‘Green Starts Here’ with Great American Cleanup

ABINGDON, Va. – The Great American Cleanup, coordinated locally by Keep Southwest Virginia Beautiful, follows the current “green” movement with the theme, “Green Starts Here.” Keep America Beautiful, the national organization that leads this program, chose this theme to remind families that a better environment for everyone starts in our own communities. The work done in everyone’s backyards extends beyond property lines, affecting more than our families.
By virtue of its name, the Great American Cleanup obviously places an emphasis on picking up litter, but also involves so much more than that for this three-month long event that started March 1 and runs through May 31.
Long before climate change was a global concern, Keep America Beautiful started working 55 years ago to green America’s communities. Each year, Keep America Beautiful affiliates plant trees, with 107,000 planted last year during the Great American Cleanup. Keep America Beautiful points out that each tree planted last year – and over the last 55 years – has taken a significant amount of carbon dioxide from the air.
The Great American Cleanup also includes a recycling component. Keep America Beautiful notes that each plastic bottle collected for recycling during the event represents a significant amount of manufacturing energy saved. Last year, 189,000,000 plastic bottles were recycled from the Great American Cleanup, not to mention all of the steel, aluminum, newspapers, tires, batteries and electronics also collected.
This national event also focuses on quality of life, with the 2008 cleanup resulting in 1,670 buildings painted, 48,000 green spaces created, and 37,000 graffiti sites abated. Green spaces not only brighten our neighborhoods, but also give an emotional lift to the communities across the country.
The cleanup component also resulted in impressive results, with 86,000,000 pounds, the equivalent of 43,000 tons, of litter and debris removed from 144,000 miles of streets and highways, as well as 91,000 acres of parks, 6,000 nature trails, 3,000 river miles, and 6,500 illegal dumpsites. Sixty-nine other cleanups focused on underwater recovery of litter.
With all of these results, it’s not surprising to note that the Great American Cleanup is the largest community improvement event in the U.S., with more than 3 million volunteers expected to participate this year, according to Keep America Beautiful.
Locally, Keep Southwest Virginia Beautiful hopes to attract even more volunteers than last year in the counties of Wise, Lee, Scott, Dickenson, Buchanan, Tazewell, Russell, Smyth, Washington and the cities of Norton and Bristol. Affiliate programs in Wise, Buchanan and Bristol work in conjunction with Keep Southwest Virginia Beautiful’s program.
Each local volunteer will receive a one dollar coupon toward the purchase of an Arm & Hammer Essential Cleaner. Keep Southwest Virginia received $4,200 worth of these coupons.
Pepsi-Cola Company paid for the thousands of posters that will be posted throughout the nation and throughout our region to promote the event. 
Established in 1953, Keep America Beautiful, Inc. is the nation’s largest volunteer-based community action and education organization. This national nonprofit forms public-private partnerships and programs that engage individuals to take greater responsibility for improving their community environments. Its signature program, the Great American Cleanup, is one of its many programs that encourage people to care for communities through volunteer participation.  To join the Great American Cleanup and let green start with you, visit http://www.kab.org.
Keep Southwest Virginia Beautiful is the nation’s largest regional Keep America Beautiful affiliate, formed in 2007 under the umbrella of the Upper Tennessee River Roundtable, Inc., a nonprofit watershed organization based in Abingdon. For more information, call (276) 628-1600.

LOCAL CLEANUP EVENTS PLANNED
Great American Cleanup events are scheduled throughout the region now through May 31.
The Great American Cleanup is a Keep America Beautiful program coordinated locally by Keep Southwest Virginia Beautiful, the nation’s largest regional affiliate that includes the counties of Lee, Scott, Wise, Smyth, Washington, Tazewell, Russell, Dickenson, Buchanan and the cities of Norton and Bristol.
Some localities will also set up a day for volunteers to pick up cleanup supplies.

—Wise County and Norton are planning annual official Great American Cleanup day for April 18, and the City of Bristol will host its Great American Cleanup day on April 25. 
Volunteers are needed for the following cleanup events scheduled throughout the region:

—APRIL 7: Dumpsite cleanup in Tazewell County, with the site to be determined soon. Call Carol Doss at (275) 628-1600 for more information.

—APRIL 15: Stock Creek Cleanup, which is the Scott County Regional Dump Cleanup, on Cloud High Road. For details, call Jake Dougherty at (276) 386-6521.

—APRIL 18-25: Indian Creek Cleanup Week in Cedar Bluff; Meet at town hall at 10 a.m. on April 18 to pick up bags, gloves and vests. Lunch will be provided for volunteers. For information on cleanups for the rest of the week, call Lauren Lindgren at the town hall at (276) 964-4889.

—APRIL 18: Great American Cleanup day in Wise County and Norton. Registration sites will be set up for volunteers to pick up supplies. Call Shelly Knox in Norton at 276.679.0754 or Greg Cross in Wise County at 276.328.1000 for details.

—EARTH DAY, APRIL 22: Tree planting at 2 p.m. in Bristol in partnership with Bristol Virginia Utilities, Alpha Natural Resources, Keep Bristol Beautiful and Keep Southwest Virginia Beautiful. Rain date is Friday, April 24. Call Genette Patton in Bristol at 434.989.4850 or Doss for details.

—EARTH DAY, APRIL 22: Annual Guest River Gorge cleanup, starting at 9 a.m. Volunteers need to meet in the parking lot of the Guest River Gorge recreation area in the Flatwoods area outside Coeburn. Call Cross at 276.328.1000 for details.

—APRIL 25: Keep Bristol Beautiful Great American Cleanup 9 a.m. to 12 noon; register at the Bristol Chamber of Commerce; bags and gloves provided. For more information, call Patton at 434.989.4850.
—APRIL 25: Mountain Empire Trout Unlimited Chapter’s River Cleanup, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., South Fork of the Holston River near Thomas Bridge in Smyth County. Call Doss at number below for details.

—APRIL 25: Household Hazardous Waste and Electronics Collection Day for Tazewell County. 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Cedar Bluff Public Works Shop on Old Kentucky Turnpike. Call Lindgren at town hall number listed above. 

Additional activities will be done in addition to cleanups, including displays at Earth Day/Arbor Day events. For more on these events, contact Keep Southwest Virginia Beautiful at (276) 628-1600.