Keep America Beautiful’s Great American Cleanup (GAC) is the nation’s largest community improvement program, taking place annually from March 1 through May 31. 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! Texans are invited to join the nation’s largest community improvement program by hosting a local event.
The Don’t mess with Texas Trash-Off (DMWTTO) serves as Texas’ signature event for the Great American Cleanup. The 2016 Don’t mess with Texas Trash-Off is scheduled for Saturday, April 9. The Don’t mess with Texas Trash-Off is a partnership between Keep Texas Beautiful and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT).
Any Texan can participate! Online registration is now available at www.ktb.org 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 and DMWTTO events with Keep Texas Beautiful in order to receive trash bags, volunteer giveaways, promotional items, and more, to assist in facilitating their cleanup event. Participants may also elect 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 2015, 1,500 Great American Cleanup events were held in Texas, with 85,516 volunteers contributing 401,925 hours. More than 10 million pounds of waste and recyclables was collected in all.
Also in 2015, 235 Don’t mess with Texas Trash-Off events were held across the state, featuring 27,848 volunteers. All told, 3,709 miles of highway were cleared of litter and debris, totaling 1.4 million pounds of trash.
About Keep Texas Beautiful:
Keep Texas Beautiful (KTB), a statewide grassroots environmental and community improvement organization and affiliate of Keep America Beautiful, strives to educate and engage Texans to take responsibility for improving their community environment. KTB and its more than 390 affiliates work with government, businesses, civic groups and volunteers to ensure that every Texans has the opportunity to take individual responsibility for making Texas the cleanest, most beautiful state in the nation. For more information about KTB, visit www.ktb.org, follow us on Twitter at @keeptxbeautiful and like us on Facebook at @keeptxbeautiful.
About TxDOT:
Texas Department of Transportation The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is responsible for maintaining 80,000 miles of road and for supporting aviation, rail, and public transportation across the state. TxDOT and its 12,000 employees are committed to working with others to provide safe and reliable transportation solutions for Texas by maintaining a safe system, addressing congestion, connecting Texas communities, and being a Best in Class state agency. Find out more at www.txdot.gov. “Like” us on Facebook, www.facebook.com/txdot; and follow us on Twitter, www.twitter.com/txdot. Don’t mess with Texas® is a registered trademark owned by the Texas Department of Transportation. For more information visit www.dontmesswithtexas.org.
