The Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Transportation recently received national Keep America Beautiful State Agency Partner Awards from Keep America Beautiful.

The award recognizes state agency partners for their support of Keep America Beautiful state affiliates through partnership projects. This award recognizes the value Keep America Beautiful places on public-private partnerships.

They were two of 14 partners recognized this year by the group.

“It is my privilege to recognize the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and its partner Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful for their mission-based work and impactful efforts in supporting local communities, despite challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Keep America Beautiful President and CEO Helen Lowman, PhD.

The Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Transportation were recognized for supporting Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful’s 2020 community improvement programs and their Pennsylvania Litter Research Study and The Cost of Litter and Illegal Dumping in Pennsylvania: A Study of Nine Cities Across the Commonwealth. [Read more here.]

The Department of Environmental Protection has been an invaluable partner to Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful since its inception, providing resources and expertise that enable thousands of volunteers to participate in thousands of community improvement projects from cleanups to plantings in all 67 counties in the state of Pennsylvania each year.

In addition, the Department of Environmental Protection provided program funding for the purchase of cleanup supplies and encouraged individual waste facilities to provide free or reduced cost disposal for participants registered with Pick Up Pennsylvania, Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful’s premier community improvement initiative. 

PennDOT supported Pick Up Pennsylvania by utilizing its network of 7,500 Adopt-A-Highway groups to promote and encourage participation and distributed bags, gloves, and safety vests to all registered participants through its 67 county maintenance facilities throughout the state, where the supplies are more easily accessed by local volunteers.

Both agencies were integral partners for The Pennsylvania Litter Research Study, which documents the quantity, composition, and sources of litter as well as attitudes toward litter.  [Read more here.]

The studies will allow for the development of tailored strategies and initiatives to combat litter within the Commonwealth, in addition to providing a basis for future measurement of progress towards reducing litter.

To learn more about Pennsylvania’s litter research results and littering reduction initiative, visit DEP’s Changing Littering Behavior In Pennsylvania webpage.

“We are grateful for the support of our state agencies. Both DEP and PennDOT are integral to our success and the success of our programs,” said Shannon Reiter, President of Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful.

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.

The 2021 Pick Up Pennsylvania Initiative will be held from March 1 through May 31.  Questions should be directed to Michelle Dunn at 1-877-772-3673 Ext. 113 or send email to: mdunn@keeppabeautiful.org.

Keep PA Beautiful helps mobilize over 100,000 volunteers a year to pick up litter, clean up illegal dumping and beautify Pennsylvania.

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[Posted: March 11, 2021]

3/15/2021