Student Ambassadors
for Virginia’s Environment 

Would you like to be a Student Ambassador for Virginia's Environment?

Applications for 2024-25 Student Ambassadors are open!  Applications are due by June 15th, and selected ambassadors will be announced in August. For any questions about the program, please reach out to Cristi Lawton, Executive Director, at [email protected].

About the SAVE Program

As part of Keep Virginia Beautiful’s mission to engage and unite Virginians to improve our natural and scenic environment, we believe in a shared responsibility to end littering, improve recycling, and beautify communities.  To better reach Virginia’s youth, SAVE is a new program to empower high school students across the Commonwealth as Student Ambassadors.
 
Tree graphic with SAVE, Student Ambassadors for Virginia's EnvironmentSAVE (Student Ambassadors for Virginia’s Environment) is modeled after best-practice student ambassador programs successfully implemented by other Keep America Beautiful (KAB) state affiliates.  An abbreviated pilot program was launched during the 2023/24 school year and will conclude in June.  Its success has prompted the continuation and expansion of the program for the 2024/2025 school year.
 
Student Ambassadors are expected to organize and implement two litter cleanups and host a school-wide or community educational project or event. For a one-page overview of the program refer to the SAVE Program Overview; or for more details on the requirements of the program, please see the SAVE Handbook.

In summary, SAVE seeks to inspire and empower teenagers across the state of Virginia to help keep their communities clean and beautiful by providing them with resources to:

  • Educate on the importance of litter prevention and other environmental efforts, like recycling and waste reduction;
  • Spread awareness and organize efforts in their local communities to eradicate litter; and
  • Become better leaders and capacity builders for environmental stewardship opportunities.

SAVE invites high school Juniors and Seniors to participate, and we are looking for Student Ambassadors who are passionate about our mission.  SAVE Ambassadors must agree to the following:

  • Commit to ten months of service as an Ambassador, with at least 25 volunteer hours committed between  September to June 2025;
  • Review and agree to program requirements as outlined in the SAVE Ambassador Handbook;
  • Attend a virtual orientation and monthly virtual meetings (meetings are recorded and can be viewed at times that work best for Ambassadors);
  • Organize and participate in two litter cleanup events and submit a litter tally and cleanup reports;
  • Complete one community project and share results with KVB; and
  • Submit a profile picture for the SAVE webpage and share pictures of your events and project on your social media and tag KVB.

Meet This Year's Student Ambassadors

Our pilot program is taking place from January to June, 2024.  You can see this year’s  Student Ambassadors here.  If you are a current 2024 Student Ambassador, please report your volunteer hours here.

 

Funding and support for SAVE is provided by our generous sponsors. Thank you!