Keep PA Beautiful urges adoption of local areas

Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful invites local residents, organizations, civic groups and businesses to join programs to adopt local areas, such as municipal roads, communities, parks, neighborhood blocks, greenways, waterways and trails to keep them litter free.

According to Keep America Beautiful’s 2009 National Visible Litter Survey and Litter Cost Study, litter clean up costs the U.S. more than an estimated $11.5 billion each year with municipalities spending more than $790 million and counties spending $185 million each year.

“Many communities de- pend on volunteers to clean up litter,” said Shannon Reiter, President of Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful. “Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful works hand in hand with local municipalities and counties to provide residents with the tools and resources they need to keep our communities clean and beautiful. Our adoption Programhelps mitigate the costs associated with cleaning up and encourages partnerships between local residents and municipalities. It’s a win-win.”

There is no fee to participate and groups must agree to make safety a top priority, schedule two cleanups per year and report results to Keep Pennsylvania Beauti- ful after each cleanup. Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful will seek support from the local property maintainer/owner before proceeding with an adoption.

“We all want to live in a clean community,” said Reiter. “Adopting an area is a proven and effective way to address persistent dumping and littering and helps keep these areas trash-free. All it takes is a concerned person or group of volunteers and a commitment to be part of the solution to keeping Pennsylvania clean.”

For more information visit http://www.keeppabeautiful.org/KeepIt/AdoptionProgram.aspx or contact Stephanie Larson at slarson@ keeppabeautiful.org or 724836-4121 x104. For information about adopting a state maintained road visit the PA Department of Transportation at www.penndot.gov and search Adopt-a-Highway.

Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful’s mission is empowering Pennsylvanians to make our communities clean and beautiful. Since 1990, Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful and its volunteers have removed over 121 million pounds of litter from Pennsylvania’s roadways, greenways, parks, forests and waterways. To learn more about Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful, visit www.keeppabeautiful.org.