Girl Scouts of the Southern Appalachians
Nobody Trashes Tennessee Patch

Shared Values

Girl Scouts of Southern Appalachians (GSCSA) serves 46 counties from southwest Virginia, through east Tennessee, and into north Georgia. Girl Scouts of Southern Appalachians serves 46 counties across eastern Tennessee, southern Virginia, and northwest Georgia, with membership of more than 10,000 girls and adults.

The organization’s mission is: Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place. Girl Scouts are dedicated to their community as reflected in one of their core values: We are committed to helping girls leverage their own unique gifts and talents to make a difference in their communities. By our own example, we inspire girls to put service above self.


Patches are FREE to all Scouts

Paid for by TDOT

Once you have completed a cleanup and submitted the cleanup report form, your patch can be requested by calling 800-474-1912  or email info@girlscoutcsa.org.


Litter Cleanups

By participating in a litter cleanup service project, participants are living the Girl Scout Promise of “helping people at all times”.

To earn the Nobody Trashes Tennessee patch, troops participate in a community cleanup initiated by the troop or as part of an organized cleanup near them. Troops may also earn a patch by completing educational resources available on their customized NTT landing page.

Keep Tennessee Beautiful Month

March

March is Keep Tennessee Beautiful month and all month, the Keep Tennessee Beautiful organization encourages people to get out and clean up. Affiliates and communities across the state organize cleanups during this time.

Great American Cleanup

Mid-March – Mid-June

The Keep America Beautiful® Great American Cleanup® is the nation’s largest community improvement program taking place annually in an estimated 20,000 communities nationwide.

Earth Day Cleanup

April 22

Every year on April 22, Earth Day marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970. Celebrate this day and see if there is an Earth Day cleanup taking place in your area.

No Trash November

November

Each year, TDOT holds a month-long statewide initiative called “No Trash November” encouraging Tennesseans to participate in cleanup events in their communities. This year youth groups have the opportunity to participate and win a trophy! Each group who participates also receives 10 free T-shirts.

Girl Scout Camp Cleanup

Tie-in with existing camp beautification/cleanup

Plan a Clean Jean project for your next camp visit. Find more information here.

Community/School Grounds/Neighborhood Cleanup

For Junior, Cadette, Senior and Ambassador levels

Looking to do a smaller cleanup at a school, park, or other area that is not a roadside litter cleanup? See below toolkit and resources for guidance on how you can organize your own.

Educational Activities

For Daisy and Brownie levels

These educational worksheets include engaging activities and lessons to understand the importance of litter prevention. This allows the younger age groups to get involved with the movement and earn a patch as well as an opportunity to add an educational element to your Troop’s cleanup. Upload completed worksheets to the report form to receive your patch. It is encouraged to complete at least three worksheets.

Resources

Cleanup Toolkit

Before

  • To request cleanup supplies contact your county grantee. If your county grantee does not provide supplies, your Troop will be responsible for supplies and disposing of trash bags. If your Troop decides to Adopt-A-Highway, supplies will be provided and trash bags will be picked up by TDOT.
  • We recommend wearing long sleeves, pants and closed toe shoes.
  • Watch the safety video
  • Bring sunscreen, gloves, bug spray, water, snacks, emergency contact numbers, emergency medications, first aid kit and extra clothing.

During

  • Take pictures during your cleanup: scouts in action picking up litter and a group photo.
  • Note the number of bags collected to report after the cleanup.
  • Leave all trash bags in the designated drop-off location.
  • Be aware of your surroundings: watch out for snakes, wasps and other pests, poison ivy/oak, unstable rocks, thorns, broken glass and oncoming vehicles.
  • Make sure all scouts sign a safety waiver.

After

  • Fill out the report form including: Troop #, City, County, number of bags collected and number of volunteers.
  • Upload Troop photos and photo IDs listed left to right and confirm if you would like TDOT to submit to media outlets or if your Troop will submit to media.
  • Post photos to social channels: tag @NobodyTrashesTN and use #NobodyTrashesTennessee so we can share your photo on our socials!
  • Share confirmation email received after submitting the report form when picking up patches at the Cabin.