Earth Day is Every Day for Keep America Beautiful as it Rallies Volunteers to Participate in National Great American Cleanup

STAMFORD, Conn., April 4, 2014 /3BL Media/ – As Americans and our fellow global citizens face urgent environmental challenges, Keep America Beautiful knows that through education and volunteer engagement, small actions can make a significant local impact.  

That’s why on Earth Day, and every day in April and throughout the spring, Keep America Beautiful’s network of affiliates and participating organizations are conducting outstanding Great American Cleanup events throughout the country that celebrate the shared responsibility we all have to improve our communities and protect our planet. You can be part of Keep America Beautiful’s movement to build and sustain vibrant communities by participating.

Together with the nonprofit’s national network of community-based affiliates, organized volunteer events and experiential environment education programs are structured to beautify parks, trails and recreation areas, clean shorelines and waterways, reduce waste and increase recycling, remove litter and debris, plant trees and build community gardens, among other events to inspire generations of environmental stewards.  

“The Great American Cleanup brings people together to transform public places into beautiful spaces,” said Jennifer M. Jehn, president and CEO of Keep America Beautiful. “Earth Day provides an important reminder to all of us that when people come together for a common cause, positive and lasting change happens.”

Join forces with KAB at one of these upcoming events in April or see if there’s a Great American Cleanup participating organization near you:

• Philadelphia (April 5): Keep America Beautiful will join Keep Philadelphia Beautiful (KPB), the Philadelphia Streets Department and Mayor Michael A. Nutter at the 7th annual Philly Spring Cleanup, one of the largest single-day cleanups in the country. Mayor Nutter will encourage residents to “Keep Up the Sweep Up” at a morning celebration at Gideon School. Volunteers will be painting schoolyard games on the blacktop, removing graffiti from the playground, and cleaning litter from the schoolyard and surrounding area.
   
• Texas (April 5): The Don't Mess with Texas Trash-Off serves as Texas’ signature event for the Great American Cleanup. The Don't Mess with Texas Trash-Off is part of the partnership between Keep Texas Beautiful and the Texas Department of Transportation.
   
• Houston (April 5): Keep Houston Beautiful is adding a new educational element to Keep Houston Beautiful Day, titled “Grow Native, Preserve H2O.”  The goal of this new initiative is to educate the community about conserving water by choosing native plants that are drought resistant and will thrive in the local environment. Keep Houston Beautiful Day is a city-wide service day spanning various locations throughout the community.
   
• Louisiana (April 11-12): “Leaders Against Litter” is a Keep Louisiana Beautiful statewide initiative in which community and political leaders will join Lt. Governor Jay Dardenne on the steps of the State Capitol on April 11 to publicly pledge their support for a litter-free Louisiana and kick off the Great American Cleanup. Fifteen KLB affiliates across the state will follow up with “litter-thons” on April 12.
   
• Bakersfield, Calif. (April 12): Keep Bakersfield Beautiful’s Green Expo, recognition ceremony and appreciation picnic all take place at Yokuts Park after the city’s major Great American Cleanup, which attracts thousands of volunteers at locations throughout the city.
   
• Louisville, Ky. (April 12): With more than 5,000 volunteers expected to participate, the 2014 Spring Brightside/Passport Health Plan Community-Wide Cleanup is Louisville’s kickoff to Mayor Greg Fischer’s Give A Day week of service.
   
• Pennsylvania (April 12-May 5): Let’s Pick It Up PA is a two-week event within the Great American Cleanup of PA.  Sponsored by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Pennsylvania Waste Industries Association and local landfills, Pick It Up PA Day allows participants of registered events to dispose trash free of charge at participating landfills.
   
• Shreveport, La. (April 12): Shreveport Green’s Great American Cleanup is the largest city and parish-wide cleanup and green-up, attracting more than 1,000 volunteers to plant flowers and remove debris from neighborhood streets, vacant lots, parks and waterways.
   
• Tampa, Fla. (April 12): For more than 20 years, Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful volunteers have fostered unity and strengthened community bonds through beautification and improvement efforts across Hillsborough County during its Great American Cleanup.  Volunteers are invited to the After Trash Beach Bash to say thank you for helping to keep Tampa Bay beautiful.
   
• Memphis, Tenn. (April 25-27): Memphis City Beautiful’s Faith in Action Cleanup is projected to be the largest Great American Cleanup faith-based cleanup initiative in the country with more than 5,000 volunteers registered to date. The three-day cleanup, presented by Mayor A C Wharton, Jr., will involve teams of volunteers from faith-based organizations, businesses and schools.
   
• San Diego (April 26): The Creek to Bay Cleanup is I Love A Clean San Diego’s signature event. Since the inception of the event in 2003, nearly 45,000 volunteers have participated, resulting in the removal of 1.65 million pounds of debris from San Diego County locations. This cleanup strives to reach a diversified cross-section of San Diego County, with half coastal and half inland locations, emphasizing that 80 percent of coastal debris originates inland.
   
• Indianapolis (April 26): Keep Indianapolis Beautiful’s annual Great Indy Cleanup is KIB’s largest volunteer event of the year. This year, volunteers will focus on transforming communities around Indianapolis’ Fountain Square.
   
• Albuquerque, N.M. (April 26): Keep Albuquerque Beautiful will host this year's Great American Cleanup Statewide Kickoff. Keep Albuquerque Beautiful is focusing on Alamosa Park, where volunteers will repaint shade structures, clean out the sand and re-sand the playground, and paint all trash cans.
   
• Rockford, Ill. (April 26): In partnership with Winnebago County and the City of Rockford, Keep Northern Illinois Beautiful’s Great American Cleanup involves thousands of volunteers in roadside cleanups and community improvement projects with the goal to increase neighborhood involvement.

The national sponsors of the 2014 Great American Cleanup include Dow, The Glad Products Company, Lowe’s, Phillips 66, Troy-Bilt® Lawn and Garden Equipment and Waste Management.

Keep the spirit of Earth Day alive by participating in Great American Cleanup events throughout the country. The abounding sense of volunteerism that persists during each Great American Cleanup season is what makes this national movement so evocative of the American sense of community pride.
 
About Keep America Beautiful
Keep America Beautiful is the nation’s leading nonprofit that brings people together to build and sustain vibrant communities. With a powerful national network of community-based affiliates and participating organizations, we work with millions of volunteers who take action in their communities. Through our programs and public-private partnerships, we engage individuals to take greater responsibility for improving their community’s environment. For more information, visit kab.org, follow @kabtweet on Twitter and like us on facebook.com/keepamericabeautiful.
 

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