It’s the first day of spring, which means it’s time to kick off the Keep America Beautiful ® Great American Cleanup ® , the nation’s largest community improvement program. Through this far-reaching effort, which takes place from March 20 through June 20, national nonprofit Keep America Beautiful’s network of more than 600 community-based affiliates and partnering organizations host cleanups, green-ups and fix-ups in more than 20,000 communities across the country, engaging more than 1.5 million volunteers and participants.

Keep Delaware Beautiful, the statewide affiliate of Keep America Beautiful is encouraging Delawareans across the state to participate by helping get the first state into tip top shape. Creating clean, green and beautiful communities takes everyone to do their part. By volunteering in the Great American Cleanup, you can help Keep Delaware Beautiful transform our public spaces into beautiful places – something we can all believe in.

Local hands-on volunteer events and education programs are scheduled to renew public parks, trails and recreation areas; clean, enhance and protect shorelines, beaches and waterways; remove litter and debris from roadways, storm drains and public spaces; reduce waste and improve recycling; and plant trees, flowers and community gardens.

#cleanYOURblock

The 2019 Great American Cleanup social theme – #cleanYOURblock – is a call-to-action to engage more volunteers and participants in public space cleanup, beautification and recycling events. Become a Great American Cleanup volunteer with Keep Delaware Beautiful by visiting KeepDelawareBeautiful.com. Our goal is that our volunteers will be inspired to take that experience home to organize similar, smaller-scale events in their own neighborhood – right on their own block – with neighbors, family and friends. Volunteers are invited to participate in a local Great American Cleanup event – or conduct their own – and then celebrate the hard work.“Our goal is to spread the word on the value of beautifying communities, educate and encourage volunteers to build a sense of community pride and stewardship, and offer experiences that help change behaviors in communities, block by block. Working together, we can help foster communities that are environmentally and economically healthier, while strengthening the critical connection between people and places,” said Julie Miro Wenger, Executive Director of Keep Delaware Beautiful.

2019 Great American Cleanup Delaware Event Highlights

One way Delawareans have been helping to keep Delaware clean has been through DelDOT’s Adopt–Highway program. Since 1990, the program has been a partnership between DelDOT and volunteers whose goal is make Delaware a cleaner place. Groups and organizations who sponsor a roadway agree to care for a two-mile stretch of roadway. During the course of the sponsor’s participation, groups are responsible for conducting and reporting at least three cleanups per year. DelDOT provides safety vests and trash bags. Signs marking sponsors’ involvement in the program are installed at the beginning and end of the two-mile stretch of adopted roadway.

This year Keep Delaware Beautiful is excited to be working with DelDot during the 2019 Great American Cleanup to help bring awareness to it’s Adopt-A-Highway program. Current Adopt-A-Highway supporters are encouraged to plan one of their 2019 cleanups during the nationwide movement of the Great American Cleanup any time from March 20-June 20, 2019. Those supporters should be sure to contact their local district coordinator to register their cleanup and secure supplies. Now is also a great time for new Adopt-A-Highway supporters to join the program.

Local District Adopt-A-Highway Coordinators:

New Castle County: 302-326-4468
Kent County: 302-760-2424
Sussex County: 302-853-1315

You don’t have to be a Adopt-A-Highway supporters to participate in the Great American Cleanup. If you are interested in organizing a cleanup in your community, contact us.

Kirk Middle School of Newark, Delaware, today was crowned national champion of the Keep America Beautiful® Recycle-Bowl, the national recycling competition for K-12 students, teachers and school communities. Recycle-Bowl engaged more than 720 schools spanning four weeks in the fall, culminating on America Recycles Day on Nov. 15, 2018.

Kirk Middle School students participating in Recycle-Bowl recycled 30.85 pounds of materials per student during the competition. The school launched its Recycle Club in 2012, under the direction of Helene Ross-Williams.

“Teaching students sustainability is important for their future as responsible citizens of the Earth,” said Ross-Williams. “This program has been one of my greatest pleasures and accomplishments.”
“Mrs. Ross-Williams is extremely passionate about recycling and educating the students, staff, and families about environmental issues,” said Kirk Middle School Principal Norm Kennedy. “The students really enjoy taking part in the collection process and also are encouraging friends and families to do the same at home.”

Kirk Middle School experiences a high participation rate among the staff and students who make a conscious effort to place items for recycling in the classroom/office bins. The school was also the state winner from Delaware in 2015 and is also a U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon School since 2015. Since 2013, the school’s recycling program success has been given a boost because of the collaboration with the 4H After-School Program, under the direction of Fontella Taylor.
“Kirk Middle School is shining a bright light on Delaware and our efforts to recycle more,” said Keep Delaware Beautiful Executive Director Julie Miro Wenger. “Having students lead our change in behavior ensures a positive long-term effect we can all be proud of.”

During the four-week program, participating schools track and report how much recyclable material they collect. At the close of the competition, the school in each state (and the District of Columbia) that collects the most recyclable material per capita is crowned state champion with the national champion chosen from among the statewide winners. Schools that participate in past Recycle-Bowl competitions have been measured as recycling 10 percent more than schools that don’t participate.
“We are so proud of the Recycle Club at Kirk Middle School. These students and educators are leading the way in showing how easy it is to make more sustainable choices and be more environmentally conscious citizens,” said Christina School District Superintendent Richard L. Gregg.

In 2018, more than 260,000 students and teachers nationally participated in Recycle-Bowl. Recyclables recovered during the competition totaled 1.3 million pounds, which prevented the release of 1,842.68 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCO2E). This reduction in greenhouse gases is equivalent to 4.5 million miles driven by an average passenger vehicle, and 643 tons of material recycled instead of landfilled.

Champions are crowned in five categories: School Division, Community Division, District Division, Waste Reduction and Food Scrap Collection. The 2018 winners are:

• Overall Winner: Kirk Middle School – Newark, Delaware
• Community Winner: Whitfield County Schools – Dalton, Georgia
• District Winner: City of Mesquite – Mesquite, Texas
• Food Scrap Winner: Wysong Elementary – Lincoln, Nebraska
• Waste Reduction: Huntington Elementary – Lincoln, Nebraska

“It’s always exciting to see students from across the country, and from all age groups, get excited about recycling at school as well as at home or on the go,” said Keep America Beautiful Youth and Education Program Manager Kathryn Joblon. “Our Recycle-Bowl competition is a great way for students to get introduced to the act of recycling through a fun competition. Congratulations to Kirk Middle School for this tremendous achievement.”