litter

Students Ambassadors for Virginia's Environment

Student Ambassadors for Virginia’s Environment

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Students Ambassadors for Virginia's EnvironmentStudent Ambassadors for Virginia’s Environment (SAVE) is a new program that Keep Virginia Beautiful is implementing for high school Juniors and Seniors.  If you’re an educator, parent, or motivated teenager who cares about the natural and scenic environment of Virginia, you’ll want to learn more about SAVE.

We feel that the time is right to engage youth to better inform them about litter, recycling, and waste to add a knowledge base to what they’re seeing on social media channels or in the actions of the general public.

SAVE will be modeled after best-practice student ambassador programs successfully implemented by other Keep America Beautiful state affiliates in Texas and Pennsylvania. As such, SAVE offers a unique opportunity to develop a youth environmental program that has proven effective in other states.  The students will connect with other students across Virginia and to fellow ambassadors in other states as well.

SAVE will educate young people about litter’s harmful impact on the environment, economy, crime rates, costs to municipal budgets, and overall wellbeing of Virginia’s residents.  Ambassadors will also learn about the mechanics of recycling and the individual behaviors and market conditions that influence the industry.  Challenges and opportunities will be explored, both from ambassadors’ local community perspectives and the state as a whole.

The SAVE program includes a commitment to:

  • Teens completed a road litter cleanupSix months of service as an Ambassador, with at least 20 volunteer hours committed between January and June 2024;
  • Review and agree to the 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.

If you have any questions about the program, please reach out to Cristi Lawton, Executive Director, at [email protected].

When you’re ready, please complete a S.A.V.E. Application Form and submit it.  The deadline to submit an application form is December 18, 2023.

Lake Anna volunteers cleaning up the roads.

Reporting Your Cleanup is Rewarding

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Lake Anna volunteers cleaning up the roads.We’re about halfway through our Fall LOVE VA cleanup campaign! We’re encouraging everyone to get out in the beautiful Autumn weather to clean litter off the roadside, parking lots, playgrounds, or other areas where you see a need.  It’s good for your health and good for the community!

Then make sure to let us know what you’ve accomplished!  For our 70th anniversary this year, our goal is to have at least 70 reports submitted, with at least 700 bags of litter picked up over the course of the event.

And right now, when you submit the results of your cleanup, your name will be entered to win some fun PRIZES!  We’re giving away Litter Cleanup Kits, At-Home Sustainability Sampler Kits, Personal Care Sustainability Sampler Kits, and On-the-Go Sustainability Sampler Kits.  You can learn more about our prizes by visiting our Litter Prevention webpage.

You can also support Keep Virginia Beautiful and LOVE VA with a financial contribution.  All donations of at least $25 will receive a one-day free pass to any Virginia State Park.  Donations of at least $100 are eligible to receive either a deluxe cleanup kit or an automobile trash receptacle.

We want to give a special shout out to Jody K. and her team in Lake Anna, pictured above, for cleaning up the roadside several times in the last few weeks; and to Charles T. in Emporia picking up litter on the roadStephen and his Village Bank team who cleaned up in Midlothian; to Destin and the Clean Club at VCU who picked up 169 pounds Teens completed a road litter cleanupof litter!  Also to Joseph and a group of 15 members from VFW POST 7327 who each spent an hour picking up a bag of litter.

Charles in Emporia sent us a selfie during his cleanup, and a group of teens in Spotsylvania sent us a picture after they spent their time picking up litter too.

So far we’ve received reports of 182 bags of litter, 6 bags of recycling, and 112 volunteers, who gave 197 hours of their time!  Thank you for the important work you’re doing, and for reporting your accomplishments to us!

And now for a special bonus!  If you’re reading today’s Latest News post, we want to thank you for caring about litter in our environment!  We’ll ship a free cleanup kit to the first 10 people to submit a request using this form.  Each cleanup kit includes a litter grabber, safety vest, work gloves, and goodies, as available!  Good luck!

LOVE VA logo with Virginia mountains and sky

LOVE VA this Fall

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LOVE VA logo with Virginia mountains and skyAhhh, the weather is cooler, the humidity is lower, and there are so many fun things to do in the Fall!  One of the things we can do after we see the last 90° day in the rearview mirror is enjoy being outside.  From the beaches to the mountains, there’s so much to see and do in Virginia.

One of the things we hope you’ll do is join us for our LOVE VA Fall cleanup campaign!  Litter in the landscape mars our beautiful scenery and has a negative impact on neighborhoods, businesses, and recreation.  According to an analysis from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Housing Survey, the presence of litter is associated with lower levels of neighborhood and home satisfaction.   The “broken windows theory” states that visible signs of disorder and misbehavior in an environment encourage further disorder and misbehavior, leading to serious crimes.  Cleaning up litter is not just a nice thing to do, it has a serious impact on your community.

Bags of trash from litter cleanupIf you’re looking to join in a litter cleanup, check out our Events Calendar to see what’s happening around the state. Or plan a cleanup with your family, neighbors, Scouts, or other groups.  Visit the list of our local Affiliates to discover events they’re hosting where you live. And you can always get a bucket and head out on your own to clean up a litter hot spot.

THEN REPORT the results of your effort to us!  When you submit a report, your name will be entered to win some fun PRIZES!  We’ll be giving away Litter Cleanup Kits, At-Home Sustainability Sampler Kits, Personal Care Sustainability Sampler Kits, and On-the-Go Sustainability Sampler Kits.  You can learn more about our prizes by visiting our Litter Prevention webpage.

For our 70th anniversary this year, our goal is to have at least 70 reports submitted, with at least 700 bags of litter picked up over the course of the event.

Be sure to check out our LOVE VA webpage and start reporting your cleanups or other activities to be entered to win prizes!

Wakefield Country Day School's Leo Club Logo

Wakefield Country Day School Awarded Green Grant

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Wakefield Country Day School's Leo Club Logo Wakefield Country Day School’s Leo Club is awarded a $500 Green Grant in the Litter Prevention Category 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.

Wakefield Country Day School’s Leo Club, a youth organization of Lions Clubs International, serves their local community through volunteer work and donations. Consisting of around 70% of the high school population, activities include highway litter cleanups, visiting the local senior center, volunteering at the local food pantry, and recycling projects such as their NexTrex bench.

Students from Wakefield Country Day School with school busFunds provided by the Green Grant award will be used to purchase supplies to make litter cleanups safer for those who participate.  They’ll purchase litter grabbers, safety vests, reusable gloves, and road cones.  Additionally, they plan to organize a school-wide trash pickup contest to bring awareness to environmental issues related to littering.  Classes will be asked to pick up trash and will be evaluated on several factors, such as the amount of trash picked up and the most unique item found.

Thank you Wakefield Country Day School for giving students the opportunity to be active in environmental concerns, and make a difference in their community with their volunteer events.  Keep up the good work!

Cleanup supplies on the Eastern Shore

Eastern Shore Waste Watchers Awarded Green Grant

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Eastern Shore VA Waste Watcher is awarded a $500 Green Grant in the Litter Prevention Category as part of our 13th Annual Green Grants Program.

Cleanup supplies on the Eastern ShoreEvery 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.

Eastern Shore VA Waste Watchers is an independent, non-profit volunteer community group that promotes the responsible disposal of waste on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. They focus on Eastern Shore litter and trash pick-up along our highways, shorelines, and other crucial points. They conduct annual litter surveys, organize road and water clean-ups, and sponsor a children’s essay contest. In addition, Eastern Shore VA Waste Watchers supports County agencies such as VDOT and Public Works in their efforts to keep the Shore litter-free.

Funds awarded for Green Grants will be used for their “Help Keep the Shore Litter-Free” program, whose goal is to support a cleaner, healthier Eastern Shore. They will purchase supplies needed for safe litter cleanups, such as safety vests, litter grabbers, gloves, and hand sanitizer.

If you’d like to learn more or volunteer to help, Waste Watchers meets the second Wednesday of every month at 11am in the Public Works building in Accomac. Everyone is welcome.

Thank you Waste Watchers, we appreciate the work you do!

06-03-23 Pulaski Co. (300 × 300 px)

Pulaski County is Awarded $1,000 Green Grant

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We’re pleased to announce that Pulaski County, in Southwestern Virginia, is awarded a $1,000 Green Grant in Litter Prevention 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 goal of Pulaski County is to involve the general population in their litter program called, “One Bag Challenge.” This is an ongoing challenge to all citizens, civic groups, Boards, Towns, county departments, and agencies to pick up One Bag of Trash from roadsides or wherever they find litter.  Citizens and groups picking up are asked to submit pictures of themselves with the litter they’ve cleaned up from the location.  The pictures are posted on the Pulaski County Clean Community Council Facebook page.

The County anticipates that hundreds of people will participate to remove bags of litter, tires, discarded furniture, appliances, and other items from the landscape.

The funds awarded for the Green Grant will be used to purchase supplies necessary for participants to safely cleanup litter.  Litter grabbers, gloves, vests, and bags will be given to individuals for the One Bag Challenge.

Thank you, Pulaski County, for the work you’re doing to encourage litter cleanup!

Mother and daughter cleaning up litter

The Great Virginia Greenup Continues

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Mother and daughter cleaning up litter
Great Suffolk Cleanup

Every year Keep Virginia Beautiful takes part in the nationwide Keep America Beautiful’s Great American Cleanup, which runs from the first day of Spring until the first day of Summer.  At KVB, we call our campaign the Great Virginia Greenup because that’s what people throughout the Commonwealth are doing – greening up our natural and scenic environment!

After all the excitement and activities for Earth Day in April, there tends to be a lull in cleanup activities.  So, we want to inspire you by telling you what’s been happening around that state to get you motivated to keep going!

In Suffolk, over 1,000 people participated in the first annual Great Suffolk Cleanup event! The cleanup campaign, organized by Keep Suffolk Beautiful, encouraged individuals, families, businesses, and organizations to choose a spot in Suffolk to pick up litter.  There were 450 Suffolk City employees, representing all city departments, and many local businesses, along with a number of other organizations, families, and individuals.  Together, they filled 1,369 bags of trash and removed 375 tires from Suffolk roadsides.

Group picture of students who picked up litter
Elementary School Students

The City of Manassas partnered with George C. Round Elementary School Student Council Association (SCA) to conduct a cleanup of the school grounds, the street in front of the school, Hastings Drive, and a nearby nature trail.  Litter pickers, safety vests, gloves and trash bags were provided to the students by the City of Manassas Department of Public Works.  Forty students and three adults participated in the cleanup!

People on a beach who cleaned up litter
Beach cleanup in Hampton Roads

A huge shout-out to Hampton Roads, where more than 2,400 volunteers spanned the region to participate in the Great American Cleanup.  All together they picked up 2,805 bags of litter, recovered 429 tires, planted 43 new trees and shrubs, and removed a total of 47 tons of litter from Hampton Roads communities!  Wow!

People cleaning up litter near water
Keep Southwest Virginia Beautiful

On the other end of the state, Keep Southwest Virginia Beautiful was in the water at the South Fork of the Holston River.  The were joined by Outdoor Adventures Center of Tazewell County, who provided canoes, which they brought to Abingdon Vineyards and Winery to be stored in a barn until cleanup day.   The Vineyard offered a discount for volunteers and also hauled off the litter and bulky items that were collected.  The 15 volunteers collected a tire, a large piece of metal, an inner tube, one shoe, and 14 bags of litter.

The Town of Dumfries Spring Cleanup was a success!  Hard-working volunteers collected 407 pounds of litter from the ground and labeled multiple storm drains. They’re making Dumfries a cleaner, safer county!

Large or small cleanups – what you do really does matter!  There’s still a lot of time for cleanups before the June 21, 2023 target date — get together with your family, friends, or groups.  Check out our Events Calendar for events you can join (or to add a relevant public event that you’re hosting).  Or find a KAB Affiliate near you and see what they’re up to!

Buckets full of litter

Spotlight on Buckingham County

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Buckets full of litterWe want to take a few minutes to shine the spotlight on some amazing volunteers.  It’s wonderful to meet people who are concerned enough about litter to do the work needed to remove litter from the roads and landscape.  Some people have come up with different ways to motivate others, and here’s one story we want to share with you.

The Buckingham County Anti-Litter Task Force truly is a force to be reckoned with!  They host semi-annual cleanups that have a purpose and a prize – cash prizes actually!  They challenged groups and individuals to sign up to compete for the highest number of bags of trash collected between October 22nd and November 12th.  The reward was $300 for first place, $200 for second place, and $100 for third place.

Volunteers with a conscience for the environment and a hatred for litter, walked along the roads and landscape in their communities to pick up litter.  Lots of litter.

There were 11 teams who registered to compete for the prize money totaling 112 people.  A Buckingham record 275 bags of trash were collected along with over 30 automobile tires.  The tires and bags of litter were picked up by VDOT, for which the Anti-Litter Task Force was grateful.

The awards ceremony was held December 3rd at a Christmas Bazaar at the Historic Village at Lee Wayside. They celebrated that they have picked up 960 bags of litter since 2020.  “This was the most successful anti-litter cleanup campaign yet since the effort was brought back in 2020,” said Task Force Committee Chairman and District Four Supervisor Jordan Miles.  He also expressed appreciation for the hardworking volunteers, which included Keep Virginia’s own Roger Eitelman, Programs Coordinator.

Men and women winners of litter contestThe first-place prize went to St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary, with 115 bags of litter and numerous tires.  The group had about 50 brothers who participated in the cleanup.

Winners of the second-place prize went to Dominion Energy, who were first-time participants in this event.  They cleaned up 55 bags of litter and 30 automobile tires.

Third place went to the Buckingham County Democratic Committee with 12 participants who collected 32 bags of trash.

Some of the other teams and individuals who participated were: Hampden Sydney College had 19 students who collected 13 bags.  Team 602 collected 22 bags, plus a mattress, headboard, box spring, and a baby walker.  Boxley Corp. employees collected 11 bags.  Buckingham Branch Railroad staff collected 8 bags.  Cindy Cook, who has been a participant since the first year, also picked up 8 bags.  Shawn Miller, a two-time winner in the past, collected 5 bags. And Liz Jones collected 2 bags of trash in addition to leading the operation of the cleanup!

Senator Mark Warner’s Outreach Representative, Alexis Bowles-Fryar, came to the awards ceremony and presented a letter from the senator congratulating the Task Force and all the participants on a job well done.

Cameron Gilliam, Supervisor of District Two, said, “The strong spirit of these volunteers is inspiring.  Their efforts have resulted in a more attractive community.”

Car trash can, water bottle, reusable spoon and straw

Giveaway: Sustainability Sampler Kits

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Items for your carEach October we host “Virginia is for Lovers Not Litter” month to encourage residents and visitors to the Commonwealth to help us put an end to the litter problem!

We want YOU to be part of the solution! This month we are giving away Sustainability Sampler Kits so that you can try out some simple swaps that can make a difference.

Enter now to be included in the drawing to receive one of ten kits given away in October. We’ll send a sampler kit to you at no charge, asking that you try the items and answer a short 3-question poll to tell us what you think about the products!

Each “To Go” kit includes a car trash can, metal utility spoon/fork/knife, metal straw, a refillable water bottle, unpaper towels, and other goodies as available.

Using the items in the sample kit are some of the easiest (and free!) ways that you can reduce litter:
• Carry a container for trash in your car — the CarCan included in the kit is a deluxe model!
• Choose reusable products over SUP (single-use plastic) — the metal utensil is a reusable spoon, fork, and knife all in one; and the metal straw lets you say “No thanks” when offered a plastic straw at fast-food chains and restaurants
• Create less waste — the refillable metal water bottle keeps you from buying, lugging, and disposing of plastic bottles of water; and the unpaper towel can be used over and over, instead of throwing away a paper towel
• Share what you know with others so they can live a more sustainable life too! You can proudly display our Keep Virginia Beautiful sticker to start the conversation!

Keep America Beautiful’s 2021 Litter Study revealed that there were approximately 152 littered items on the roadway for each U.S. resident. If you can utilize the five items in this “To Go” Sustainability Sampler Kit every day, you’ll have eliminated the equivalent of the average litter contribution in just one month!

Sea Turle with Plastic in Water

Virginia Marine Debris Summit – Part 2

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Sea Turle with Plastic in WaterThe 2022 Virginia Marine Debris Summit was held at the Virginia Aquarium and Science Center in Virginia Beach at the end of September.  Held once every three years (except when it was interrupted by Covid), it’s an opportunity to bring together experts from the EPA, NOAAH, DEQ, as well as concerned groups and individuals who care about the plastic that is polluting our oceans, harming wildlife, and fouling the scenery.

Because we are keenly aware that litter on the roadways and in the landscape ends up in the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean, Keep Virginia Beautiful was in attendance at the Summit.

On the second day of speakers, an interesting starting point for consideration was prompted by Steve Raabe, the founder and president of OpinionWorks. He presented findings from the 2022 Coastal Zone Management and Clean Virginia Waterways statewide survey asking, “What do Virginians Want?” A few interesting facts from the survey revealed that:

  •  87% of the people polled rated “Plastic floating in the ocean” as a very serious or somewhat serious problem
  •  75% considered plastics and toxins contaminating human food as very serious or somewhat serious.
  • Yet follow-up conversations with a representative group of participants indicated that people were surprised to learn that the plastic in the ocean was not a problem caused by commercial fisherman and others dumping plastics into the water, but was primarily a result of litter on the land that flows into storm drains, creeks, rivers, and other waters that lead to the ocean.

So as a plastic grocery bag flies out of a grocery cart, across the parking lot, into the street, and down the storm drain, it breaks down into tiny pieces, or microplastics.  The same is true of a single-use bottle of water that is carelessly left at a sporting event that can travel down ditches to nearby waterways, breaking down into microplastics.

Some people may not think that a plastic grocery bag here or a water bottle there are anything to worry about.  But the accumulative impact is huge.  The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a gyre (large system of circulating ocean currents and winds) the size of Texas, and is one of the five largest floating gyres in the oceans. Now that’s a big problem.

But there are things we can do as individuals.  We can stop using plastic straws, disposable grocery bags, plastic produce bags, bottled water, and many other SUPs (Single Use Plastics).  We can choose to purchase products wrapped in paper instead of film, and tell grocers how we feel about products that are unnecessarily wrapped in plastic.  We can encourage our local representatives to support legislation that has a positive impact for the environment.

And we can pick up litter.

October is “Lovers Not Litter” month in Virginia.  It’s free and easy to grab a bucket or reuse a bag to collect litter and recyclables from the roadways, waterways, and landscapes.  We can pick it up now, before it gets into the ocean.

 

 

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