Registration is Now Open for the 2012 Great American Cleanup of PA

Volunteers cleaned up a section in Newberry during last year's Great American Cleanup of PA.

Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful announced that registration is now open for the 2012 Great American Cleanup of PA. Event coordinators can visit the Great American Cleanup of PA webpage, www.gacofpa.org, to register their event. 

This annual event is held in conjunction with the Great American Cleanup of Keep America Beautiful and in partnership with support from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, PennDOT, and Pennsylvania Waste Industries Association.

Additional partnering businesses include the American Chemistry Council, Keystone Sanitary Landfill, Pennsylvania Beverage Association, Pennsylvania Food Merchants Association, Republic Services, Steel Recycling Institute, and Waste Management.

The 2012 Great American Cleanup of PA will begin on March 1 and end on May 31.  During this period, registered events can get free bags, gloves, and vests from PennDOT district offices. Events consist of litter cleanups, illegal dump cleanups, beautification projects, special collections, and educational events.  Events must be registered through the Great American Cleanup of PA website, www.gacofpa.org, to get these free cleanup supplies.

As part of this event, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and Pennsylvania Waste Industries Association are sponsoring Let’s Pick It Up PA – Everyday.  During the Pick It Up PA Days, registered event coordinators will be able to take the trash collected during their cleanup to participating landfills for free disposal.  The Let’s Pick It Up PA – Everyday event will begin on April 21st and end on May 7. The focus day will be April 21.

All 67 counties in Pennsylvania were represented in the 2011 Great American Cleanup of PA. There were 4,222 events with 159,922 volunteers. Volunteers collected 354,267 bags of trash or 7,085,340 pounds. They cleaned 13,140 miles of roads, railroad tracks, trails, waterways, and shorelines, and 5,887 acres of parks and/or wetlands. Additionally, volunteers planted 3,321 trees, bulbs, and plants in an effort to keep Pennsylvania beautiful.
       
Since the inception of this event in 2004, over 61 million pounds of litter and waste have been removed from Pennsylvania’s landscape, and tens of thousands of trees, bulbs, and flowers have been planted.
       
To register your event, find an event near you, or to find additional resources on the Great American Cleanup of PA, go to www.gacofpa.org.  Any additional questions can be answered by Michelle Dunn, Great American Cleanup of PA Program Coordinator, at 1-877-772-3673, ext. 113 or mdunn@keeppabeautiful.org.

About Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful
Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful’s mission is empowering Pennsylvanians to make our communities clean and beautiful.  Since 1990, Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful and its volunteers have removed over 87 million pounds of litter from Pennsylvania’s roadways, greenways, parks, forests, and waterways.  To learn more about Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful, visit www.keeppabeautiful.org.

About Keep America Beautiful, Inc.
Keep America Beautiful, Inc., established in 1953, is the nation's largest volunteer-based community action and education organization. With a network of more than 1,200 affiliate and participating organizations, Keep America Beautiful forms public-private partnerships and programs that engage individuals to take greater responsibility for improving their community environments. To learn more about Keep America Beautiful, visit www.kab.org.