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Student 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:

• Six 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.