The Keep PA Beautiful’s annual Beautiful newsletter highlighting 2015 program accomplishments and initiatives.  In her cover letter, Shannon Reiter, President of KPB, said--

We are excited to share with you our programs and accomplishments of the past year in this edition of Beautiful. It never ceases to amaze me what a group of volunteers can do – determined and so committed to their communities!

In 2015, we celebrated twenty-five years of building clean and beautiful communities by giving away 25 grants in 25 days in support of grassroots community improvement efforts. We loved watching these projects come to fruition and were astounded that these projects brought back more than $250,000 in community match.

This perhaps more than anything else, illustrates the power of grassroots community improvement - with even just a little water; the seeds planted will grow into a beautiful and vibrant community garden!

We are also excited about the progress we are making, with the help of local governments and enforcement agencies, to identify and hold accountable individuals and businesses that choose to dump their trash illegally.

Through IllegalDumpFreePA.org, an innovative program launched in 2015 that provides camera loans, training and online support to Pennsylvania municipalities and community groups to help them battle illegal dumping, there have been over 30 convictions in communities, state forests and recycling drop off centers across the state.

Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful was honored to be a part of the 2015-2016 Minor Judiciary Education Board’s continuing education program where we trained the state’s judicial officers about the social, environmental and economic impacts of illegal dumping.

Our goal is to provide resources and identify real solutions for the challenges that our communities face regarding illegal dumping as we anticipate even more illegal dumping cases being seen in local courts as a result of our camera loan program mentioned above.

And finally, with many electronics recycling programs closing due to challenges with the state’s electronic waste recycling law, the Covered Device Recycling Act, a growing number of PA residents have been left without access to recycling options for their outdated electronic consumer goods.

Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful has launched eWastePA.org to help educate consumers about the law and disposal and recycling options for their electronics.

We are grateful for the on-going support of our state agency partners, business council members, partnering organizations, individual donors, private foundations and supporters and the hundreds of thousands of volunteers who all share in our vision of a clean and beautiful Pennsylvania.

Without your help our programs would not be possible.

Thank you!

Click Here to read the full newsletter.

For more information on programs, initiatives and special events, visit the Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful website.  Click Here to sign up for regular updates from KPB, Like them on Facebook, Follow on Twitter, Discover them on Pinterest and visit their YouTube Channel. 

Also visit the Illegal Dump Free PA website for more ideas on how to clean up communities and keep them clean and KPB’s new Electronics Waste website.

Sign up now for the 2016 Great American Cleanup of PA and set up your own cleanup and beautification event through May 31.

4/18/2016