Isle of Wight to fight Litter

Keep Virginia Beautiful is awarding “30 Grants In 30 Days” in April and May 2012.  Isle of Wight County has been awarded a $750 grant in the Litter Prevention Category.  Our 30 in 30 grant program focuses greater resources and attention on organizations and individual localities throughout the Commonwealth and how they are addressing the issues of litter prevention, recycling, waste reduction, beautification and education.

We provided the opportunity for government, non-profit and/or service organizations in Virginia to apply for one of thirty grants ranging from $500 to $1,000 in three different categories:  Beautification, Litter Prevention, and Recycling. These grants are made possible by KVB partners – Capital One, Waste Management and Lowe’s.Isle be Green

Isle of Wight County recognizes the significant contribution that cigarettes make to the overall amount of litter in the community.  The County established a recycling program called Isle Be Green, which initially focused on plastic bag recycling; however, when the County took over its own recycling in 2010, the program was expanded to become the umbrella for all recycling efforts within the County.  Isle of Wight County will use the KVB grant to place cigarette receptacles throughout the Town of Smithfield by using established partnerships with local businesses.  In addition, the County seeks to create educational materials about cigarette litter and its effects on the environment, tourism, and economic development. Furthermore, they would like to purchase portable ash trays to distribute at various events that Isle Be Green representatives attend.  The County seeks to clean up cigarette litter by focusing on one sector of the County at a time.  Downtown Smithfield is a great place to pilot a sustainable cigarette litter prevention program.

The mission at Keep Virginia Beautiful is to engage and unite Virginians to improve our natural and scenic environment through 5 impact areas: Litter Prevention, Waste Reduction, Recycling, Beautification, and Environmental Education.