CHARLOTTE, N.C. — FEB 3-6

Sponsorship and 2013 Awards2014 National Conference

NATIONAL AWARDS

SPONSOR RECOGNITION

AFFILIATE AWARDS

AFFILIATE INNOVATION AWARDS

CIGARETTE LITTER PREVENTION PROGRAM AWARDS

STATE AFFILIATE INNOVATION AWARDS

GREAT AMERICAN CLEANUP AWARDS

STATE DEPT. OF TRANSPORTATION PARTNERSHIP AWARDS

STATE RECOGNITION AWARDS

7

20

25

27

29

32

33

34

4

SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS

26

TAB

LE O

F C

ON

TEN

TS

TITLE SPONSORS

LEADERSHIP SPONSORS

STEWARDSHIP SPONSORS

STRATEGIC SPONSORS

Waste ManagementWrigley Company Foundation

Altria Bud Light Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company

The Burt’s Bees Greater Good FoundationThe Dow Chemical CompanyDr Pepper Snapple GroupKeep Charlotte BeautifulLowe’s Charitable & Educational FoundationNovelis

Anheuser-BuschIngersoll Rand

SUPPORTING SPONSORS

IN-KIND SUPPORT

SCHOLARSHIP SUPPORT

Altria Dr Pepper Snapple GroupH.O. Peet FoundationIngersoll RandWaste Management

Altria Bud Light Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company

The Coca-Cola CompanyGreen Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc.Keep Mecklenburg BeautifulKeep North Carolina BeautifulRe-TRAC ConnectThe Sherwin-Williams CompanySteel Recycling InstituteTroy-Bilt® Lawn and Garden Equipment

NA

TIO

NA

L C

ON

FER

EN

CE

SPO

NSO

RS

Special thanks to Bud Light for the National Awards Ceremony and other receptions and to Harris Teeter for re-usable bags.

7

NATIONAL AWARDS

2013 Keep America Beautiful Award Recipients

1st Place - Lowe’s Home Improvement Store, KSBeautification - Business/Professional Org.

The local Lowe’s Heroes of Topeka, KS worked with Keep America Beautiful – Topeka/Shawnee Co. to aid cleanup and restoration in Harveyville, KS, a community of 250 in which 60% of the residents suffered tornado damage. With a $20,000 Lowe’s grant, paint was provided to 120 volun-teers who painted five houses and 13 outbuildings including City Hall, City Park Shelter House and the City Softball Park during a designated day of service in September. Fifty trees, 750 lbs. of grass seed, three dump truck loads of topsoil and approximately $1,000 in annual and perennial flowers were also provided for beautification of the town. A second event was held in October with 191 volunteers to aid in further beautification efforts.

1st Place - Shawnee County Parks and Recreation, KSBeautification - Government Agency

The Shawnee County Parks and Recreation works with Keep America Beautiful – Topeka/Shawnee Co. to implement and promote the Adopt a Park program for the 110 parks in the county. Employees of Parks and Rec have developed a sign up contract, and after a two-year commitment of keep-ing the park clean, there is a sign placed in the park giving credit to the volunteer group that has adopted that park. Volunteers are encouraged to trim trees, mow and edge sidewalks, as well as clean up litter in the area. The Parks and Recreation Department faced a major overhaul and consolidation effort in the last year – with these changes the Department still found time to beneficially re-organize and expand this important program for the county as well as encourage and partner on other park cleanups.

1st Place - Shawnee County Master Gardeners, KSBeautification - Nonprofit/Civic/Comm. Org.

The Shawnee County Master Gardener branch was founded in 1988 and focuses on education and demonstration in plant science and home horticulture. Candidates volunteer

Community Improvement Recognition

8

at least 40 hours in various scenarios around the county to qualify for Master Gardener status including information booths, speakers’ bureaus, school and youth programs. The Master Gardeners also have eight demonstration gar-dens available for classes and public viewing for educational purposes. The Master Gardener Green Team educates groups on how to conserve natural resources. Other services offered include the distribution of free compost bins to Shawnee County residents as well as free soil testing when funding is available.

1st Place - Waste Management of Kansas, KSLitter Prevention - Business/Professional Org.

Waste Management has been a vital supporter of Keep America Beautiful – Topeka/Shawnee Co. on the local level for the past five years. The company’s employees volunteer for events, provide appropriate promotional items for exhibit booths, assist organizations with their cleanup activities and sponsor a Free Landfill Day for the community in recogni-tion of the Great American Cleanup. Waste Management’s contribution also influenced the City of Topeka to waive its landfill fees at the city-owned Forestry Disposal site, which helped encourage greater participation. The company is also a key partner in Project ReDirectory, a community wide phone book recycling program, and it supports Project Take-over/Makeover by providing services and waiving landfill fees for the project. Waste Management has also been a crucial ally in providing curbside recycling to the citizens of Shawnee County, with recycling rates nearly doubling between 2012 and 2013 in the county.

1st Place - Memphis City Beautiful, TNLitter Prevention - Government Agency

Memphis City Beautiful joined forces with the University of Memphis honor students to raise awareness of the health of the Mississippi River by conducting a series of shoreline cleanups along the lake adjacent to downtown Memphis. A total of five cleanups were held between September 2012 and June 2013 with a focus to remove waste and recycle as much as possible from the collected debris. Shoreline and island cleanups were possible with boats provided by the Living Lands & Waters. Volunteers were trained in recycling, with the University of Memphis supplying trucks to trans-port recycled materials. 730 volunteers participated overall in the five events held. Over 30 groups were represented and donated 2,190 hours of time. A total of 9,500 lbs. of trash was collected and 6,250 lbs were recycled overall.

9

1st Place - Keep Bakersfield Beautiful, CALitter Prevention - Nonprofit/Civic/Comm. Org.

Keep Bakersfield Beautiful took the lead to create a think tank involving various agencies and members of the private sector to come up with a way to cross the lines of jurisdic-tional boundaries to achieve the common goals to reduce litter safely and efficiently on the State Highways. The Freeway Litter Cleanup Program allows the City of Bakers-field to contract homeless center clients to pick up litter and pile bulky items on the mainlines of state freeways Monday through Friday thanks to an unconventional delegated maintenance agreement. These cleanup crews also maintain highways and parkways under city jurisdiction. The City of Bakersfield coordinates their cleanup route. Caltrans pro-vides funding, oversight, hauling services, a bumper vehicle, and, at times, ramp or lane closures. The mayor, volunteers, and youth probationers continue to clean up ramps and gateway signs weekly. The Kern County Sheriff’s Office provides jail inmates to clean up highway medians and freeways outside of city limits. The local NBC affiliate, KGET, produces anti-litter public service announcements, program promotions, and positive news coverage. This comprehen-sive approach is unique and clearly crosses jurisdictions as a practical solution to a severe litter problem. Overall, efforts have cleaned up more than 50 tons of litter from early May to the end of June 2013, and enabled 40 homeless center clients and their families to obtain a home.

1st Place - Carton Council, MIWaste Reduction/Recycling - Business/Professional Org.

The Carton Council is a ground-breaking collaboration among four market competitors in carton manufacturing. The group – Elopak, Evergreen Packaging, SIG Combibloc and Tetra Pak with paper maker Weyerhaeuser – joined to-gether to deliver long-term collaborative solutions to divert valuable cartons from landfills. Since its start in 2009 the Carton Council has made significant investments to expand the national collection infrastructure for cartons as well as successfully creating end markets for the fiber recovered from them. Due to the Council’s efforts, the national house-hold access rate has reached over 45%, which is an increase of 150% between 2009 and 2013.

1st Place - Shawnee County Solid Waste Department, KSWaste Reduction/Recycling - Government Agency

The Shawnee County Solid Waste Department-Recycling Division is an important partner with Keep America Beautiful – Topeka/Shawnee Co. Seventy-five% of funding for the affiliate comes from the Shawnee County Government. The Recycling Department works consistently with the affili-ate to maintain and increase recycling in Shawnee County. In January 2013 the Department implemented curbside recycling in the community working closely with Waste Management to guarantee success. Among its many other

10

programs Shawnee County also has an extensive School Plastic Program that allows schools in the county the option of recycling milk jugs. The plastic collections helped one school in Shawnee County place first in the state for the recycling competition.

1st Place - Rural Action, OHWaste Reduction/Recycling - Nonprofit/Civic/Comm. Org.

The Appalachia Ohio Zero Waste Initiative (AOZWI) is coor-dinated by Rural Action, a non-profit dedicated to improv-ing environmental, economic, and social justice in southeast Ohio. In 2012, Rural Action became a partner organization of Keep Southeast Ohio Beautiful. AOZWI was formed in 2010 in response to a number of challenges in Southeast Ohio: low recycling rates, high rates of illegal dumping, and illegal trash burning. Reaching over 22,000 people in 2013, Rural Action worked with numerous festivals in Southeast Ohio to strive for zero waste by reducing, recycling, and composting as much waste as possible. Festivals included Boogie on the Bricks, Bounty on the Bricks, the Rootwire Festival, the Pawpaw Festival, and Nelsonville Music Festi-val. The most successful effort to date was the Nelsonville Music Festival, where volunteers recycled or composted almost 90% of all festival waste with a total of 1,950 lbs. of recycling and 3,008 lbs. of compost captured.

2nd Place - REI, Inc., PABeautification - Business/Professional Org.

A partnership between REI Inc.’s Distribution Center and Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful has resulted in the success-ful “Stream Sweep” cleanup along the Juniata River bank in Bedford County. In 2007, REI established a distribution center in the county and became engaged in conservation volunteerism and in outdoor education. REI participated in the 2008 Stream Sweep before becoming a full partner in planning, executing and volunteer registration in 2010. REI grant funding has been substantial for further Stream Sweeps in 2011 and 2012. The company has also provided shovels and bulb planters for beautification of the surround-ing Bedford Community in 2013.

2nd Place - Saline County RSWMD, ARBeautification - Government Agency

The Saline County RSWMD provides recycling for all Saline County schools. For that program to function properly, each school created Green Teams, made up of teachers and students who oversee the recycling program. Saline County RSWMD contracts with Bin There-Dump That, a company that provides weekly scheduled pick-ups at no cost to the schools. Along with the Green Team leaders, students are responsible for the collection of the recycled material (mostly paper and cardboard) and placing the material in the proper place for pick-up. The Saline County RSWMD

11

provides education through presentations, a mascot (Smarty the Fox) and a contest for schools with Green Teams. Win-ners are awarded with gift cards and minor funding for the school. Volunteer and Community Service opportunities are provided to Junior and High School students as well.

2nd Place - PHX Renews, AZBeautification - Nonprofit/Civic/Comm. Org.

PHX Renews is the vision of Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton and executed by a partnership of nonprofits, including Keep Phoenix Beautiful. The city of Phoenix has approximately 42% of its land classified as vacant, whether it is open space or lots spread all across the city. These vacant areas lead to a host of issues including crime and litter. The charge is to find temporary uses of these infill lots whether it be for farming, gardens, education opportunities, or some other creative use. The first project is on a 15-acre plot in central Phoenix that has sat vacant for 25 years. With many local partners and sponsors participating, currently there is an urban farm on the top 2 ½ acres, which will eventually support 80 refugee families. Another plot operated by the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension has an Urban Research Farm, which planted cover crops to host a “U-Pick” event as part of KPB Activation Day. Other areas will consist of an educational area for composting and recycling as well as water conservation and rain water harvesting. The Veterans Administration is also building PTSD gardens for returning veterans.

2nd Place - Keep Slidell Beautiful, LALitter Prevention - Government Agency

Five years after Hurricane Katrina, KSB and the City of Slidell began the cleanup and improvement of the Historic Greenwood Cemetery. The cemetery is located in the heart of Olde Towne Slidell and Slidell’s founders and leaders are buried here. KSB has focused its attention on improving the appearance of the cemetery for the past two years and was able to get Boy Scout Troop 365 to adopt the cem-etery as its adopt-a-spot. In 2013 a Chamber of Commerce Leadership Northshore group approached the affiliate asking to partner with it to improve the cemetery and form “Guardians of Greenwood Cemetery.” Along with KSB they would help sustain the cemetery, identify all gravesites, and eventually evolve into giving tours of the historic cemetery. To date Keep Slidell Beautiful has had six workday events in addition to weekly mowing, edging, weeding and raking leaves. 77 tombs have been washed, painted and/or re-paired, six benches have been installed, 37 trees planted, as well as numerous other beautification measures completed.

12

2nd Place- Allatoona Community Association, Inc., GALitter Prevention - Nonprofit/Civic/Comm. Org.

The Allatoona Community is defined as “that portion of unincorporated Bartow County that lies south and east of Lake Allatoona, extending to the Cobb County and Cherokee County lines from I-75/Glade Road to Red Top Mountain State Park.” The area, which serves as the southern gateway to Bartow County, is in serious decline. The Allatoona Community Association, Inc. was established in 2004 after working with Keep Bartow Beautiful to effectively address the many problems of the area. This past year has been a watershed year for the organization with a new commissioner bringing change in the form of DCA state grants for building a “ community center” complete with trash collection/recycling center, health department, meeting facilities, and law enforcement space. A new county administrator oversaw much tougher building inspection and code enforcement. The net result was a two-day collection effort netting 38.21 tons of yard waste. Along with continued cleanups with Keep Bartow Beautiful, the area is truly improving.

2nd Place- Payless ShoeSource, KSWaste Reduction/Recycling - Business/Professional Org.

The local Payless ShoeSource is a very active participant and supporter of the Topeka/Shawnee community and in the past few years the company has strongly committed to the local KAB affiliate and its goals. As part of the Earth Week celebration, more than 1,000 employees participated in vari-ous events. A partnership with Asset LifeCycle offered e-waste collection to the community and a used clothing drive was hosted for the local homeless shelter. Payless encouraged employees to donate to Soles4Souls and the company was inspired to donate the sample pairs of shoes not chosen for distribution to third world countries.

2nd Place - Memphis City Beautiful, TNWaste Reduction/Recycling - Government Agency

Memphis City Beautiful introduces the citizens of Memphis to a new way of looking at recycling with their “Trash-ion Show.” The purpose of the program is to educate the community about recycling and waste reduction in a unique way, to raise awareness of Memphis City Beautiful programs, and to establish the Mini-Grant program – small grants offered to neighborhood and civic groups to support beautification and community greening projects. A total of 40 designers and retail sponsors provided 71 creations. The evening was set up as an educational experience, competi-tion, and fundraising event and drew a crowd of 300. Over-all, it raised awareness as well as $13,410 in support for the Mini-Grant programs.

13

2nd Place - Topeka Association of Retarded Citizens, KSWaste Reduction/Recycling - Nonprofit/Civic/Comm. Org.

The Topeka Associate of Retarded Citizens (TARC) provides work training and skill development for adults with intellec-tual disabilities. One of its major services is as a shredding service, which appealed to many of the people TARC was serving and also met the needs of the business community. Currently TARC Industries provides recycling services to over 250 community businesses with an average of 51,000 lbs. of recycled material being diverted from the landfill annu-ally. Additionally, TARC holds a free confidential document destruction for the residents of Shawnee County for one week each month.

Distinguished Service Citation VHA, Inc., TXBeautification - Business/Professional Org.

VHA, Inc., based in Irving, Texas, is a national network of not-for-profit health care organizations which includes the companies VHA, Novation and Provista. They drive savings on supplies, improve clinical performances and implement best practices to improve operational efficiencies and clinical outcomes. One of VHA’s programs kept more than two million lbs. of medical waste out of landfills, saving hospitals over $61 million. Inherent in the company’s mission is their commitment to investing resources in the communities where they live and work. Community Day is an annual day of service that takes place companywide each fall, during which employees volunteer with local agencies. Employee participation remains strong with more than 1,025 employ-ees having participated in 2012. Today, Community Day is just part of the picture – a snapshot of the commitment VHA makes to their communities year-round. From greening their own work space to LEED standards to engaging their employees through volunteerism, giving back is integrated fully into the services and operations of VHA, Inc.

Distinguished Service Citation Rochester’s Main Street Makeover, MIBeautification - Government Agency

Main Street Makeover is a story of community partner-ship between the State (MDOT) and the City of Rochester, with integral parts being played by the contractor, business community and social service agencies. This $7.6 million project aimed to rebuild Main Street, improve water service and add streetscape improvements to enhance the overall downtown experience. The seven-month project was highly disruptive for the community, but turned into the most suc-cessful project in the city’s history. Physical improvements included new street trees, water lines, lighting, crosswalks and decorative fencing and the economic impact of the project was unexpected and impressive, with occupancy rates improving during the project and continuing to get a stronger following. The project was completed on time

14

and on budget and was celebrated with a “Big Bright Light Show” in November 2012, which hosted 40,000 people in the downtown and showed off the streetscape while kicking off the holiday shopping season in the business district.

Distinguished Service Citation South Central Solid Waste Authority, NMLitter Prevention - Government Agency

South Central Solid Waste Authority is the city/county agency responsible for handling solid waste and recyclables in Las Cruces and Dona Ana County. There are eight county collection centers, six city drop off recycling sites, 37 school drop off sites, and five state park recycling drop-off sites. SCSWA aspires for Dona Ana County to adopt an ordinance that will provide for the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of the county; enhance and maintain the quality of the environment, conserve natural resources, gain man-agement of solid waste and enable reclamation of natural resources, including energy from solid wastes. SCSWA has focused on the ongoing problem of illegal dumping in the city and county. With grant funding, 216 sites across 10 areas were cleaned within the county, with a total of 201 tons of solid waste collected.

Distinguished Service Citation Friends of Dornwood, KSLitter Prevention - Nonprofit/Civic/Comm. Org.

To combat the possibility of a rise in crime due to a ne-glected park in a low to moderate income neighborhood, the Friends of Dornwood created several beneficial partner-ships to clean up this 128-acre multi-use park. Working with the Shawnee County Parks and Recreation Department and County Commissioners, a five-year plan was estab-lished to maintain the recreation areas. Partnerships with Keep America Beautiful – Topeka/Shawnee Co., the Topeka Audubon Society, and the Trails council have engaged many youth groups in volunteer efforts to clean the park at virtu-ally no government cost.

Distinguished Service Citation Community Waste Disposal, TXWaste Reduction/Recycling - Business/Professional Org.

Community Waste Disposal, (CWD) has been an active partner with Keep Texas Beautiful (KTB) for the past nine years, working with several local Keep Texas Beautiful affili-ates to implement programs that teach residents to change behavior and make positive results in the community. CWD has started two innovative programs: “Clean Air For The Future” and “Extreme Green Event.” The “Clean Air For The Future” works to improve the air quality in the Dallas-Forth Worth Area, while the “Extreme Green Event” aids residents in recycling and properly disposing of household hazardous waste, electronics waste, tires, large metal items and personal confidential documents.

15

Distinguished Service Citation Recycle Otero County, NMWaste Reduction/Recycling - Government Agency

Recycling in southern New Mexico was almost nonexistent and very limited until 2011, due to the expense of infra-structure, the high cost of getting recyclable material to market and the large land mass — Otero County is over 6,000 square miles. With aid from Susan Flores, Executive Director of Keep Alamogordo Beautiful, the county was awarded a $309,000 grant to build recycling infrastruc-ture. After the recycling processing facility was completed in 2012, a volunteer recycling committee, Recycle Otero County (ROC), was established to oversee the recycling education program, as well as exhibit and present across Otero County at fairs, the university, local Lions and Rotary clubs as well as local schools. In the past 2 years volunteers donated 1,275 hours educating and impacting over 27,000 people. The Otero County diversion rate has risen 14% overall.

Distinguished Service Citation Irving Family YMCA, TXWaste Reduction/Recycling - Nonprofit/Civic/Comm. Org.

The Irving Family YMCA is one of 20 facilities serving the Metropolitan Dallas area. The branch began in 1957 and is committed to strengthening the foundation of the Irving community through the focus areas of youth development, healthy living and social responsibility. The YMCA has partnered with Keep Irving Beautiful in several events and programs including America Recycles Day programs that cater to seniors and high-schoolers. The Y also works with KIB to promote recycling through the Green Events Program – YMCA teens work with other volunteers to keep grounds litter-free during specific events and festivals. The YMCA is all about community, and the wellness of that community is influenced by many factors. By adding community improvement and beautification to healthy lifestyles and choices, the community becomes a stronger, healthier and safer place to live.

1st Place- Liberty County 4-H, GAProgram

Liberty County 4-H members undertook multiple programs in conjunction with Keep Liberty Beautiful throughout the year to make an impact on their local area. With over 840 members, Liberty County 4-H Junior and Senior 4-H’ers voted to make community improvement and engagement

NATIONAL AWARDS

Youth Recognition

16

a priority for programming for the 2013 school year. Ad-ditionally, the County 4-H Agent Kasey Bozeman serves on the Keep Liberty Beautiful Executive Board and co-chairs two committees: the Cleanup and Eradication and the Community Beautification committees. Liberty County 4-H chose to participate in nine main projects that align with Keep Liberty Beautiful programming focused in recycling, beautification and litter prevention efforts.

1st Place - 2012-13 Gravette 4th Grade GATE Class, ARProject

G.A.T.E. (Gifted and Talented Education) is a program for students in 3rd–12th grade who demonstrate strong leadership, creativity, and academic potential. Each week, these select students participate in a small-group setting where the focus is on providing opportunities for talent development. The curriculum is designed around student-led, cooperative learning projects in which students solve real-world problems. The 2012 class chose to focus on paper towel usage in their school. Students researched and presented their findings to the 3rd – 5th grade classes and afterwards proved that paper towel usage decreased by an average of 42%.

1st Place - Sarah Young, TXIndividual

Sarah Young implemented the Neighborwoods 2012 pro-gram in the city of Pflugerville, after city officials had been unable to initiate the program in 2011. Sarah evaluated three residential neighborhoods, identifying front yards where there was room to plant a tree within 10 to 15 feet from the street. Pflugerville residents who agreed to plant and water the tree(s) for at least two years ordered their trees online. She delivered the trees, along with planting and watering instructions in October 2012. 1,600 homes were assessed with help from five volunteers and 400 trees were delivered in Fall of 2012. Although this started out as a one-time project, Sarah persuaded both the City of Pfluger-ville and Discover Green to continue it as a program. The 2013 program and planting began October 1 with double the number of trees planted in the city.

1st Place - James Cole Elementary, INGAC

Since 2006 the students of James Cole Elementary have taken part in the Cole Kids’ Cleanup Stockwell program every fall and spring. Created by Keep Stockwell Beautiful and a Cole Elementary 4th grade teacher, the project was created to provide students with a worthwhile service learn-ing project and assist KSB in the Great American Cleanup. Approximately 100 students participate annually in the 4th and 5th grade classes of James Cole Elementary. Along with assigned cleanup areas, each class is also assigned a family

17

to assist with yard maintenance. The children take pride in the job they have helped with as they take ownership in their community and environment.

2nd Place - Eisenhower Middle School, KSProgram

In response to requests by staff for projects to improve the school campus and school pride, Principal Rebecca Morrisey created numerous programs to raise awareness and cleanup Eisenhower Elementary. The Tend Your Nest program divided the school into inside and outside zones that home rooms are assigned to keep clear from litter. A Day of Ser-vice is held annually to clear litter from school grounds and a fundraiser has been held to repair the school greenhouse. A grant from Lowe’s provided funding for a Reading Garden installation and all art students participate in a “living” tile mural program inside the school. Eisenhower Middle School did not allow budget contraints to prevent them from mak-ing the school a cleaner and more beautiful place to learn.

2nd Place - OKC Beautiful Teen Board, OKProject

The OKC Beautiful Teen Board wanted to make its commu-nity beautiful, inspire others to do the same and give back to others in need. On May 4, 2013, the 24 members gath-ered to install Community Service Beautification Projects. The Teen Board selected two homes that provide temporary housing to women and their children who have become homeless. The grounds around the homes were cleaned up and landscaped to provide a better environment for the residents in need. The goal of the project was to enhance the lives of the residents of the homes, while giving the Teen Board the opportunity to give back to individuals in need. The impact of the project has inspired the surround-ing community to also clean up their yards and homes. The OKC Beautiful Teen Board is selected annually from high school juniors and seniors in Oklahoma City public and private schools.

2nd Place - Evan Hurley, ARIndividual

Evan Hurley chose to work with the Hill Farm Elementary School for his Eagle Scout project. The school wanted to develop a large field into a nature area for outdoor classes and nature trails for use by the local community. Talking with the school administrator, Evan determined that the most critical need was an easily maintained trail from the playground to an area to be used for an outdoor nature classroom and an aquatics class area. Due to the terrain, this trail would be about 1000 feet long. The trail would also have to cross a stream and this required building a concrete bridge 16 feet by 8 feet and some concrete work to prevent erosion. On top of providing man power with the other

18

volunteers, Evan spent six weeks canvassing local suppli-ers for support, saving close to $800 in cost. None of the school’s grant money was required for use and the project as completed in June 2013.

Distinguished Service Citation Highland Park High School, KSProgram

Highland Park High School hosts multiple programs to positively improve their community. The Community Service Club held several cleanups. The LI Classroom, which hosts students with developmental disabilities, collects all the classroom recycling. The Highland Park Honors Society participated with the Keep America Beautiful – Topeka/Shawnee Co. community wide litter cleanup, Get Down and Get Dirty. The AVID Group aided school beautification dur-ing ShareFest and the Air Force Jr. ROTC (KS-881) held sev-eral litter cleanups throughout the year. Finally, teacher Neil McKay teaches a summer garden/horticulture class where the students tend a community garden providing produce for both the students and the local homeless shelter.

Distinguished Service Citation Beatrice Middle School, NEProject

Beatrice Middle School worked with Keep Beatrice Beautiful to apply for a recycling grant to purchase 16 new 50-gallon collection totes for the Middle School Classrooms. The 8th Grade American History and Civics Mentor Class students collected the material, weighed the material and kept the records for a five-month period of time between January 2013 and May 2013 when school was over. The entire Middle School is responsible for the five-month totals of 3.316 tons of material recycled. The school was awarded the grant for their efforts and also received the First Place Keep Nebraska Beautiful School Recycling Award at the KNB Awards Ceremony in 2013.

Distinguished Service Citation Owen Stamm, TNIndividual

Owen has been passionate about trash and recycling his entire life. When he was six, his passion became a mission. His mission was to take charge and clean up the world and to teach others about the importance of recycling. Owen is now eight years old. When he is not collecting recycling from people in the neighborhood, he is out collecting garbage. Owen started Project O.W.E.N. (Our World’s Environment in Need) to focus on Recycling and Trash Cleanup. Owen raised awareness for curbside recycling in his community through bin placement and outreach and has led several clean-up events. He has participated in Keep America Beautiful’s Great American Cleanup. Owen’s goal is to one day clean the entire lake in his community.

19

Judge Larry Potter, TNJudge

Larry E. Potter has lived in Memphis for over 35 years and is a well-known leader and judicial innovator of the city. He was appointed to a City Court Judge position in 1982 at the age of 35, becoming one of the youngest judges to ever serve on the bench. Since then he has diligently served the city and county court systems for over 30 years. In 1991, Judge Potter helped write a law that created a county-wide Environmental Court with injunctive authority to strongly deal with environmental problems confronting Memphis and Shelby County. The efforts were a dramatic success, and by year-end, the Tennessee State Legislature established the Shelby County Environmental Court, making it the first countywide court of this type in the nation. Judge Potter travels and consults frequently, working with many major cities in America helping establish Environmental Courts. He is widely considered among his peers to be the “Father of Environmental Courts” in America. In 2006 Judge Potter received the Iron Eyes Cody Award, Keep America Beauti-ful’s most prestigious lifetime achievement award. Most recently, Judge Potter received the Memphis Rotary Club’s 2007 Bobby Dunavant Public Servant Award which recog-nizes distinguished work by public servants of the citizens of Memphis and Shelby County.

Officer Lee Howe, TXLaw Enforcement Officer

Lee Howe has served in law enforcement since graduating form the Universty of Texas Police Academy in 1973. In 2009, Lee was promoted to a new position in the Collin County Sheriff’s Department targeting illegal dumping in Collin County. As the Environmental Enforcement Deputy, Lee was responsible for developing the illegal dumping program from its inception. The program that Collin County boasts of today is the culmination of Lee’s efforts. As a result of Lee Howe’s leadership and dedication, the Envi-ronmental Enforcement program positively impacts Collin County. Comparative data for 2010 and 2011 demonstrate a clear decline in illegal dumping activity since the program’s inception. Lee initiated a collaborative effort and created a critical team among key County departments. The team developed strategies to address illegal dumping throughout Collin County. Lee Howe’s inclusive approach has earned him respect along with credibility. He educates - as much as enforces against - those responsible for illegal dump-ing and encourages them to be aware of the impacts of their actions. Recognizing the importance of education and awareness, Lee readily accepts any invitation to speak to schools, civic groups, and professional organizations. Whether presenting to elementary students or the Collin

NATIONAL AWARDS

Law Enforcement Recognition

20

Country Citizens’ Sheriff’s Academy, Lee effectively shares his message. Lee Howe is a member of the Texas Environ-mental Law Enforcement Association and regularly attends training sessions sponsored by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality related to environmental education and law enforcement.

1st Place - Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful, FLPreviously Recognized - 200,000 and above

In 2012, Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful broke ground on a one-acre interactive learning garden at the Florida State Fairgrounds. This innovative project combines job training, youth education, provides healthy foods to communities in need and a plethora of Florida-friendly landscaping tech-niques and water conservation best practices. It embodies many of the areas in which the affiliate focuses its efforts, including recycling education through their “Recycling Re-gatta,” litter abatement, in which they completed over 600 litter cleanups, reaching 700 linear miles and nearly 1,500 acres, and participation in the CLPP. This could not have been accomplished without acknowledging the importance of their volunteer base, led by their trained Ambassadors, and celebrating their achievements with events like the “After Trash Beach Bash.”

1st Place - Keep Albany-Dougherty Beautiful, GAPreviously Recognized - 50,001 to 200,001

This year, Keep Albany-Dougherty Beautiful implemented a hands-on grassroots education program that involved a diverse group of citizens. Among its many educational ma-terials developed and distributed in 2013, KADB produced “Organized Block Manual,” a how-to guide on keeping city-blocks clean and crime free. They further engaged in crime prevention by involving 52 youth in a 12-hour project to paint the walls and floor of Albany’s “Art Park,” as one of their 32 graffiti paint-out project sites this year. Through their dozens of corporate sponsors and government sup-port, KADB engaged 36,319 volunteers, who donated 84,722 hours to environmental service, litter cleanups, and impressive community and school recycling initiatives.

1st Place - Keep Tularosa Beautiful, NMPreviously Recognized - 50,000 or less

In 2013, Keep Tularosa Beautiful promoted litter prevention at schools, through civic presentations, awareness exhibits in the village municipal building, by activating volunteers for litter-free events and by taking action through lit-ter cleanups. In addition they launched a unique, all new Summer Nature Activity Program for children grades 1st to 5th where students learned about the proper disposal

AFFILIATE AWARDS

21

of litter and helped pick up litter around the community. They were given litter bags to take their projects home and inspire their families. The affiliate built out their education initiatives to include a handful of informative workshops including the “Prune and Groom” and “Weed and Feed” workshops led by landscape specialists. They also engaged the community to collect nearly 20,000 lbs. of recyclables in 2013 alone.

1st Place - OKC Beautiful, OKUnrecognized - 200,000 and above

In 2013, Oklahoma City Beautiful collaborated with 30 local elementary schools throughout the city to plant nearly 300 fruit trees during their Valentine’s Day-themed “To OKC with Love” project. Not only did students receive landscaping and plant life-cycle education, but the fruit would later be used to promote healthy eating in the community. OKC Beautiful continued their greening activities, partnering with local businesses, government, and experts to carry out their many unique programs including, LandScapes, Casino Florale, Mother Earth, and the Art Festival Go Green Team. OKCB supported their recycling efforts through a Recycled Art Show, “ART” reaching 75,000 people with important recycling messaging and information on America Recycles Day.

1st Place - Keep Athens-Clarke County Beautiful, GAUnrecognized - 50,001 to 200,000

Keep Athens-Clarke County Beautiful works constantly to be creative and relevant in providing sustainable programs to its year-round residents and our large university com-munity. This year alone, KACCB administered seven litter prevention programs, eight recycling programs, and seven community beautification programs. It completed 29 work-shops and held 23 outreach events with 8,763 community members attending. More importantly, the affiliate brought 23,763 volunteers into action for their community. KACCB has a history of leadership in environmental education through their Green Schools Program and their outreach education efforts reached 5,800 students in 29 schools and daycare centers. They collaborated with a diverse set of partners including the Athens Land Trust, The University of Georgia, the County Extension Agency, and the Council on Aging to implement 11 community gardens and increase participation and accountability in schoolyard garden efforts.

1st Place - Keep Oconee County Beautiful Commission, GAUnrecognized - 50,000 or less

In 2013, Keep Oconee County Beautiful Commission mem-bers and volunteers joined together to participate in “Rivers Alive, Georgia’s Annual Waterway Cleanup.” Through this and a host of additional cleanup initiatives hosted

22

by KOCBC, 28 miles of roads and three acres of public land were cleared of litter. KOCBC furthered its efforts by adopting a diverse array of recycling programs to engage the Oconee County community including the “Used Phone Book Recycling Program” through which all nine Oconee County schools were involved and more than 1,800 lbs. of phonebooks were recycled. In addition, KCOBC partnered with Keep Athens-Clarke County Beautiful for the Teacher Reuse Store where 270 Oconee County school teachers volunteered their time to divert more than 30 tons of items from landfill.

2nd Place - Keep Irving Beautiful, TXPreviously Recognized - 200,000 and above

Keep Irving Beautiful is at the forefront of litter prevention in its city. While KIB has become known for its large-scale cleanups, the goal is to educate the community in the hope that such events will someday not be needed at all. The af-filiate leads the city in litter removal through its fall “Trinity Trash Bash,” in conjunction with Keep Texas Beauti-ful’s “Keep Texas Waterways Clean” Program. Activating 300 volunteers, collecting 4,540 lbs. of litter and removing 620 lbs. of recyclables was just a piece of their accomplish-ments in 2013. Partnering with groups like the Irving’s Lake Association, Lowe’s, Walmart, Bear Creek Community Church and REI, Keep Irving Beautiful continued their work in innovative programming and exciting groundbreakings like the “Come Grow With Us-2013” community garden.

2nd Place - Keep America Beautiful – Topeka/Shawnee Co., KSPreviously Recognized - 50,001 to 200,000

2013 was a record setting year for Keep America Beauti-ful – Topeka/Shawnee Co., KS. This year represented the highest level of achievement in the history of the affiliate, with a cost benefit ratio of $224 back to the community for every$1 the Shawnee County government funded. With the creation of unique, new programs like “Storm Troopers,” the affiliate formed new partnerships with the city and increased its positive impact on the community. KAB – Topeka/Shawnee Co. also continued their success-ful programs, celebrating the second annual “Get Down and Get Dirty with Keep America Beautiful” community-wide litter cleanup, with 1,250 volunteers in attendance. Additionally, with the aid of a $20,000 Lowe’s grant, the affiliate greatly aided the Harveyville, KS, community that was devastated by a tornado in early 2012. The “Re-paint, RE-build, Re-new Harveyville” project was a great success for the affiliate, its volunteers and the citizens of Harveyville that were once more able to take pride in their community’s appearance.

23

2nd Place - Keep Lake Jackson Beautiful, TXPreviously Recognized - 50,000 or less

Litter prevention is the backbone of Keep Lake Jackson Beautiful and in 2013, the affiliate collaborated with the City of Lake Jackson to increase litter pickups by 24 scheduled events, add 12 additional mowing projects to the city cal-endar, and improve highway maintenance overall. KLJB fur-thered their mission in Lake Jackson, by hosting an America Recycles Day Fall Clean Up that produced over 1,388 hours of service from its volunteers and reached 4,575 students. Keep Lake Jackson Beautiful also partnered with groups like the Knights of Columbus and Texas Gulf Bank to provide shredding service to the community and through these part-nerships recycled 1,400 gallons of materials.

2nd Place - Keep Blount Beautiful, TNUnrecognized - 50,001 to 200,000

Keep Blount Beautiful experienced tremendous growth in 2013. Along with event growth, KBB developed the new EcoCenter for education and a new Blount Event Recycling trailer program. Through their continued support from and partnerships with the Blount County Sheriff’s Office, the Knoxville Airport Authority, The Daily Times, and the Alcoa/Maryville/Blount County Landfill, KBB hosts a local litter hotline and its annual Fall Big Orange Trash Bash—an awareness campaign that received television and news-paper coverage. In addition, Keep Blount Beautiful’s Litter Clean Up events removed 2 tons of litter and engaged 400 volunteers.

2nd Place - Keep Richwood Beautiful, TXUnrecognized - 50,000 or less

In 2013, Keep Richwood Beautiful collaborated with youth and educators from a host of local schools to promote the Waste in Place Curriculum and educate students on litter prevention, beautification, and recycling practices. Keep Richwood Beautiful partnered with the City of Richwood to accomplish a series of impactful projects for the town, which included surveying citizens to improve KRB’s “Drugs, Gangs, Graffiti-Wipe it Out” program that promotes the prompt removal of graffiti and continuous monitoring of at risk areas. In addition, KRB holds E-Waste and tire collection events to encourage recycling and solid waste reduction in the community.

Distinguished Service Citation Keep Cincinnati Beautiful, OHPreviously Recognized - 200,000 and above

To combat previous years of foul weather on the Great American Cleanup Day, Keep Cincinnati Beautiful extended

24

its program from a single day to encompass a GAC season. Communities were invited to register an event any time March through November on the day and time of their choice, giving organizers more flexibility and greater access to tools, resources, and volunteer groups. Between March and June, 132 community events took place in the city with volunteers collecting 160 tons of litter and debris overall – increasing past years collection rate by 202% to date. In ad-dition to GAC efforts, other successful programs for the year include increased graffiti abatement, continuation of the successful “Future Blooms” program, addressing vacancy, blight and graffiti through revitalization of abandoned prop-erties, as well as the implementation of “Sustainability In Action” a comprehensive environmental education program working to implement recycling and composting in each Cincinnati Public School.

Distinguished Service Citation Keep Smyrna Beautiful, GAPreviously Recognized - 50,001 to 200,000

Keep Smyrna Beautiful has held numerous successful programs and partnerships throughout 2013 focused on litter prevention, community greening and waste reduction. Highlights include continuation of the affiliate’s 23-year-old Adopt-A-Mile program, in which four cleanups throughout the year hosted 554 volunteers to collect a total of 412 bags of litter. The April Adopt-A-Mile was considered the Great American Cleanup for KSB and boasted volunteers from numerous partner organizations and businesses. A major community improvement project in 2013 was the 5th Annual KSB Garden tour, showcasing five beautiful local gardens and demonstrating best garden practices to inspire others. A final highlight includes the 22nd year of Smyrna’s “Bring One for the Chipper” Christmas tree recycling event. 49 volunteers gave 258 hours directing traffic, unloading 706 cars, and distributing 200 free native tree seedlings pur-chased by KSB. IT has become a family tradition for many residents to recycle their tree and replant another.

Distinguished Service Citation Keep Stockwell Beautiful, INPreviously Recognized - 50,000 or less

Litter Prevention and community revitalization is an on-going process for Keep Stockwell Beautiful. The “Cole Kids’ Cleanup” program teaches elementary students to be responsible citizens and to protect the environment. Parents have seen a difference in awareness from their children and local community appearance results have seen litter index scores going from 2.10 in 2008 to a 1.0 in 2013. On the beautification front, Keep Stockwell Beautiful was a recipi-ent of a $20,000 Lowe’s grant from Keep America Beautiful, for a project revitalizing and reclaiming the wetlands area of the outdoor education center. Though work continues on the project, several activities have already been hosted in the green area which was previously impossible. Addi-tionally in the past year over 1 million lbs. of recycling was

25

collected at the Stockwell collection center – an increase of approximately 20% from 2012.

Distinguished Service Citation Keep Warner-Robins Beautiful, GAUnrecognized - 50,001 to 200,000

The year-long efforts of Keep Warner-Robins Beautiful to increase litter abatement resulted in a 16% decrease in litter for the community since the study baseline was established in 2002. Local media is credited for generating renewed interest in the Adopt-A-Spot programs – which currently have 41 miles of roadway and 130 acres of public parks as active adoption areas – and numerous other programs have emphasized litter abatement for the Warner-Robins community. KWRB has also made numerous strides in beautification and recycling programing. The affiliate helped the city meet standards to receive Tree City USA recertifica-tion in 2013 and was able to successfully continue a six-year partnership with two prominent recycling companies for a total collection of 20,465 lbs. of electronics for the year.

Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful, FLBeautification

Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful (KTBB) recently established the Florida Learning Garden, a permanent, 1-acre site at the Florida State Fairgrounds. This interactive educational expe-rience features traditional garden beds, raised beds, aqua-ponics, hydroponics, a Florida-Friendly Walking Trail, rain gardens, over 75 types of trees and an interactive green-house. From water conservation to ‘right-plant-right-place,’ the Florida Learning Garden educates residents on multiple growing techniques and sustainable practices to utilize in their own homes and gardens. The Florida Learning Garden has expanded KTBB’s educational reach by the thousands, and has created a place for the affiliate and its partners to share an environmental message.

Keep Mandeville Beautiful, LALitter Prevention

Keep Mandeville Beautiful embarked on an effort to reduce roadside litter by targeting teen drivers. The initial program idea was to partner with the three local high schools to reach teen drivers, but after seeking insight from teen-age students the program quickly expanded to include an additional effort which involved the schools’ entire student body of 5,000 students. A steering committee of student and teacher representatives from each school, KMB board members and the St. Tammany Parish Litter Enforcement Officer was critical to the program’s success as it insured the buy in from the schools and the program developed was driven by the students. KMB provided the multi-tiered framework and structure but allowed the students to make

AFFILIATE INNOVATION AWARDS

26

all the major decisions. In the end, a much stronger and effective program was developed because it was created by students for students. Teenagers responded favorably to their peers telling them to not litter as opposed to an adult with the same message.

Operation Green Team/Keeping Huntsville Beautiful, ALWaste Reduction/Recycling

In Huntsville, AL plastic caps are a very valuable commodity to school students. The Plastic Cap Recycling Contest for local schools has been an overwhelming popular program and is beginning its fourth year. It has reduced waste by adding another material that can be readily recyclable. A side benefit to the contest is that students are eager to pick up littered plastic caps. Last year more than 3.2 million plastic caps were collected by local students. Each year the number of schools participating has increased by more than 40%. The number of caps collected each year has increased by 50%. The affiliate anticipates sustaining at least a 50% increase by collecting more than 7 million caps during the 2013-14 competition.

Keep Ohio Beautiful & Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful Partnership

Keep Ohio Beautiful & Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful were awarded an $80,000 grant from The Home Depot Foun-dation for its Ohio Valley Region VA Hospital Community Beautification and Greening Project. In partnership with Keep Ohio / Pennsylvania Beautiful and Team Depot, both state affiliates revitalized outdoor green spaces at two Veteran Affair Hospitals in the Ohio Valley Region includ-ing the Dayton VA Medical Center and the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System’s Pittsburgh H.J. Heinz Campus. The project directly benefited more than 1,000 veterans and their families in the Ohio Valley Region.

Keep Georgia BeautifulProgram

Keep Georgia Beautiful implemented the Edible Neighbor-Woods subgrant program through funding from the Keep America Beautiful UPS Tree Grant and partnerships with the Georgia Forestry Commission and the Georgia Urban Forest Council. Georgia communities were invited to apply for up to $2,000 to plant community orchards on publicly acces-sible land and produce had to be available for gleaning by individuals. With the help of 119 volunteers, 132 trees were planted in these communities at 8 separate sites. Edible NeighborWoods is innovative in addressing multiple com-munity needs at once and is unlike anything currently hap-pening in Georgia. Each of the four Georgia grant recipients received trees that will help improve community air quality, prevent storm-water runoff, nourish wildlife and provide a source of local, sustainable community produce.

STATE AFFILIATE INNOVATION AWARDS

27

1st Place - Operation Green Team Keeping Huntsville Beautiful, ALExpanded Implementation

Operation Green Team Keeping Huntsville Beautiful contin-ued their CLPP in 2013 by expanding within Ditto Marina and at busy shuttle bus stops in the area. Huntsville is fortunate to have many rivers, creeks, and streams within its boundaries and the CLPP is helping to keep them clean by reducing cigarette litter in those waterways. Operation Green Team’s programs were a success thanks to strong partnerships, ash receptacles placed in key locations, and education and outreach in the community.

1st Place - Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful, PAFirst Time Implementation

Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful implemented the CLPP at an impressive 25 locations in downtown Erie and five locations at Erie State Parks. It was able to cover such a large area by leveraging the KAB grant to get additional grant funding for its CLPP efforts. By providing ash receptacles for residents, business people, and residents of Erie County, the amount of cigarette litter has decreased dramatically.

2nd Place - Keep Dorchester Beautiful, SCExpanded Implementation

Keep Dorchester County Beautiful expanded its program to Summerville, a small, yet rapidly growing town that has seen an increase in the number of tourists and businesses. KDCB also implemented the program at the Flowertown Festival. It was involved in the planning stages of the festival and showed the festival planners that the CLPP offered a benefit to both attendees and the organizers/maintenance crews.

2nd Place - Keep Charlotte Beautiful, FLFirst Time Implementation

Keep Charlotte Beautiful implemented its CLPP at the 33rd annual Florida International Air Show which attracts more than 25,000 people. A few years ago, KCB worked with the show organizers, the Solid Waste Department, and Waste Management to provide recycling for the first time at the air show. This year organizers asked for KCB’s help in reducing cigarette litter at the event. The Air Show organizers couldn’t believe the difference the CLPP made thanks to proper placement of ash receptacles, education, and signage.

CIGARETTE LITTER PREVENTION PROGRAM AWARDS

28

2nd Place - Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful, FLFirst Time Implementation

Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful noticed through local cleanups that cigarette butt litter was an issue inside parks where open events are held and it decided to take an active role by implementing the CLPP for the first time at Curtis Hixon Park. KTBB utilized their relationship with the City of Tampa Parks & Recreation Department to schedule strategic events and dates to promote the CLPP, and the department will be maintaining the ash receptacles.

Distinguished Service Citation Keep Greenville County Beautiful, SCExpanded Implementation

In its fifth year of participating in the CLPP, Keep Green-ville County expanded their program with a multi-faceted approach that focused on high-volume public areas in the community of Traveler’s Rest. KGCB was faced with the challenge of working within smoking bans from indoor facilities and outdoor public spaces. The program resulted in a 55% reduction in cigarette litter.

Distinguished Service Citation Keep Jacksonville Beautiful, FLExpanded Implementation

Keep Jacksonville Beautiful inaugurated its cigarette litter campaign in 2007, and has since expanded it from the urban core, where ash receptacles installed around city buildings are still in use today, to heavily used waterfront parks and green areas in suburban communities throughout the sprawling 840-acre community. Their program was suc-cessful in uniting public and private entities in the cigarette litter prevention effort.

Distinguished Service Citation Keep Beatrice Beautiful, NEExpanded Implementation

Keep Beatrice Beautiful expanded its CLPP to a business area within the downtown and saw a 65% reduction in cigarette litter. It recognized that the placement of ash receptacles and educational signage are keys to reducing cigarette butt litter in its community. Proper disposal of cigarette butts is especially important to the city since litter that washes into the gutters is deposited directly into storm drains that dump into the Big Blue River.

Distinguished Service Citation Keep Liberty Beautiful, GAFirst Time Implementation

Keep Liberty Beautiful implemented the CLPP at one of the main gates to Fort Stewart Military Installation. The gar-rison commander’s full involvement in the effort raised the stature and awareness of the project on post, ensuring cov-

29

erage in the FrontLine newspaper, post radio program, and in post command monthly meetings. KLB also developed an education campaign using Don’t Flick It, as well as PSAs for local media.

Distinguished Service Citation Keep Loup Basin Beautiful, NEFirst Time Implementation

Keep Loup Basin Beautiful implemented its CLPP in the downtown area, and at Nebraska’s Junk Jaunt, a 300-mile continuous yard sale that draws over 20,000 people. At-tendees learned that cigarette butts are litter too and adult smokers were given a free pocket ashtray.

Distinguished Service Citation Keep Winston-Salem Beautiful, NCFirst Time Implementation

Keep Winston-Salem Beautiful implemented their CLPP at a large multi-use medical park with a paved walking trail along the city streets. The medical park is a smoke-free cam-pus meaning that smokers must go off campus to the city streets and trail to smoke, where until now, no receptacles were in place. KWSB implemented a unique marketing approach utilizing social media, outdoor advertising, video, and branding that have helped change the behavior of lit-tering. Results thus far have been encouraging, with a 45% reduction in cigarette litter.

Keep Evansville Beautiful “HOT MESS”, INGAC Best Activation - 50,001 to 200,001

In October of 2012, Keep Evansville Beautiful held a cleanup competition between local high schools that was named “Hot Mess.” Ninety-eight% of the 535 volunteers were students, who not only volunteered, but were leaders in the projects. The time donated by the students alone exceeded 1,600 hours. Getting the students more engaged gave them a stake in their community, and has positively influenced their attitudes and perception towards their com-munities.

Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful, FLGAC Best Activation - 200,000 and above

Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful’s goal is to work towards creat-ing a culture of environmentally responsible citizens by exemplifying an individual’s role in the environmental condi-tion of local neighborhoods. They achieved monumental steps towards this goal through their 2013 Great American

GREAT AMERICAN CLEANUP AWARDS

30

Cleanup. The number of completed community improve-ment projects rose by 66%, and the number of volunteers increased by 33%. One of those projects took place during the Great American Cleanup’s National Day of Action at the Florida Learning Garden where 100 volunteers installed a hydroponic gardening system and installed bat houses. The produce generated from the hydroponic gardening system will be donated to families in need.

Keep The Rez Beautiful, MSGAC Innovation - 50,000 or less

Keep the Rez Beautiful is unlike any other affiliate of Keep America Beautiful. It is the first affiliate to ever focus on a reservoir. KRB borders two counties, covering 78 square miles and its Great America Cleanup incorporated several projects into the one GAC event to get the maximum par-ticipation from various volunteer groups. Volunteers were divided into cleanups, planting of native plants in the Turtle Point Nature Area, erecting wildlife houses, and recycling throughout the day-long event.

Keep America Beautiful – Topeka/Shawnee Co, KSGAC Innovation - 50,001 to 200,001

Keep America Beautiful – Topeka/Shawnee Co.’s project is the effort KAB Topeka/Shawnee made in Harveyville, KS thanks to the generosity of Lowe’s and the Lowe’s/Keep America Beautiful Community Improvement Grant program. On February 28, 2012, a small community of approximately 250 people, was involved in a devastating tornado. Sixty percent of the residents suffered damage from the tornado. KAB – Topeka/Shawnee made the decision to help restore the town through cleanup and beautification efforts. KAB – Topeka/Shawnee provided paint for five houses and 13 outbuildings, 50 trees, 750 lbs. of grass seed, three dump truck loads of topsoil, and approximately $1,000 in annual and perennial flowers.

I Love a Clean San Diego, CAGAC Innovation - 200,000 and above

I Love A Clean San Diego’s Great American Cleanup engages more volunteers at more cleanup sites each year, which results in an increase in trash generated by the event from single-use cleanup supplies including plastic bags, latex gloves, and water bottles. The Bring Your Own Reusables campaign is a project of the Great American Cleanup in San Diego intended to decrease the amount of waste gener-ated as part of I Love A Clean San Diego’s countywide cleanup events. I Love A Clean San Diego has committed to slowly phasing out the usage of single-use items such as bags, gloves, and water bottles at its cleanups through its Bring Your Own Reusables campaign. Volunteers are asked to bring materials such as a 5 gallon bucket or other rigid plastic or aluminum container to collect trash, work gloves, gardening gloves or even dishwashing gloves that are used

31

frequently around the house and can be washed and reused again and a canteen or other reusable water bottle to stay hydrated throughout the cleanup. In its fourth year, 68% of volunteers self-reported that they brought one or more reusable items to the cleanup event. An impressive 38% of registrants said that they would bring all three items sug-gested, a bucket, work gloves and reusable water bottle, thus participating as a zero waste volunteer.

Keep Sevier Beautiful, TNSocial Media - 50,001 to 200,001

The use of social media has had far-reaching positive impact on Keep Sevier Beautiful’s Great American Cleanup. It has allowed KSB to grow its volunteer base, raise awareness of its programs and organization, unified KSB with the national office, increased corporate sponsorships, and strength-ened partnerships. In addition, the use of social media has allowed KSB to improve and create new programs. Social media has increased the number and added value to Keep Sevier Beautiful’s sponsorships. KSB found that social media is the most effective way to recognize corporate sponsors – either nationally or locally. The public appreciation resonates with the sponsor’s marketing team who will determine future sponsorship for the affiliate.

Keep Phoenix Beautiful, AZSocial Media - 200,000 and above

Keep Phoenix Beautiful actively recruited volunteers and posted updates and photos of its Great American Cleanup projects. KPB kept active posts and tweets during its activi-ties including neighborhood events, the Corporate Chal-lenge, recycling festivals, cleanups/green-ups, and beautifi-cation projects. Keep Phoenix Beautiful posts two to three times a day on Facebook as well as Twitter. The affiliate tracks the analytics as a way to boost its posts, increase its fan base and expand its reach.

Keep Mississippi BeautifulStatewide Activation

Keep Mississippi Beautiful established a new park as part of a Great American Cleanup event in Kemper County, MS, which falls among the nation’s top 100 impoverished counties. The site was once riddled with dilapidated build-ings and was located in the middle of the town. During the Great American Cleanup event more than 150 volunteers from throughout Mississippi cleaned up litter, painted plant-ers in downtown, planted flowers at two schools and city’s entrance, and created a new town green. The town green, now called Keyes-McRae Park, sits at the center of DeKalb, the seat of Kemper County, and provides a place where citizens can relax, exercise and meet.

32

Mississippi Department of Transportation

Keep Mississippi Beautiful and MDOT partner each year on the Trash Bash, a part of the Great American Cleanup. It is an annual, one-day event held in each of the MDOT six districts and Jackson, the capital city. Groups of MDOT volunteers along with KMB affiliates pick up litter from highly visible locations along the state’s highway system. The purpose is to draw public attention to the detrimental effects of litter. MDOT had over 1,748 volunteers who picked up over 7,296 bags of litter statewide. This event was reported as news on various TV, radio stations and newspapers statewide.

Ohio Department of Transportation

Keep Ohio Beautiful partners with ODOT for the annual State Roadway Cleanup as part of the Great American Cleanup of Ohio. This partnership has allowed our local affiliates to form better relationships with their local ODOT representatives. Some affiliates have been able to work with them on multiple roadway cleanup projects throughout the Great American Cleanup season as a result. ODOT offers free printed materials to affiliates to support the State Roadway Cleanup. It has printed postcards and posters every year for all of our affiliates to use in the event promotions. ODOT also provides shipping for the Great American Cleanup materials to Keep Ohio Beautiful affiliates.

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation

During the annual Great American Cleanup of Pennsylvania, PennDOT provides tremendous support to Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful through its Adopt-A-Highway (AAH) program and continues to work with Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful year-round to enhance and improve this operational relationship. PennDOT routinely utilizes its network of 7,500 AAH groups to promote the Great American Cleanup of PA and encourages participation in the event, distributes KAB’s drop shipment of supplies in Harrisburg, along with supplies from other donors, to its 67 county maintenance facilities throughout the state, and distributes bags, gloves, and safety vests to all registered participants in the Great American Cleanup of PA.

STATE DEPT OF TRANSPORTATION PARTNERSHIP AWARDS

STATE RECOGNITION AWARDS

33

Tennessee Department of Transportation

Since 1983, the litter prevention efforts in Tennessee have been a true partnership between TDOT and Keep Tennes-see Beautiful. TDOT supports KTnB’s core values through grants to local officials to pick up litter, while also providing strategic assistance and essential funding to KTnB. In re-turn, KTnB provides expertise in litter prevention education, litter law enforcement, community enhancement through beautification, and volunteer recruitment and manage-ment. TDOT spends more than $12million each year on litter pick up and prevention activities. In order to improve that number, the relationship between TDOT and KTnB must be dynamic and reciprocal. It promotes efficient use of resources and strong environmental stewardship.

Texas Department of Transportation

TxDOT has served as a role model for other departments of transportation by creating its award-winning Don’t Mess with Texas anti-litter campaign and Adopt-a-Highway pro-gram. Keep Texas Beautiful partners with TxDOT to coordi-nate the Don’t mess with Texas Trash-Off, which serves as Texas’ signature event for the Great American Cleanup, and the Litter Force campaign, an annual educational confer-ence and statewide mailings containing information on litter prevention, beautification and waste reduction. KTB also partners with TxDOT to support the Don’t Mess with Texas Scholarship program, which recognizes the achievements of high school seniors who have taken leadership roles to prevent litter in their schools and/or communities.

STATE DEPT OF TRANSPORTATION PARTNERSHIP AWARDS

STATE RECOGNITION AWARDS

Diamond Level Keep Arkansas Beautiful Keep Florida Beautiful Keep Georgia Beautiful Keep Louisiana Beautiful Keep Mississippi Beautiful Keep Nebraska Beautiful Keep Tennessee Beautiful Keep Texas Beautiful New Mexico Clean and Beautiful

Gold Level Keep The Hawaiian Islands Beautiful Keep Illinois Beautiful Keep Iowa Beautiful Keep North Carolina Beautiful Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful Keep Ohio Beautiful Keep Oklahoma Beautiful Keep South Carolina Beautiful

Silver Level Keep Virginia Beautiful

34

Altria Scholars - CLPPI Love a Clean San Diego, CA - Natalie RobertsKeep Ohio Beautiful, OH - Mike MennettKeep Pennsylvania Beautiful, PA - Shannon Reiter Altria Scholars - GACKAB of Nash & Edgecomb Counties, NC - Cornelia McGeeKeep Las Vegas Beautiful, NV - Lisa CampbellKeep Palm Beach County Beautiful, FL - Lourdes Ferris Dr Pepper Snapple Group ScholarsClean Galveston, Inc., TX - Sheryl Rozier Keep Glendale Beautiful, CA - Juan GonzalezKeep Oak Park Beautiful, IL - Karen Rozmus

H.O. Peet Foundation ScholarsScholars to be announced at conference Ingersoll Rand ScholarsKeep Gastonia Beautiful, NC - Pat JohnsonKeep Greater Milwaukee Beautiful, Inc., WI - Joe WilsonKeep Houston Beautiful, TX - Robin Blut

Waste Management ScholarsKeep Chatham Beautiful, GA - Sherry ArnottKeep Colorado Springs Beautiful, CO - Dee Cunningham Keep Greenville County Beautiful, SC - Dan PowellKeep Indian River Beautiful, FL - Vicki WildKeep Sevier Beautiful, TN - Laura HowardKeep Westmoreland County Beautiful, PA - Ellen Keefe

SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS

Keep America Beautiful would like to express great appreciation to Brenda Edwadinger, Jake Wilson and Nicole Storey for their leadership and support as well as appreciation to: Keep Charlotte BeautifulKeep Mecklenburg BeautifulKeep North Carolina Beautiful

1010 Washington Boulevard - Stamford, CT 06901kab.org