Gov. Rendell this week invited schools and community groups to join the 4th Annual Great Pennsylvania Cleanup, a statewide effort to remove litter and trash from roadways, parks, riverbanks and open spaces.

The entire cleanup campaign - with a special emphasis on creating Litter- Free School Zones - will run from March 1 to May 31. A featured one-day, statewide cleanup event will take place on April 21, in conjunction with Earth Day.

"The volunteers of the Great Pennsylvania Cleanup do an outstanding job helping to make Pennsylvania a clean and beautiful place in which to live, work and play," Gov. Rendell said. "Each year, a growing number of Pennsylvanians join together for this important effort. I encourage all citizens to volunteer for or organize a cleanup event in their community."

Last year, more than 132,000 volunteers from all 67 counties removed 6.7 million pounds of trash from roads, parks, schools, waterways, wildlife areas and communities.

Video Blog: Volunteers Join in 29th Street Cleanup Along Capital GreenBelt

This year's initiative includes a focus on Litter-Free School Zones, a new program launched by Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful, cosponsor of the Great Pennsylvania Cleanup. Participating schools agree to check the campus grounds weekly and remove litter, and also to promote and implement all campus events as litter-free events.

Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful Inc. is again playing a major role in the Great Pennsylvania Cleanup. Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful is supported and sponsored by a wide range of businesses, trade organizations, civic and environmental groups, and state and local government agencies. It is the state affiliate of Keep America Beautiful, which was founded in 1953 to promote litter prevention, community beautification and improvement, and waste reduction.

The state departments of Conservation and Natural Resources, Education, Environmental Protection and Transportation are members of the Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful alliance.

PennDOT supports the cleanup by providing participants with free gloves, safety vests and trash bags. In 2005, Keep America Beautiful presented PennDOT with one of six partner awards for its role in making the Great Pennsylvania Cleanup a success.

PA CleanWays, a nonprofit group dedicated to fighting illegal dumping and litter, is coordinating all cleanup event registrations and collections reporting.

Member companies of the Pennsylvania Waste Industries Association are again offering free landfill space to dispose of nonrecyclable waste collected during the cleanup. Groups must register their events by April 16 to be eligible for this offer.

This year's Great Pennsylvania Cleanup also features exciting incentives for groups that register their events and report the results of the efforts through the Great PA Cleanup website.

Random drawings will be held to award gift cards from a growing number of Pennsylvania businesses sponsoring the Great Pennsylvania Cleanup. The website offers information on how to take advantage of the national Keep America Beautiful incentive programs.

The Great Pennsylvania Cleanup website contains safety information, links to other cleanup organizations, a logo that can be downloaded, T-shirt iron-on transfers and posters, and lesson plans for teachers.

For additional information, call the toll-free Pennsylvania Recycling and Litterbug Hotline at 1-888-548-8372.

The following is a list of organizations sponsoring Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful and the Great Pennsylvania Cleanup:

AAA Mid-Atlantic, Audubon Pennsylvania, Best Buy, Cities: Allentown, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Departments of Conservation and Natural Resources, Education, Environmental Protection and Transportation, County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania, GreenTreks Network, Home Depot, Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, Keep Lancaster Beautiful, Keep Philadelphia Beautiful, Keystone Sanitary Landfill, PA CleanWays, Pennsylvania Association of Convention & Visitors Bureaus, Pennsylvania Builders Association, Pennsylvania Downtown Center, Pennsylvania Environmental Council, Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, Pennsylvania Food Merchants Association, Pennsylvania Horticulture Society, Pennsylvania Host Municipal Inspectors, Pennsylvania Landscape & Nursery Association, Pennsylvania Organization of Watersheds and Rivers, Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation, Pennsylvania Resources Council, Pennsylvania Soft Drink Association, Pennsylvania State Association of Borough Managers, Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors, Pennsylvania Waste Industries Association, Pocono Mountains Vacation Bureau, Professional Recyclers of Pennsylvania, Schuylkill Keep It Pretty, Sierra Club of Pennsylvania, The Steel Recycling Institute and Waste Management Inc.

Session Schedule

The Senate and House both break for budget hearings until March 12.

PA Environment Digest Video Blog

On the Hill

· On the Senate/House Agenda

· Bills Introduced

Other News

· CBF, Partners Invite Participation on Streamside Conservation Program

· PA Trout Unlimited Endorses REAP Tax Credit Bill to Restore Aquatic Habitat

· DCNR Adds Three Watersheds to PA Rivers Conservation Registry

· DEP Invites Comments on Proposed TMDLs for Stoneycreek River, Mahoney Creek

· Spend Your Summer Paddling On a PA River Sojourn

· Manual Aids in Maintaining Slippery Rock Watershed AMD Treatment Systems

· How Should New Federal Mine Reclamation Money Be Spent to Solve PA Problems?

· St. Margaret Mary Students Have Trout in the Classroom

· New Manager Hired for West Branch Restoration Efforts, Get Symposium Agenda

· Black Bass Workshop Set for May 4 in Erie

· ClearWater Conservancy Offers Grants for Millbrook Marsh EE Programs

· Westmoreland Conservation District to Hold Forestry II Workshop March 31

· Volunteers Needed for Habitat Improvement Project in Schuylkill County

· Attorney General Corbett Using Penalties to Fund Environmental Projects

· Environmental Law Forum Set for April 11-12 In Harrisburg

· Philadelphia Expands Single Stream Recycling Beginning in March

· Free Drop-Off Recycling of Refrigerators, Air Conditioners in Pittsburgh

· Governor’s Outdoor Conference Set for March 18-20

· Learn About Special Tax Benefits of Donating Land Only During 2007

· Landowners Tell Personal Stories of Why They Preserve Their Land

· International Paper, The Conservation Fund Accepting Award Nominations

· Chamber Annual Environmental Laws and Regulations Conference April 17-18

· USDA Launches New Website on Renewable Energy Opportunities for Farmers

· Global Warming 2007-It’s Time for Action Workshop Set for March 31

· Student Interns Wanted: Western PA Conservancy Intern Opportunities

Go To: PA Environment Digest Calendar Page

2/23/2007