TDOT employees volunteer in April 21 Earth Day cleanup

Thirty TDOT volunteers to participate in Chickamauga Lake cleanup on April 21 as part of Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful and Nobody Trashes Tennessee Earth Day awareness events

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – April 19, 2022 – In observance of Earth Day, Tennessee Department of Transportation’s (TDOT) Region 2 employees are participating in a cleanup of the shorelines of Chickamauga Lake located along the Tennessee River.

The event is part of a partnership with Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful and TDOT’s Nobody Trashes Tennessee public education campaign. Thirty volunteers will travel on a 26-foot work boat cleaning up shorelines and coves from 9:30 a.m. – 12 p.m. EST.

In addition to the beautification of the lake and its shores – and ultimately, the Tennessee River – the event aims to help raise awareness of Tennessee’s litter problem. “There is a strong correlation between roadside litter and water quality. What starts as litter on land, can make its way into our waterways,” said Denise Baker, TDOT Transportation Program supervisor. “TDOT volunteers join thousands of others that are committed to keeping our state clean, safe, and beautiful by participating in cleanup events throughout the spring season.”

Throughout the spring, Nobody Trashes Tennessee is partnering with organizations across the state on cleanup events. Learn more about the state’s litter reduction and education efforts and how to join the movement to end littering at NobodyTrashesTennessee.com. Two ways to get involved include the Adopt-A-Highway Program and reporting littering incidents through the Tennessee Litter Hotline (1-877-8LITTER). Join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and follow on TikTok.

DATE + TIME

Thursday, April 21, 2022
9:30 a.m. – 12 p.m. EST

LOCATION

Chickamauga Lake along the Tennessee River
Booker T. Washington SP Boat Ramp
5801 Champion Rd, Chattanooga, TN

MEDIA AVAILABILITY

9 a.m.

  • Denise Baker, Transportation Program Supervisor, Environmental Division, Highway Beautification Office, TDOT
  • Kathleen Gibi, Executive Director Keep TN River Beautiful
  • Media also invited to ride in boat during cleanup

WHO

  • Tennessee Department of Transportation’s (TDOT) Nobody Trashes Tennessee
  • TDOT Region 2 employees
  • Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful

EVENT MEDIA CONTACTS

  • Denise Baker, TDOT 629.201.1042
  • Kathleen Gibi, Executive Director Keep TN River Beautiful 865.386.3926
  • Amy Gray, Gray Public Relations 615.497.1799

ABOUT NOBODY TRASHES TENNESSEE
Nobody Trashes Tennessee (NTT) is the State of Tennessee’s official litter prevention campaign managed by the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT). The campaign is rooted in research conducted by TDOT in 2016, including a “Visible Litter Study” that revealed that despite a drop of 53 percent in roadside trash between 2006 and 2016, there are still 100 million pieces of litter on the state’s roadways. TDOT spends $19 million annually on litter pickup and prevention education, funded by revenue from a tax on soft drinks and malt beverages. Through a collaborative statewide approach, the TDOT Highway Beautification Office’s Litter Grant Program removes an average of 11,243 tons of litter each year from all 95 counties in Tennessee. In 2021 alone, and despite COVID restrictions, county partners removed over 20 million pounds of litter from 450,362 miles of Tennessee roadways. Nearly 40% of that statewide total was recycled. And 4,023 illegal roadside dumps were cleaned up, an increase of nearly 300 dump sites over the previous year. Learn more about the state’s litter reduction and education efforts and how to join the movement to reduce littering at NobodyTrashesTennessee.com. Two ways to get involved include the Adopt-A-Highway Program and reporting littering incidents through the Tennessee Litter Hotline (1-877-8LITTER).

ABOUT KEEP THE TENNESSEE RIVER BEAUTIFUL
Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful is a 501c3 nonprofit and is the first Keep America Beautiful affiliate in the nation to focus solely on a river. Its mission is to rally communities along the Tennessee River and its tributaries to preserve, improve and protect the river for generations to come. To date, 2,566 volunteers have helped the organization to remove 388,683 lbs. of trash along the 652-mile Tennessee River and its tributaries that reach into seven states. Since forming in 2016, Nobody Trashes Tennessee and the Tennessee Valley Authority have been KTNRB’s most consistent supporting funders.

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