The Great American Cleanup (GAC) is the nation’s largest community improvement program, celebrated in Texas through May 31. Volunteer groups and individuals of all ages are invited to register to participate in the event, which mobilizes thousands of Texans to improve the beauty and health of their community. Cleanup activities can include beautifying parks and recreation areas, cleaning waterways, handling recycling collections, picking up litter, removing graffiti, planting trees and conducting educational programs and litter-free events — anything that keeps your community beautiful! The Don’t mess with Texas® Trash-Off serves as Texas’ signature event for the Great American Cleanup held annually in April.
The Great American Cleanup is part of a nationwide effort with Keep America Beautiful that kicks off in more than 20,000 communities each spring. Any Texan can participate in the Great American Cleanup. Online registration is now available for local organizations to schedule events in their communities and gain access to valuable resources to plan, promote and host an event. Participants are encouraged to register their GAC events with Keep Texas Beautiful in order to receive trash bags, recycle bags, nitrile and work gloves to assist in facilitating their cleanup event. Participants are also encouraged to post their event information on the Keep Texas Beautiful (KTB) event calendar. KTB will be leading individuals and community groups looking to volunteer to the KTB event calendar to find an opportunity in their area.
In 2017, 18,678 Great American Cleanup volunteers across Texas:
• Contributed 38,379 volunteer hours valued at $926,469 in community contributions
• Collected 1,081,609 pounds of litter
• Collected 1,855pounds of tires
• Collected more than 42,126 pounds of electronics
• Held multiple awareness events and workshops, abated graffiti, painted and repaired buildings, installed community gardens, planted flowers and trees and cleaned illegal dumping sites
About Keep Texas Beautiful
Keep Texas Beautiful is a network of dedicated Texans working together to make our state the best place to live, work and play. We equip local partners and affiliates with the tools they need to build vibrant, engaged communities. Founded in 1967, Keep Texas Beautiful has 50 years of experience deploying resources for local clean-up, recycling and youth engagement efforts. Everything we do is focused on mobilizing volunteers to take action across the state. As a 501(c)3 nonprofit, we lead nearly 400 affiliates and reach 19 million Texans annually. We are proudly based in Austin, Texas. For more information, visit www.ktb.org, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @keeptxbeautiful.
