This year, the Great American Cleanup is embarking on its 26th annual cleanup! The program, which was first launched by Keep America Beautiful in 1999, sees the organization and its affiliates come together with their communities to beautify shared spaces. This event takes place throughout a 3 month period starting in March and ending in June, during which any cleanups performed by the community with the help of Keep America Beautiful and its affiliates are counted toward the overall results of the cleanup.
The Great American Cleanup has a hugely significant impact on communities throughout the nation, with last year’s cleanup amounting to over 10,000,000 pounds of litter and debris collected, over 780,000 acres of public community spaces such as parks, playgrounds, and trails being cleaned and improved, about 65,000 plants and flowers planted and more with over 300,000 volunteers reported. This overwhelming outpouring of community support is one of the most powerful tools we can wield today to create a better Earth for all of us.
Here in our community, Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful is celebrating the Great American Cleanup by hosting a multitude of events throughout the next few months. Coming up soon we have the 2nd annual Kid’s Kickoff, which serves a great start to the festivities. This fun, family-friendly event will be hosted at Macfarlane Park on March 16th from 9am - 11am, and encourages the young minds of our community to be environmentally conscious with fun activities, educational opportunities, and of course, a community cleanup! Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful will also be hosting the Great Port Cleanup on April 26th from 8am - 11am at Desoto Park, Davis Island, and a few other locations to encourage community upkeep of our beautiful bay! Both of these events are free to the public and can be registered for via Eventbrite at the following links:
Moreover, the best part of the Great American Cleanup is that you, your family, friends, and other community members can lead your own projects to beautify your communities! If you have a specific project in mind and need help allocating resources, simply head to the Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful website and look for the “Schedule a Cleanup” button or email Projects@KeepTBB.org with any questions.
We all are looking forward to a truly promising cleanup this year, so remember to go out there and get involved! Together we can accomplish much more than we think!