Keep Southwest Virginia Beautiful Wins 30 in Thirty

We awarded Keep Southwest Virginia Beautiful a $750 30 in Thirty grant for their Cigarette Litter Prevention Project that will take place in the City of Norton, the town of Grundy in Buchanan County, and the town of Big Stone Gap in Wise County. Each locality will conduct litter scans in which staff and volunteers will pick up, count, and properly dispose of each cigarette butt and cigar tip prior to installation of ash receptacles. After installation of the ash receptacles, scans will be conducted again to measure reduction in cigarette litter. Funds received from Keep Virginia Beautiful will be used to place ash receptacles in public places and raise public awareness of cigarette butt litter.

Since 2011, Keep Virginia Beautiful has provided over $145,000 to 195 projects throughout the Commonwealth. This year, we partnered with Altria, Keep America Beautiful, and Deep Run Dance Marathon to make the program possible. Government, non-profit, civic, and service organizations in Virginia were invited to apply for 30 in Thirty grants for $500 to $2,000 describing how they plan to address Litter Prevention, Recycling, Cigarette Litter Prevention, or Beautification in their communities.