Keep America Beautiful Rallies Grassroots Volunteers for Great American Cleanup Earth Day Events Nationwide

STAMFORD, Conn., April 19, 2017 /3BL Media/ – Keep America Beautiful, the nation’s leading nonprofit that envisions a country in which every community is a clean, green and beautiful place to live, will rally thousands of volunteers at events across the country on and around Earth Day, Saturday, April 22, as part of its annual Great American Cleanup.

In its 19th year, the 2017 Great America Cleanup is the nation’s largest community improvement program with an estimated 50,000 events occurring from spring through fall in more than 20,000 communities across the country.

The Great American Cleanup will engage more than 5 million volunteers throughout the country to help renew parks, trails and recreation areas; clean shorelines and waterways; remove litter and debris; reduce waste and improve recycling; and plant trees, flowers and community gardens, among other activities to inspire a new generation of community stewards.

“Earth Day is an important moment-in-time to bring attention to the type of work Keep America Beautiful has done for nearly 65 years, powered by our network of 620-plus affiliates and millions of dedicated volunteers to advance our fight to End Littering, Improve Recycling and Beautify America’s Communities,” said Mike Rosen, senior vice president, marketing and communications, Keep America Beautiful. “We’re proud to highlight some of the events taking place on and around Earth Day and encourage everyone to participate in a community improvement event in their hometown.”

Remarkable results are already pouring in from Great American Cleanup events that are happening during Keep America Beautiful Month (April). For example, Keep Brevard Beautiful removed more than 15 tons of debris during its annual Trash Bash and Keep Austin Beautiful removed more than 30 tons of trash across 138 sites in its annual Clean Sweep.

Great American Cleanup Earth Day Events
Highlighted below are just a few of the many Great American Cleanup Earth Day events taking place throughout the country via Keep America Beautiful affiliates:

Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful - Earth Day Recycling Event: Partnering with Gwinnett County (Georgia) Solid Waste and Recovered Materials Division, Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful will offer free paper shredding to the public on April 22, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. The shredded paper will then be recycled for use in producing toilet paper, paper towels and more!

Keep Atlanta Beautiful - Earth Day Recycling Event: In celebration of Earth Day and in partnership with Atlantic Station, Keep Atlanta Beautiful will hold a full-blown Community Recycling event on April 22 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Bring recyclable materials to the drive-through recycling center and then swing by Central Park for an Earth Day Craft Show featuring local creatives and crafters.

Keep Cincinnati Beautiful - Earth Day at Washington Park: Keep Cincinnati Beautiful, in sponsorship with 3CDC and Mix 94.9, will be offering a fun-filled day of eco-friendly activities and vendors on the park’s Civic Lawn on April 22 from noon to 9:00 p.m. The event will feature live music, food and drink, eco-friendly products and goods for purchase, and a range of activities for both children and adults.

Keep Greater Milwaukee Beautiful - Great American Cleanup Kickoff Day: To kick off the Great American Cleanup, Keep Greater Milwaukee Beautiful will host a cleanup at South Shore Park on April 22, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Keep Manatee Beautiful - 2017 Great American Cleanup "Clean Your Block Party" On Earth Day: Keep Manatee Beautiful will host various cleanups throughout the Manatee County, Florida, on April 22 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Adopt-A-Highway, Road or Shore groups will be doing cleanups at different sites.

Keep Oakland Beautiful - Earth Day Clean-Up: Keep Oakland Beautiful will host cleanups on April 22 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at Arroyo Viejo Park in partnership with We Lead Ours and Comcast for a cleanup and pollinator garden plantings and at Jingletown for a cleanup and potluck BBQ.   

Keep Phoenix Beautiful - 8th Annual Earth Day Phoenix: This zero-waste event at Steele Indian School Park on April 22 from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. includes eco-classes, exhibitors, music, food and more.

Find a local Keep America Beautiful affiliate using the Affiliate Search Map at kab.org.

In addition to events organized by Keep America Beautiful’s network of community-based affiliates and partner organizations, volunteers are encouraged to organize events in their own neighborhoods – right on their own block.

Visit act.kab.org/cleanyourblock to start a #cleanYOURblock team or join someone else's team.

National sponsors of the 2017 Great American Cleanup include Altria, Dow, The Glad Products Company, Lowe's, Niagara Bottling and ReadyRefresh by Nestlé. In select Keep America Beautiful affiliate communities, Marco’s Pizza, the fastest-growing pizza company in the U.S. (based on number of stores signed into development since 2007), will provide free pizza parties for volunteers and participants after Great American Cleanup events.

Dropps, the eco-friendly unit dose household cleaning brand and a Great American Cleanup promotional partner, will donate 10 percent of sales for the entire year to Keep America Beautiful on every new wash plan subscription or new customer product purchase made on Dropps.com using code KAB2017.

About Keep America Beautiful
At Keep America Beautiful, we want to ensure that beauty is our lasting signature. A leading national nonprofit, Keep America Beautiful inspires and educates people to take action every day to improve and beautify their community environment. We envision a country in which every community is a clean, green, and beautiful place to live. Established in 1953, Keep America Beautiful provides the expertise, programs and resources to help people End Littering, Improve Recycling, and Beautify America’s Communities. The organization is driven by the work and passion of more than 620 state and community-based Keep America Beautiful affiliates, millions of volunteers, and the support of corporate partners, municipalities, elected officials, and individuals. To donate or take action, visit kab.org. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, like us on Facebook, or view us on YouTube.