Standing on the Veterans Memorial Baseball Field with dozens of school children holding brand new litterbags, officials from the Mt. Carmel Area School District this week announced the district’s enrollment in the “Litter-Free School Zone,” a new program to keep schools clean.

The new anti-litter program is the focus of this year’s Great PA Cleanup, an ambitious statewide effort to remove litter and trash from the state’s schools, roadways, parks, forests, riverbanks, neighborhoods and open spaces.

“We are proud that our students are taking a proactive approach to taking care of the environment, not only on our school campus, but also throughout the communities of our district,” Mt. Carmel Area School Superintendent Cheryl Latorre said. “We are proud of our area and its heritage and are happy that our students are taking pride in making and keeping our environment clean and beautiful for all to enjoy.”

The Litter-Free School Zones program was launched by Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful, co-sponsor of the Great Pennsylvania Cleanup. Participating schools agree to check the campus grounds weekly, remove litter, and also to promote and implement all campus events as litter-free events.

“The students and staff of the Mt. Carmel Area School District can be very proud of the example they are setting for others by becoming the first school district in north central Pennsylvania to sign the Litter-Free School Zone agreement,” DEP Northcentral Regional Director Robert Yowell said. “With this emphasis on cleaning up schools, we can work with our children in the Great Pennsylvania Cleanup and learn, together, that everyone has a role to play in keeping our neighborhoods clean.”

The Great Pennsylvania Cleanup is supported and sponsored by the Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful alliance, a wide range of businesses, trade organizations, civic and environmental groups, and local and state governments, including DEP, PennDOT, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and the Department of Education.

“Let’s Pick It Up, PA!” is the theme this year.

Last year during the Great Pennsylvania Cleanup, more than 132,000 volunteers from all 67 counties removed 6.7 million pounds of trash.

Visit the Great Pennsylvania Cleanup website for more information or call 1-888-548-8372.

4/13/2007