From March 20 to June 21, thousands of individual volunteers and groups all over the country will participate in activities to clean up roadways, waterways and public spaces. The Great American Cleanup (GAC) takes place annually with an estimated 500,000 volunteers taking part in 15,000 community events nationwide, thanks to the work done by the Keep America Beautiful (KAB) network of 700 affiliates and KAB partner organizations.

Activities at planned GAC events include removing litter and debris from roadsides, highways, shorelines, and waterways; planting trees, flowers, and gardens; and cleaning and restoring nature trails, recreation areas, and playgrounds.

–Keep America Beautiful website

WHAT’S NEW IN 2023

This year Keep America Beautiful will be focusing on some specific activities to maximize their efforts and do the most good.

• Larger focus on separating out and recycling the materials collected during the Great American Cleanup to make sure that those items are able to stay out of landfills. To learn more about what to recycle and what cannot be recycled, click here.
• Thanks to the KAB and Terracycle program, this year the GAC will include cigarette butts, the most littered item in America, in those recycling efforts. To learn more about this effort, click here.
• Continued waterway cleanup efforts to reduce harmful materials from our beautiful rivers, oceans, lakes and streams. Thanks to devices that have been installed in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, Great Lakes and the Tennessee River watershed that mission is even more attainable. To read more about the seabins in Tennessee click here.

TENNESSEE SUPPORTS THE GREAT AMERICAN CLEANUP

Here in our state, we are proud to have an amazing partnership with Keep Tennessee Beautiful (KTnB), the state affiliate of Keep America Beautiful. The Tennessee Department of Transportation is a proud supporter and funder of this organization. This partnership is an important alliance to help reduce litter on our state roadways. We can all do more when we work together to help end littering in our state.

There are many ways you can get involved in this year’s Great American Cleanup events. Check out our Cleanup Event Calendar to find a cleanup event near you. And if you sign up early, KAB is providing tools to affiliates to support their work, distributing 4,000 of the new cleanup kits nationally. Individuals who wish to help can request their own free kit (first 500 to register).

We are excited to continue this proud mission to keep Tennessee and America beautiful and we can’t do it without you! Let’s get out there and help clean up our state!