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Clean Essex Committee

Congratulations to All 2025 Green Grant Awardees!

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Green Grants LogoWe’re celebrating another successful year of our Green Grants program!

We were excited to see organizations step forward with thoughtful, inspiring ideas for positive changes in their communities. A heartfelt thank you goes out to everyone who applied—and a big congratulations to our 2025 Green Grant recipients! (See list and links below.)

With 112 grant applications vying for 30 grant awards, the judges had a challenging time evaluating and scoring the applications. We extend our sincere appreciation to our panel of expert judges for their thoughtful evaluation of each application.

We’re also deeply grateful to our sponsors – their support makes this program possible!

Below, you’ll find a recap of the 2025 grant awards, with links to each blog article to learn more.  The Green Grants program continues to showcase the power of volunteers and the ripple effect of community-driven action. The projects funded this year will not only beautify and improve local environments but also inspire others to follow suit.

Since 2011, Keep Virginia Beautiful has proudly awarded $360,250 in funding to support 435 projects across the Commonwealth. From bustling cities to quiet rural towns, historic parks to local municipalities, our grants have touched communities as diverse as Virginia itself.

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6/1/2025 The Flora of Virginia Project $500 Community Beautification
6/2/2025 Hands On Harvests $1,000 Recycling and Waste Reduction
6/3/2025 Rocktown High School Earth Club $750 Community Beautification
6/4/2025 Clean Essex Committee $1,000 Cigarette Litter Prevention and Recycling
6/5/2025 Olde Towne Business Association $500 Litter Prevention or Abatement
6/6/2025 Arrowhead Elementary School $1,000 Recycling and Waste Reduction
6/7/2025 Courts of St Francis HOA $1,000 Community Beautification
6/8/2025 Scottsville Center for Arts and Nature $1,000 Litter Prevention or Abatement
6/9/2025 Northstar Academy and Career Center $1,000 Recycling and Waste Reduction
6/10/2025 Our Health, Inc. $500 Community Beautification
6/11/2025 Coastal Composite Squadron $1,000 Cigarette Litter Prevention and Recycling
6/12/2025 Friends of Natural Bridge State Park $1,000 Recycling and Waste Reduction
6/13/2025 Friends of the Mount Vernon Trail $500 Community Beautification
6/14/2025 Rivanna Conservation Alliance $1,000 Litter Prevention or Abatement
6/15/2025 Elizabeth River Trail Foundation $1,000 Community Beautification
6/16/2025 Claytor Lake Chapter Izzak Walton League $1,000 Litter Prevention or Abatement
6/17/2025 Supernova Alliance $1,000 Cigarette Litter Prevention and Recycling
6/18/2025 Jonnie B. Deel Memorial Library $500 Recycling and Waste Reduction
6/19/2025 Lee County Garden Club $750 Community Beautification
6/20/2025 Tech For Troops $1,000 Recycling and Waste Reduction
6/21/2025 Friends of Peak Creek $500 Litter Prevention or Abatement
6/22/2025 Affordable Homes & Communities $1,000 Recycling and Waste Reduction
6/23/2025 Newport News Green Foundation $1,000 Community Beautification
6/24/2025 Barns of Rose Hill $1,000 Recycling and Waste Reduction
6/25/2025 Waterway Cleanups $1,000 Litter Prevention or Abatement
6/26/2025 Hopewell Recreation & Parks $1,000 Community Beautification
6/27/2025 Danville Science Center $1,000 Litter Prevention or Abatement
6/28/2025 Friends of Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office Co $1,000 Cigarette Litter Prevention and Recycling
6/29/2025 Downtown Greens $750 Community Beautification
6/30/2025 Virginia Institute of Marine Science $1,000 Recycling and Waste Reduction
Logo for Clean Essex Committee that is a drawing of a badge with a bag of litter and two litter grabbers; words that say Become a Trash Trooper

Clean Essex Committee Awarded $1,000 Green Grant

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Logo for Clean Essex Committee that is a drawing of a badge with a bag of litter and two litter grabbers; words that say Become a Trash TrooperThe Clean Essex Committee in Tappahannock is awarded a $1,000 Green Grant in the Cigarette Litter Prevention and Recycling category as part of Keep Virginia Beautiful’s 15th Annual Green Grants program.    

Every year, government, non-profit, civic, and service organizations in Virginia are invited to apply for grants ranging from $500 to $1,000 that will help address an environmental concern in their community.  Grants must focus on one of the following priorities:   Litter Prevention, Recycling & Waste Reduction, Cigarette Litter Prevention & Recycling, or Community Beautification.  

The Clean Essex Committee is a freestanding Committee that serves Essex County and Tappahannock.  The committee serves to reduce litter in the County and the Town of Tappahannock.  During the past four years volunteers have held two community-wide clean ups each year, resulting in the collection of over 1,000 of trash to date and 32 tires. The committee has helped double the number of Adopt a Highway permits in the county. Additionally a tire recycling box has been added to the one area of the county that lacked a box at the committee’s request. That box receives a significant number of tires and the committee estimates fewer tires are released into nature.

Funds awarded for the Green Grant will be used to purchase six post-mounted cigarette butt receptacles at a highly utilized picnic area and adjacent fishing spots on the Rappahannock River in the Town of Tappahannock near the Essex County building complex.  The receptacles will reduce the number of butts thrown on the ground that eventually get washed by rainwater into the nearby Rappahannock River. This result furthers the mission of the Clean Essex Committee with the long-term goal of helping cause a culture change of no littering in the community. 

Thank you, Clean Essex Committee, for the important work you’re doing in your community to combat cigarette butt litter — the #1 most-littered items!

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Clean Essex Committee Awarded Green Grant

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Become a Trash Trooper LogoClean Essex Committee is awarded a $500 Green Grant in Cigarette Litter Prevention to introduce and prove the efficacy of cigarette butt receptacles as part of our 13th Annual Green Grants Program.

Every year, government, non-profit, civic, and service organizations in Virginia are invited to apply for grants ranging from $500 to $1,000 that will help address an environmental concern in their community.  Grants must focus on one of the following priorities:   Litter Prevention, Recycling, Cigarette Litter Prevention, or Community Beautification.

The Clean Essex Committee was created in 2019, led by the deputy Essex County administrator and made up of volunteers and County leaders. This committee has regularly held successful semi-annual countywide cleanups in Essex County. The goal of the Clean Essex Committee is to introduce a program which will clean Essex County grounds of cigarette butts.People wearing safety vests, picking up litter on the road

With funds provided by the Green Grants Program, the Clean Essex Committee will pilot an effort to reduce cigarette butt litter by purchasing and installing cigarette butt receptacles at the “transition point” entrances at County Offices and other areas identified.  They also aim to increase awareness of the harm caused by cigarette butt litter, and they will recycle the butts collected through a free recycling program offered by TerraCycle. The County offices are in the Town of Tappahannock where there is a significant opportunity for expanding the program.

Congratulations Clean Essex Committee, we appreciate the work you’re doing!