Keep Arkansas Beautiful’s cleanup initiative launches Sept. 9

Submitted by Keep Arkansas Beautiful

LITTLE ROCK – Each fall, Arkansas volunteers and organizers improve their communities by participating in the Great Arkansas Cleanup. Keep Arkansas Beautiful is encouraging Arkansans to organize their own community cleanup or participate in a cleanup of their choice. Great Arkansas Cleanup organizers, volunteers encouraged to participate.

Last year’s Great Arkansas Cleanup featured over 140 community events across the state involving more than 7,000 Arkansans, who picked up more than 210,000 pounds of litter and collected over 900,000 pounds of bulky waste, from roughly 1,735 miles of roadway and waterway.

“With the assistance of volunteers and cleanup organizers, we can aid in the preservation of communities across Arkansas,” said Liz Philpott, volunteer program manager at KAB. “We encourage Arkansans to participate in a local Great Arkansas Cleanup event and help us improve the communities we care about in Arkansas.”

Those who would like to coordinate an event in their community or volunteer for a local event can email info@keeparkansasbeautiful.com or call toll-free 888-742-8701. Organizers may visit www.KeepArkansasBeautiful.com to access free promotional tools such as a cleanup instructional video and printable publicity materials. KAB will also provide cleanup materials and supplies, such as T-shirts, trash bags, gloves and safety vests to local events, while supplies last.

About Keep Arkansas Beautiful

The Keep Arkansas Beautiful Commission (KAB), consisting of a professional staff and a nine-member advisory board appointed by the governor, is a division of the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism. As a certified state affiliate of Keep America Beautiful Inc., KAB inspires and educates individuals to reduce litter, recycle and keep Arkansas beautiful. KAB is funded through its 1 percent portion of the eighth-cent Conservation Tax and, by mobilizing volunteers, returns to the state a cost benefit of more than $6 in community service for each program dollar spent. For more information, visit www.KeepArkansasBeautiful.com or stay connected on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

About Keep America Beautiful Inc.

Keep America Beautiful is the nation's premier community improvement organization. Founded in 1953, the nonprofit has a network of affiliates around the U.S. focused on litter prevention, waste reduction and beautification. Keep America Beautiful is recognized as the leader in changing attitudes and behaviors affecting our community environments. Through its actions, Keep America Beautiful helps create communities that are socially connected, environmentally healthy and economically sound. Today, it continues to be the most credible organization in its three focus areas by vigorously pursuing its guiding principles of education, volunteerism, partnership and individual responsibility.