed and replaced.
Keep San Saba Beautiful San Saba, Texas Keep San Saba Beautiful (KSSB) has been working to uphold its strong Community Appearance Index score of 1.33, which has seen little fluctuation over the last three years. KSSB makes litter prevention education a priority, and supplements its school curriculum with Keep America Beautiful “Waste In Place” lessons, spearheads a three-day summer Kid’s Nature Camp, and conducts a “Waste-Free” Lunch competition. Additionally, all residents are encouraged to attend its Great American Cleanup Day, which this year included 130 volunteers; 345 volunteer hours; 185 bags of litter collected; 250 pounds of materials recycled; 25 scrap tires collected; and six miles of streets and waterways cleaned. KSSB also planted 515 native annuals and perennials at its courthouse and in 48 downtown planters, as well as in flower beds at Lower Colorado River Authority’s San Saba River Nature Park and Mill Pond Park. Volunteers also planted 80 vegetable plants in the San Saba Community Garden. Keep The Rez Beautiful Ridgeland, Mississippi Keep The Rez Beautiful focuses on watershed protection and enhancement around Mississippi’s 33,000-acre Ross Barnett Reservoir, which supplies the city of Jackson its water supply and receives over half a million visitors annually. KRB has conducted more than 30 cleanups in five years, including numerous water cleanups using kayaks. The affiliate has installed cigarette ash receptacles in several parks and campgrounds through Cigarette Litter Prevention Program grant funding. Using a Waste Management grant, KRB recently installed the county’s first solar compactor in a park. It also created the Turtle Point Nature Area, a pollinator/sensory garden that uses native plants to promote water quality. A paved walking trail, benches, and an ADA-compliant kayak launch have been added. In just the past three years, KRB has created 18 more pollinator gardens, planted more than 50 azaleas along a major roadway, and planted scores of trees, thanks to various Keep America Beautiful Community Impact Grants. OKC Beautiful Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (Winner of Population 250,001 and above. See page 20.)
Keep Lewisville Beautiful Lewisville, Texas (Winner of Population 100,001-250,000. See page 19.) 14
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Shreveport Green Shreveport, Louisiana
Keep Irving Beautiful Irving, Texas
From educating about litter prevention to recycling electronics to planting trees to delivering fresh vegetables to food desert neighborhoods, Shreveport Green is out in the community getting things done. Shreveport Green implemented a Cigarette Litter Prevention Program campaign, placing 26 cigarette butt receptacles in a 12-block downtown area realizing an 87 percent decrease in cigarette litter over a six-month period. The affiliate partnered locally to facilitate a “Recycled/Litter Free Independence Bowl,” complete with recycling bins, cigarette butt receptacles, and additional trash and recycling bins. It also conducted 156 cleanups in 2015, including a citywide Great American Cleanup which was highlighted by the Cherokee Park Bayou Cleanup; 36 volunteers in addition to the district’s City Councilman, the Mayor and the Fire Chief helped clean up a bayou that hadn’t been addressed in 20 years because of a property dispute. Hundreds of local initiatives are accomplished with the support of Shreveport Mayor Ollie Tyler, a former Keep America Beautiful National Award winner, as well as more than 12,000 volunteers who provided nearly 47,000 hours of volunteer time.
(Winner of National Community Improvement Award – Overall Community Improvement. See page 25.)
Sustained Excellence Award (Winners of the Sustained Excellence Award won an Affiliate Award in 2014 and 2015, and scored a 90 or above on this year's judging.) Keep Cincinnati Beautiful Cincinnati, Ohio The majority of Keep Cincinnati Beautiful’s (KCB) ongoing programs can be divided into three categories: the Great American Cleanup, Environmental Education, and Urban Revitalization. The Arts Program is a broadly recognized beautification project that KCB spearheads. It utilizes urban art as a catalyst for reducing blight, crime, and graffiti in Cincinnati neighborhoods. The goal of the program is to reclaim discarded places and eyesores in the community and transform them into community assets by activating them with works of art. One of the most exciting recent KCB projects was the design and installation of a new large-scale mural at the Cincinnati Reds Crosley Field Historic Site. Additionally, over the course of 2015-2016, KCB has planted more than 500 trees and over nearly 2,700 plants, shrubs, flowers, and blubs. It has painted and renovated 80 public buildings, remediated nearly 2,500 graffiti tags, and cleaned up and/or improved over 4,750 public spaces.
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Keep Kingsport Beautiful Kingsport, Tennessee Keep Kingsport Beautiful (KKB) has been very aggressive in abating litter by utilizing programs such as the Cigarette Litter Prevention Program, while its Trashbusters led 13 litter-free events. One annual event is Kingsport’s Fun Fest, a nine-day festival with an attendance of 180,000. Over 500 Trash Barrels, provided by KKB and painted by local volunteers, were placed throughout the outdoor venue. The barrels are used at over 100 additional events throughout the city during the year. KKB also conducted its first annual Clean Sweep Kingsport, a community wide beautification event. The Greenbelt Cleanup kicked it off with volunteers cleaning up 10 miles of walkways, bike paths, creek and river banks that make up the Kingsport Greenbelt. On the education front, KKB continues its solar-powered “Education on the Go Mobile Classroom,” which reaches students in the Kingsport and Sullivan County school systems with litter prevention and recycling education. Keep Lake Jackson Beautiful Lake Jackson, Texas (Winner of Population under 30,000. See page 18.) Keep Smyrna Beautiful Smyrna, Georgia Keep Smyrna Beautiful (KSB) has worked to protect and improve the quality of life and the environment in Smyrna for more than 30 years. A primary concern is to maintain a litter-free environment as a social norm. It’s been nothing if not consistent: The Litter Index scores in Smyrna were 1.13 in FY 2016; 1.41 in FY15; and 1.16 in FY14. Smyrna upholds this norm through both state and local litter ordinances, including an uncovered load ban for pickup trucks; “No Littering" signs posted throughout the City; and litter-free city concerts. In its 26-year-old Adopt-A-Mile program, it conducted four cleanups with more than 660 volunteers in nearly 40 groups. Working nearly 1,400 hours, the volunteers collected more than 440 bags of litter. By taking volunteer action and through community education, this organization works towards making a “clean and green” ethic a part of everyday life in Smyrna.
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Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful Tampa, Florida From tree planting to water conservation, invasive plant removal to litter removal, recycling to upcycling, Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful (KTBB) promotes a culture of environmental stewardship through education and volunteer action. Just in the past year, more than 16,000 volunteers contributed more than 64,000 hours of service. Each year, KTBB analyzes data to recognize area “hot spots”—over 330 locations this year – and focuses its efforts to decrease litter in these areas. Additionally, it incorporates service projects to help end littering through programs such as the Adopt-A-Road Programs, the Great American Cleanup, which had more than 5,000 volunteers at 80 different locations, and the Hillsborough Trash Free Waters Initiative. KTBB also partnered with its local parks departments to implement recycling in highly populated parks thanks in part to the Keep America Beautiful/Dr Pepper Snapple Group Park Recycling Bin Grant Program. The parks departments have set a goal to add recycling containers in all city parks by the end of 2018.
30,001 - 100,000 Green Youngstown Youngstown, Ohio Over the past eight years, Green Youngstown has been recognized as an organization devoted to proactively preventing litter through community involvement. Green Youngstown has attacked litter prevention through implementing community cleanups and initiating an illegal dumping camera surveillance program. It also works to beautify its community, enforcing maintenance ordinances requiring land owners to cut their grass and remove weeds and other potential health hazards. Its annual United Way Day of Caring has been a signature example of one of these projects. For the past three years, hundreds of volunteers have descended on a heavily-blighted area of the city and in four hours tackled over 70 abandoned and blighted houses and multiple vacant lots. Its recycling programs and campaigns exhibit strong results as well, with over 88,000 pounds of electronics, 15,000 pounds of appliance metal, 188,000 pounds of tires, and over 242,000 pounds of leaves collected for proper recycling.
Affiliate Awards (By Population)
100,001 - 250,000
(The Affiliate Awards (By Population) recognizes the top affiliate in four population categories.)
Keep Lewisville Beautiful Lewisville, Texas
Under 30,000
Keep Lewisville Beautiful’s (KLB) mission – to engage the citizens of Lewisville through service and education to enhance their community environment – is carried out through its efforts in litter prevention, beautification, recycling, and waste reduction. To proactively address pedestrian and motorist litter, KLB works with the City of Lewisville to utilize “no littering” signs on Adopt-ASpot medians. Additionally, at KLB’s Texas Waterway Cleanup, more than 500 KLB volunteers spent more than 2,000 hours removing 6.6 tons of trash from local waterways. The City of Lewisville continues to encourage recycling through the installation of recycling containers next to every trash bin in all of Lewisville’s public parks and sports complexes. KLB also hosts a Christmas tree recycling program that helped to recycle 825 trees into free mulch for citizens. Altogether, KLB has helped to engage more than 4,600 volunteers who have given nearly 9,000 volunteer hours valued at more than $225,000. Its various litter abatement and beautification projects have helped remove 30.65 tons of trash and debris from the community.
Keep Jackson Lake Beautiful Lake Jackson, Texas Keep Lake Jackson Beautiful (KLJB) pursues a vision of improving quality of life by enhancing Lake Jackson’s community environment. Litter prevention is the backbone of KLJB, and is carried out with the help of community involvement and initiatives, such as the Great American Cleanup/”Don’t Mess with Texas” Trash-Off event with paper shredding and litter cleanup. One popular beautification project this organization is responsible for is the planting of Red Bud Trees at the Civic Center along Veteran’s Park Walk Way, in honor of our military. KLJB has been named “Tree City USA” for 35 years. It has also launched several notable recycling projects, including its Electronic Collection Event for America Recycles Day, which collected more than 41,200 pounds of e-waste in less than four hours. KLJB continues to educate and promote civic responsibility throughout its community as it endeavors to make the “City of Enchantment” an environmentally better place to live, work and play.
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250,001 & above OKC Beautiful Oklahoma City, Oklahoma OKC Beautiful’s mission is to enhance the image and appearance of Oklahoma City through education and community engagement. Beyond improving the aesthetic appeal of Oklahoma City, OKC Beautiful positively impacts economic development, the impressions of visitors and the quality of life of its residents. Successful litter prevention programs it implements include LitterBlitz, during which more than 13,800 OKC Beautiful volunteers picked up 150,725 pounds of trash in 2016. Additionally, OKC Beautiful installed 23 receptacles to collect cigarette butts, and in just three months collected 30 gallons of waste. In conjunction, OKC Beautiful solicited the city for a tobacco-free park ordinance, further reducing cigarette litter. This affiliate’s “adopters” commit to pick up litter, as well as help landscape and maintain parks. Currently, 93 areas are adopted with more than 1,600 volunteers participating in the program. It’s estimated that its volunteers have removed more than 60,000 tons of trash in the city. Nearby business and homeowners are inspired by these actions, magnifying the impact of each project.
INNOVATION AWARDS
Innovation Awards - Program Local Affiliate Keep Genesee County Beautiful Flint, Michigan The Flint Water Crisis Recycling Awareness Campaign arose as volumes of donated water and water filter systems began flooding in to Flint to provide a shortterm solution to the much larger problem of the City’s lead-contaminated water supply. The campaign was created by Keep Genesee County Beautiful (KGCB) to provide accurate recycling information as well as broaden recycling awareness to the most vulnerable segments of the community. Through the program, KGCB registered 444 households for recycling, donated 71 recycling event bins to area organizations, and handed out over 40,000 educational postcards. KGCB’s local waste hauler estimates that participation in curbside recycling more than doubled. Finally, the program forged new partnerships for KGCB – Walmart Foundation, PepsiCo Foundation, Nestle Waters North America and The Coca-Cola Company
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– through a Keep America Beautiful pilot program. It also strengthened the established partnerships KGCB already had with Republic Services, the City of Flint, Flint Community Schools, and many area churches and businesses.
State Affiliate Keep Mississippi Beautiful Jackson, Mississippi Natural resources are a critical part of Mississippi’s tourism, and Keep Mississippi Beautiful (KMB) wanted to use wildflowers as a tool for improving visitors’ experiences to the state as well as harness the many other benefits of wildflowers, such as improved pollinator habitat, more beautiful public places and roadside maintenance benefits. Wildflower Trails of Mississippi (mswildflowers.org), a new project of KMB, is helping bring wildflowers back, planting the seeds to ensure future generations of Mississippians can appreciate the sights and smells of wildflowers. Since 2015, the project has established 22 plantings across the state and has distributed seeds to hundreds of Mississippians to plant wildflowers on their property. Additionally, KMB launched a Wildflower Watchers campaign, encouraging citizens to snap and share photos of wildflower sightings near them. Wildflower Tails of Mississippi is a budding and already successful effort that is leading to healthier, more beautiful landscapes in the state. In addition, KMB worked with Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant to proclaim May 2-8 as Mississippi Wildflower Week.
Innovation Awards - Project Local Affiliate Keep Palm Beach County Beautiful West Palm Beach, Florida Keep Palm Beach County Beautiful (KPBCB), in an effort to address the problem of marine litter, developed a unique partnership with the Palm Beach Film & Television Commission (PBFTC) to encourage the production of short, video-based public service announcements (PSA) by high school and college students. KPBCB approached the PBFTC about adding an Environmental PSA category to the Palm Beach Film Festival’s Student Showcase of Films, the largest statewide film competition and awards show for student filmmakers. The first entries in this new category were submitted in 2015 and KPBCB repeated the program in 2016. The competition finalists are honored at a live “red carpet” awards show for more than 700 attendees, including famous natives/residents such as Burt Reynolds, and other surprise celebrity guests. The inaugural winner was Anna Mott from Key West High 21
School with her PSA titled “Keep Our Beaches Beautiful.” The process has brought attention to the mission of KPBCB from an industry segment that may not otherwise have considered a partnership of this kind.
State Affiliate Keep Tennessee Beautiful Memphis, Tennessee “Nancy and Sluggo Love Tennessee, A Story About Keeping Tennessee Beautiful” was a collaboration between Guy Gilchrist, the current creator of the comic strip, Keep Tennessee Beautiful (KTnB), and its Research and Education Coordinator Kyle Howard. The characters from the popular comic strip “Nancy,” which is presently seen in 80 countries and some 400 newspapers, have been capturing hearts since 1938. Howard worked closely with Gilchrist to ensure the characters would cultivate the values of state pride and environmental stewardship, thus giving parents and their children a greater attachment to the cause and a heightened sense of responsibility. The book is being sold throughout Tennessee at select stores, various festivals, and other large events. All proceeds for the book sales are deposited into a foundation that will fund scholarships for students seeking degrees in environmental science. The project is spreading the mission of KTnB across the state in a unique, educational way, providing funding for those seeking education to create even greater change.
NATIONAL COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT AWARDS
Beautification & Community Greening Keep Athens-Clarke County Beautiful Athens, Georgia Nonprofit/Civic/Community Service Organization Keep Athens-Clarke County Beautiful (KACCB) annually administers seven litter prevention programs, seven recycling programs or events, and eight community beautification programs. Additionally, KACCB has helped lead the local Green Schools Program for the past 14 years. Last year, KACCB was given the unique opportunity to teach environmental education to more than 5,000 students in 25 schools. KACCB also worked on the Loop 10 Daffodil Project; a coalition of state, local and nonprofit organizations working to create a sustainable, community enhancement project. The project engaged 223 citizen volunteers in the planting of 25,000 daffodil bulbs 22
on four on/off ramps on Georgia State Route 10. This state highway was identified by the community as an unsightly and unwelcoming gateway into Athens. KACCB will continue to organize two fundraising events each year to support the purchase of the bulbs, and will continue to utilize the Dr. Martin Luther King Day of Service event for the volunteer project.
Litter Prevention City of San Jose San Jose, California Government Agency The City of San José implemented a comprehensive, integrated development plan composed of cleanups, free large-item pickup, data collection and analysis, and open dialogue with the community to improve its litter prevention initiatives. In November 2015, the city began collaborating on an illegal dumping site identification and outreach project. The San Jose Environmental Services Department (ESD) and the CommUniverCity (CUC) staff captured geo-tagged photographs of all illegal dumping within 12 square miles of the city. The photos enabled the ESD to target where the dumping was primarily occurring, and determine the types of materials being dumped. Additionally, in May 2016 the city held the first San José State University “Move Out” event to provide college students with proper disposal options for unwanted items. Reducing illegal dumping will result in increased environmental and public health in addition to economic well-being for San José and its residents. South Cobb Lions Club Marietta, Georgia Civic In October 2014, the South Cobb Lions Club partnered with Keep Cobb Beautiful (KCB) on its Adopt-a-Mile Program after seeing miles of littered roadways unattended. Since the partnership began, the South Cobb Lions Club has spent more than 560 hours to remove nearly 725 bags of litter from six miles of South Cobb County roads. This program prompted an anti-littering campaign within the community. Additionally, it became apparent that individuals were less likely to litter clean roads as opposed to roads that were already littered. From Oct. 1, 2015, through Sept. 30, 2016, the South Cobb Lions Club, consisting of 39 members, spent nearly 320 hours removing 462 bags of litter, 145 scrap tires and 108 pieces of illegally dumped furniture from their adopted/ non-adopted miles around the Mableton and Austell, Georgia, area. Roadway cleanups are scheduled quarterly throughout the year. KCB records all adopted miles and sends out reminders if a group misses a scheduled cleanup to ensure sustainability of this project. 23
Keep Macon-Bibb Beautiful Commission and Keep Warner Robins Beautiful Macon, Georgia Nonprofit Keep Macon-Bibb Beautiful Commission (KMBBC) and Keep Warner Robins Beautiful (KWRB) joined forces to discuss options to improve the conditions of a shared state highway, Georgia State Route 247. With more than 25,000 vehicles utilizing the corridor on a daily basis, both organizations were inundated with comments from concerned citizens. By combining resources, KMBBC and KWRB devised a plan to combat the litter problem with a litter eradication project. Plans called for each community to begin at opposite ends of State Route 247 and “Meet in the Middle.” On the day of the event, 75 volunteers assembled for a traditional Southern opening ceremony, with lyrics from a popular ‘90s country song quoted: “We gain a lot of ground when we both give a little, ain’t no road too long when we Meet in the Middle.” Volunteers had donated nearly 730 hours of time to remove 3 tons of trash. “Meet in the Middle” was an extraordinary collaborative effort for both communities to pool resources for a common vision of providing a clean and beautiful drive for citizens and visitors alike.
Recycling & Waste Reduction Austin Resource Recover Austin, Texas Government Agency In 2015, the Austin Resource Recovery (ARR) commissioned an independent study that found 44 percent of material in the residential trash could have been recycled. In an effort to increase communitywide recycling, ARR launched the Austin Recycles Games, a citywide recycling competition between Austin’s 10 City Council districts. The Austin Recycles Games calculated pounds of recyclables collected per household in each district for the months of December 2015 through March 2016. Staff distributed stickers that showed common items that can and cannot be recycled as well as bathroom recycling bins at community events. To encourage residents to compete in the Games, the winning district in each category was rewarded with a community beautification project valued at approximately $75,000 and a trophy created from reused materials. By the end of the competition, citywide recycling increased 7 percent over the baseline data recorded before the competition began. The games helped move Austin one step closer to a Zero Waste future and are now scheduled to take place every other year.
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Giant Food Stores/Martin’s Food Markets Carlisle, Pennsylvania Business Since 1997, Giant Food Stores/Martin’s Food Markets has partnered with Trex, the manufacturer of products using recyclable materials, to participate in the “Bags to Benches” program. Since the inception of the program, this company has distributed over 1,500 benches made from recyclables to nonprofit organizations, schools and townships, parks and playgrounds, churches, vacant lots and fire stations. In 2014, Giant was honored with Progressive Grocer’s “Retailer of the Year” Award for its commitment to philanthropy. The “Bags to Benches” program effectively reduces the amount of litter, and provides an end use for plastic film. A beneficial byproduct of the program is that the benches enhance public spaces by providing outdoor places for friends and family to gather. This company has set a goal of getting to “zero waste” by 2020, diverting 90 percent of waste going into landfills or being incinerated. In 2016, Giant achieved its goal of using 1 billion fewer plastic bags in its stores.
Overall Community Improvement Keep Irving Beautiful Irving, Texas Government Agency Keep Irving Beautiful (KIB) is a grassroots organization that helps preserve the environmental health and promote the social and economic prosperity of its city. KIB has conducted a Litter Index survey annually since 2001; overall the score is down 36 percent from the initial baseline score. There has been an increase in community involvement at litter abatement events – particularly with the 24th Annual Trash Bash, which drew 583 volunteers to Trinity View Park. The spring and fall cleanups of Lake Vilbig, which resulted in 967 volunteers donating nearly 3,000 hours in collecting nearly 11,400 pounds of trash and more than 1,450 pounds of recycling. Overall, KIB engages its citizens to take responsibility for its environment in three focus areas: litter prevention, through large- and small-scale cleanups, an active Adopt-A-Spot Program, a litter hotline and anti-litter laws; beautification, through tree planting and paint projects that revitalize parks and playgrounds; and recycling, through its Green Events Program.
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STATE AFFILIATE RECOGNITION AWARDS Diamond Level Keep Arkansas Beautiful Keep Florida Beautiful Keep Georgia Beautiful Keep Illinois Beautiful Keep Louisiana Beautiful Keep Mississippi Beautiful Keep Nebraska Beautiful Keep North Carolina Beautiful Keep Ohio Beautiful Keep Oklahoma Beautiful Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful Keep South Carolina Beautiful Keep Tennessee Beautiful Keep Texas Beautiful New Mexico Clean & Beautiful
Gold Level Keep California Beautiful Keep The Hawaiian Islands Beautiful Keep Iowa Beautiful Keep Massachusetts Beautiful Keep Virginia Beautiful
Silver Level Keep Alabama Beautiful
Bronze Level Keep Arizona Beautiful
Good Standing Keep Michigan Beautiful
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STATE AGENCY PARTNERSHIP AWARDS Florida Department of Transportation Keep Florida Beautiful Mississippi Department of Transportation Keep Mississippi Beautiful Ohio Department of Transportation Keep Ohio Beautiful Ohio Environmental Protection Agency Keep Ohio Beautiful Ohio Statehouse – Capital Square Review Board Keep Ohio Beautiful Ohio Turnpike Keep Ohio Beautiful Oklahoma Department of Agriculture – Forestry Services Keep Oklahoma Beautiful Oklahoma Department of Transportation Keep Oklahoma Beautiful Oklahoma Turnpike Authority Keep Oklahoma Beautiful Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful Tennessee Department of Transportation Keep Tennessee Beautiful Texas Department of Transportation Keep Texas Beautiful
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ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS
Carolyn Crayton Award The Coca-Cola Company Atlanta, Georgia The Coca-Cola Company has been awarded the inaugural Carolyn Crayton Award, which recognizes an individual board member or board member company or organization of a local Keep America Beautiful affiliate for long-standing service to that affiliate. For years, Coca-Cola has been one of the strongest and most consistent partners of Keep America Beautiful and the Keep Macon-Bibb Beautiful Commission (KMBBC) affiliate in Georgia. The partnership with KMBBC has remained constant since the spring of 1974 when Carolyn Crayton’s vision for Macon to become part of Keep America Beautiful’s Clean Community program became a reality. An integral part of the plan included partnerships with businesses, governmental agencies, individuals, and schools. Not surprisingly, The Coca- Cola Company was one of the first to partner with the Macon affiliate, and 43 years later this remarkable partnership remains steadfast and productive. Not only is Coca-Cola an original sponsor with KMBBC, but it also partners with Keep Georgia Beautiful and the 70 Keep America Beautiful affiliates throughout Georgia. In addition, The CocaCola Foundation has awarded tens of thousands recycling bins to Keep America Beautiful communitybased affiliates and other partners through the CocaCola/Keep America Beautiful Public Space Recycling Bin Grant Program.
Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson Award Florence Cline Gainesville, Florida
2011-2013. Among the many creative initiatives she spearheaded included the “We Noticed” program that recognizes outstanding residential and commercial landscaping projects throughout the county. As a result of Cline's involvement, a permanent relationship was forged between KACB and the Gainesville Garden Club. While president of the Gainesville Garden Club and a KACB board member, Cline has motivated hundreds of people to become members and Master Gardeners, and volunteer for the Great American Cleanup. And she’s been a loyal collaborator of KACB Executive Director Gina Hawkins for more than 25 years.
Iron Eyes Cody Award Kevin Perry Atlanta, Georgia Kevin Perry has put his personal commitment, passion, leadership and capacity-building skills to work in preserving the Keep Georgia Beautiful Foundation and helping it move forward into the future. While Perry serves as the Executive Director of the Georgia Beverage Association (GBA), he has been an extraordinarily committed volunteer serving on the boards of The Georgia Chamber of Commerce; Georgia Recycling Coalition; Committee for a Better Atlanta; and the Piedmont Heights Civic Association. Perry’s deepest volunteer commitment, however, has been to Georgia’s Keep America Beautiful network. Most significantly, he has served on the Keep Georgia Beautiful Foundation Board for 16 years and has been its chair for the past 11. Perry’s personal efforts have helped raise more than $1 million for the Foundation. When the state was going through a wholesale divestment in environmental programming, he negotiated with the State of Georgia to have the nonprofit Keep Georgia Beautiful Foundation take over the staffing and programs. There is no doubt that Perry’s constant advocacy and political clout are what has kept the Keep Georgia Beautiful program alive.
Florence Cline has been a dedicated, inspirational and engaging member of Keep Alachua County Beautiful’s board of directors for 25 years. After starting as a volunteer for KACB as one of the board's gardening experts, she went on to establish a landscape bank which has provided a continuous flow of materials for landscaping projects in the area. Cline, along with her husband Carl, established the landscape bank in 1997 and has maintained it ever since. This did not escape the notice of the Peter Drucker Institute, which, because of the landscape bank, awarded the prestigious Peter F. Drucker Award for Nonprofit Innovation to KACB in 2005. Cline has also been a member of the Gainesville Garden Club's Begonia Circle since 2007, having distinguished herself as president of this 180-member organization from 28
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SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS 2017 Altria Scholars Great American Cleanup - Altria Scholars Jennifer Jones - Green Youngstown, OH Sal Moretti – Keep Bakersfield Beautiful, CA Katie Yoxall - Keep Polk County Beautiful, FL Cigarette Litter Prevention Program - Altria Scholars Robin Cleary - Keep Kingsport Beautiful, TN Lynne Hart - Keep Athens-Limestone Beautiful, AL Tonya Wilkinson - Keep Coffee County Beautiful, TN
2017 Share Fund Scholars Kevin Crane – Keep Camden Beautiful, AR Sharon O’Neill – Keep San Saba Beautiful, TX Christopher Stratman – Keep Omaha Beautiful, NB Dr Pepper Snapple Group Scholarship recipients were named too late for the publication deadline.
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