Volunteers to participate in Nickajack Lake cleanup on April 22
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – April 19, 2022 – University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Athletics, Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful and Tennessee Department of Transportation’s (TDOT) Nobody Trashes Tennessee public education campaign are teaming up on Friday, April 22 for an Earth Day Awareness Week cleanup of the shorelines along Nickajack Lake of the Tennessee River.
Held from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. EST, the cleanup includes coaches, student-athletes and athletic department staff as they ride in Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful’s 26-foot workboat cleaning up shorelines and coves.
In addition to the beautification of the lake and its shores, 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. “On this Earth Day, TDOT and Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful are thrilled to be joining UT Chattanooga coaches, staff, and student-athletes as they help tackle the state’s litter problem by participating in a cleanup. These 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 like UT Chattanooga Athletics on cleanup events across the state. 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
Friday, April 22, 2022
9 a.m. – 12 p.m. EST
LOCATION
Nickajack Lake
Marion County Park
9696 US-41, Jasper, TN 37347
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
8:45 a.m.
- Denise Baker, Transportation Program Supervisor, Environmental Division, Highway Beautification Office, TDOT
- Kathleen Gibi, Executive Director Keep TN River Beautiful
WHO
- 25 volunteer athletes and partner organization volunteers
- University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Athletics Tennessee Department of Transportation’s (TDOT) Nobody Trashes Tennessee
- 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.
