Keep Southwest Va Beautiful Snags 30 in Thirty

Keep Southwest Virginia Beautiful has been awarded a 30 in Thirty Grant of $750 in the Cigarette Litter Prevention category. Keep Southwest Virginia Beautiful in Abingdon is expanding their Cigarette Litter Prevention Program to two other counties across the Southwest, Lee and Dickenson. Cigarette butts are a concern because many people do not consider it litter. Efforts will be focused on county fairs where they can reach a lot of people in a short amount of time. Their plan includes educating the general public about cigarette butt litter through social media postings, and handing out pocket ashtrays. They will recruit a task force to conduct litter scans to count and pick up cigarette butts before the county fairs, then install ash receptacles for the public to use. Another count and cleanup of cigarette butts will be made after county fairs to show the decrease in litter, and an increase of public awareness.Keep Southwest VA Beaut Logo

Government, non-profit, civic and service organizations in Virginia were invited to apply for grants for $500 to $1,000 telling how they are addressing these pressing issues:  Litter Prevention, Recycling, Cigarette Litter Prevention, and Community Beautification. Since 2011, Keep Virginia Beautiful has provided over $110,000 to 140 organizations throughout the state. This year, for the first time, we are awarding 45 grants because of the generosity of our partners at Altria, Keep America Beautiful, WestRock Foundation and Trex.