2023 Annual Report 

Thanks to you and your time, talent, and treasure, Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful was able to support tens of thousands of volunteers working to improve their communities. Check out our Annual Report and know that YOU have made all this possible!

Young Ambassadors Participate in Peer Learning 

To complete their responsibilities as a Young Ambassador, students must host an education event in their community or school. Below are some highlights of events held so far.

• A sophomore at Parkland High School in Lehigh County, Tushar Mehta, gave a presentation about the 'Importance of Recycling and Use of Technology' and shared information about his STEM project, an application called RecycleBot to 25 Springhouse Middle School students in Allentown, PA.

• Seniors, Hetvi Shah and Oluseyi Oduntan, from Bensalem High School in Bucks County gave a presentation to 78 fifth grade students about the importance of protecting the environment. They had a lively discussion and together made a list of simple things everyone can do to protect the Earth that will stay in the classroom as a reminder. “I had a lot of fun and I think the kids did too. I was really happy to see how engaged they were,” said Oluseyi.

• Maya Lin, a junior who attends The Grayson School in Delaware County, worked with her school librarian to coordinate an event for World Read Aloud Day. Maya and fifteen pre-K students chose age-appropriate environmental awareness books and read them together. Afterwards, she led a short discussion about the significance of each book, and reasons why it's important to practice stewardship.

Kylie McCutcheon, KPB Affiliate Coordinator, Jeia Forsyth, Keep Centre County Beautiful Affiliate Coordinator and Dave Watson, Keep Centre County Beautiful Affiliate Coordinator and Enforcement Officer of Centre County Recycling Center attend the National Conference. 

Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful Presented at the Keep America Beautiful National Conference

Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful participated in the national conference, held in San Diego, California in February. Affiliate Coordinator, Kylie McCutcheon, presented our education materials including the Litter Hawk Youth Award, Open Your Eyes to Litter, Young Ambassador program and Litter Free School Zone program! A case study of Cigarette Litter Prevention in Pennsylvania was also provided for a pre-conference session. It was an amazing opportunity to reconnect with colleagues, partners and friends from across the country with similar missions and goals. 

Empowering Pennsylvanians

Pick Up Pennsylvania Registration Open 
The Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful Pick Up Pennsylvania annual spring event is open and available to all Pennsylvanians eager to improve their neighborhoods by coordinating a litter cleanup, community greening or beautification event, or hosting a recycling or education event. Registered events can get free trash bags, gloves, and safety vests provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, PennDOT and Keep America Beautiful, as supplies last. From April 1-30, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and Pennsylvania Waste Industries Association are sponsoring trash disposal, free of charge or at a reduced rate, for registered participants at participating landfills, with prior approval. The program runs through May 31. 

Visit our website for tools, resources and a step-by-step webinar for coordinating a community cleanup. Learn more here.

Be a Steward of Your Favorite Places

Land and Water Stewards Program 
Being stewards of our roads, trails, waterways and other shared public spaces benefits the whole community. Not only does it reduce hazards associated with litter, but areas that are maintained are more inviting to visitors and reduce costs associated with maintenance. We are all responsible for keeping our communities clean and beautiful. Join one of our programs today to become a steward of your favorite places!

Road and Area Adoption Program – Our adoption program is available statewide for municipal roads, parks, neighborhood blocks, greenways and trails. We provide a sign recognizing the volunteers’ efforts. Learn more here.

Waterway Stewards Program – Register to be a waterway steward and collect litter and stream health data while cleaning your favorite waterway. You choose where you want to clean. It can be a different waterway each time. If you are a water trail user, angler, boater or waterway enthusiast interested in community science and building long-term stewardship of our water trails, click here to learn more.

Make Your School a Litter Free School Zone
The examples set by schools are important.  They help encourage students and the surrounding community to care for their school yard, their own backyards, the local neighborhood and the global community.  The Litter Free School Zone program is an opportunity to develop a school-wide stewardship ethic, and also to set an example for your community.

We all know that the appearance of litter on the ground – no matter how it got there – reflects an aura of disrespect and neglect.  Regular maintenance is critical because one instance of litter encourages more litter to accumulate in the same area. 

This program strives to resolve the issue of littering in two ways: Cleanup - removing litter before it attracts more and Prevention - instilling a sense of caring and pride so that students will not think of littering as an acceptable behavior.  

The ultimate goal is a cleaner, more beautiful community, with a strong sense of civic pride. Learn more here.