Schools can keep their school grounds litter free with Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful’s Litter Free School Zone.

The program encourages hands-on activities to teach environmental stewardship and responsibility and can be incorporated into Earth Day celebrations and lesson plans.

The Litter Free School Zone advocates for two improvement projects per school year and can include litter clean ups and beautification events, like creating and caring for pollinator and rain gardens.

Results are reported to Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful and are added to their statewide community improvement totals, making it an opportunity to be a part of something bigger. Keep PA Beautiful provides a Litter Free School Zone sign to each school that participates in the program.

“The Litter Free School Zone program has been a great addition to our environmental club. It has started an awareness about litter, recycling and trash and their effects on the environment. Resources and support provided by Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful are extremely useful in helping plan events and activities for our club. We are hopeful that by sharing the knowledge about recycling, litter and trash in our club and with the school, this knowledge will continue to stay with the students as they grow, and we will see a difference in the way that future generations handle some of the bigger problems,” said Tyler Small, Biology Teacher and Environmental Club Advisor for Wilson High School.

There are currently over eighty schools participating in the program. All schools are welcome to participate - elementary school, middle school, high school, public or private.

“We are all responsible for keeping our communities clean and beautiful” said Shannon Reiter, President of Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful. “This program provides a fun and easy way for students to work together, learning valuable community leadership and responsibility skills, while gaining a respect for the environment and the world around them. It is also an opportunity to develop a school-wide stewardship ethic and set a community example.”

Litter Free School Zone events can get free cleanup supplies through Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful’s Pick Up Pennsylvania, a statewide community improvement initiative. Registered events receive free cleanup supplies like bags, gloves and safety vests courtesy of the Department of Environmental Protection, PennDOT and Keep America Beautiful. 

Interested schools should visit the KPB Litter Free School Zone webpage or contact Stephanie Larson at slarson@keeppabeautiful.org or 877-772-3673.

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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-- PA Resources Council 2021 Schedule Of 23 Household Chemical, Hard-To-Recycle, Electronic Waste Collection Events In Western PA

-- DEP Online Discussion 'Don't Trash Pennsylvania' Now Available On Demand

-- Middle Susquehanna RiverKeeper: Studies Highlight Reality Of Microplastics In Region's Waterways

[Posted: March 31, 2021]

4/5/2021