On February 27, Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful reported more than 2.5 million volunteers have engaged in community improvement events that have resulted in the removal of over 147 million pounds of trash, 11 million pounds of electronics and 999,959 tires from the beautiful Pennsylvania landscape in the 30 years since it was founded.

In fact, each year volunteers remove over 7 million pounds of trash and tires from our roads, waterways, parks and trails.

Unfortunately, there is still more work to do.

According to Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful’s recent Pennsylvania Litter Research Study, funded by the PA Departments of Environmental Protection and Transportation, over 500 million pieces of litter can be found on our roads -- cigarette butts, plastic bags, food packaging film and an estimated 40 million beverage containers and fast food products.

 “Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful has been leading cleanups for 30 years,” said Shannon Reiter, President of Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful. “While cleanups are important, cleanups alone are not going to solve Pennsylvania’s litter and illegal dumping problem. We need to change behaviors.”

Separately, Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful surveyed nine cities across the state and found they are spending $68 million each year on managing litter and illegal dumping. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation spent another $65 million removing litter from highway rights-of-way from 2014 through 2018.

“While litter and illegal dumping are often discussed as social or environmental problems, rarely do we think about their economic impact,” explains Reiter. “Understanding these costs is a critical first step in developing strategies to change littering behavior. We’re seeing that even extensive and expensive cleanup efforts can’t keep pace with the amount of litter that’s accumulating. The only way to reduce this cost burden is to reduce littering through preventive measures, such as expanding solid waste and recycling infrastructure and developing effective school-based and consumer education.”

The mission of Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful is empowering Pennsylvanians to keep our communities clean and beautiful. The organization has committed county or municipal based affiliates serving 39 counties across the state that work closely with program partners, local governments, like-minded organizations and volunteers to coordinate events in their service areas.

The diverse project initiatives include illegal dump and river cleanups, litter pickups, recycling and special collections, tree and flower plantings, murals and painting of community structures, rain garden, outdoor classroom construction and educational events just to name a few.

For more information about the 2019 Pennsylvania Litter Research Study, related cost research and media resources or the state’s developing litter action plan, visit DEP’s  Changing PA’s Littering Behavior webpage.

For more information on programs, initiatives and special events, visit the Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful website. Click Here to become a member.  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 Electronics Waste website.

Sign up now for the 2020 Pick Up Pennsylvania Initiative and volunteer or set up your own cleanup event from March 1 to May 31.  Questions should be directed to Michelle Dunn at 1-877-772-3673 Ext. 113 or send email to: mdunn@keeppabeautiful.org.

NewsClips:

Support Local Journalism: Read A Week’s Worth Of Environment & Energy NewsClips

Related Articles This Week:

PennDOT Announces First District Winner Of Student Innovation Litter Challenge Erie County

PennDOT Announces District 3 Winner Of Student Innovations Litter Challenge From Snyder County

PennDOT Announces District 8 Winner Of Student Innovations Litter Change From Dauphin County

Related Articles - Litter:

DEP, PennDOT, Keep PA Beautiful Announce Statewide Initiative To Reduce Littering, High Cleanup Costs

Study Finds Over 500 Million Pieces Of Roadside Litter: Join Keep PA Beautiful's Pick It Up Pennsylvania Today!

Keep PA Beautiful: 12,610 PA International Coastal Cleanup Volunteers Remove 488,135 Pounds Of Trash, Tires Last Fall

Keep PA Beautiful: Just 9 Cities In PA Spend More Than $68 Million A Year On Litter, Illegal Dumping Cleanup, Education, Enforcement & Prevention

Keep PA Beautiful, PennDOT Partner With Municipalities Thru Roadside, Park Adoption Programs To Cleanup Litter

[Posted: February 27, 2020]

3/2/2020