Keep Arkansas Beautiful’s statewide cleanup initiative launches next month

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.

Last year’s Great Arkansas Cleanup featured 215 community events across the state involving more than 6,700 Arkansans who picked up more than 130,500 pounds of litter and collected over 823,200 pounds of bulky waste from roughly 1,117 miles of roadway and more than 727 miles of waterway.

“With the assistance of volunteers and cleanup organizers, we can aid in the cleanliness and beauty 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 places we care about in The Natural State.”

Those who would like to organize an event in a local community or volunteer for a local event can email info@keeparkansasbeautiful.com or call toll-free 888-742-8701. Organizers may visit 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.

The Great Arkansas Cleanup is sponsored by the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality, Arkansas Department of Transportation, the Keep Arkansas Beautiful Foundation and Keep America 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 KeepArkansasBeautiful.com.