Litter
Everyone in America deserves to live in a beautiful community.
How We Can End Litter
The facts on litter are sobering. According to our most recent Litter Study there are more than 50 Billion pieces of litter on the ground. That’s 152 pieces of litter for every American.
But there is good news. In the past ten years, littering along US roadways is down 54%!
And last year alone, over 64,000 clean-up events were held in the US, resulting in over 146,600 ACRES of parks, public lands, waterways, trails and playgrounds cleaned up by volunteers like you.
What else can be done?
Do your part by joining the #152PickUpChallenge. Make sure to take pictures of your cleanup and tag us on social @KeepAmericaBeautiful and use the #152PickUpChallenge. You can also register here and receive email updates from us! Don’t forget to share your progress and let us know how you did. Together, we can clean up 50 billion pieces of litter!
Take Action Now
Affiliate Network
Individual Action Center
Partners for Change
Working Within Communities
Keep America Beautiful works with individuals, communities, states, businesses, and our national leaders to address the challenges of ending litter and littering behavior.
Volunteer In Your Community
You might say, “I’m just one person, what can I do?”
Your help matters. When you volunteer to help clean up your community, you make a difference. When others see that you care for your community, they care too, and over time, behavior changes.
Our ongoing research shows that an end-to-end process for changing littering behavior through key activities like cleaning up public spaces is working.
Whether you work by yourself, or join a larger movement in your neighborhood, the cleanup is keeping America beautiful.
Akron Woman Removes 1 Million Pieces of Litter from City Streets
Discover how Debbie Miller turned a tragic accident into a city-wide movement, transforming Akron one piece of litter at a time.
Secure Your Load: Prevent Litter and Accidents on the Road
Learn about the “Secure Your Load” campaign and why it’s so important to keep drivers safe and the surrounding environment healthy.
Recycling Just Got Easier at Grand Teton National Park
Newly installed recycling station, fishing line bins, and cigarette receptacles help reduce litter and encourage recycling.
Taking Statewide Action
State and municipal governments play a key role in addressing litter on our streets, in our parks, and in our waterways. Keep America Beautiful affiliates across America are working side by side with these organizations to effect change. By working together, our affiliates add their voices to those supporting infrastructure improvements and change to better manage waste in our country.
Since our inception, we have proven again and again that the power of sustained change happens when we bringing all members of our communities together.
Our 700+ affiliates working in thousands of communities across the nation are doing this work every day. Ending litter in America is possible. We’re in it together.
Working Together
Nationally, Keep America Beautiful supports the Federal policies and programs needed to end litter in America.
Keep America Beautiful Kicks off the 2024 Great American Cleanup
Join the movement today! Keep America Beautiful is proud to kick off the 26th annual Great American Cleanup on March 19, 2024!
Reviving the MLK Corridor: Keep Macon-Bibb Beautiful’s Tree Planting Project Flourishes
Keep Macon-Bibb Beautiful takes immense pride in its ambitious tree-planting endeavor that aims to breathe new life into the historically significant MLK corridor.
Educating And Organizing
Supporting Our Work Through
Corporate Responsibility
When implemented properly, Reduce, Reuse, & Recycle solutions work to address the sources of litter. Our partners’ investments allow us to develop the capacity of our KAB affiliate network through improvements in technology, training, skills development, and other resources.
Together, we work to place our affiliates, volunteers, and corporate partners in a strong position to lead change.
Keep America Beautiful Kicks off the 2024 Great American Cleanup
Join the movement today! Keep America Beautiful is proud to kick off the 26th annual Great American Cleanup on March 19, 2024!
Reviving the MLK Corridor: Keep Macon-Bibb Beautiful’s Tree Planting Project Flourishes
Keep Macon-Bibb Beautiful takes immense pride in its ambitious tree-planting endeavor that aims to breathe new life into the historically significant MLK corridor.
KAB Volunteers By The Numbers
Last year alone, over 400,000 hard-working volunteers logged more than 2.9 Million volunteer hours over the course of over 64,000 events.
What did our combined service to our communities accomplish?
of litter, debris, and recycling collected
cleaned of litter
of streets, roads, and highways cleaned and beautified
of rivers, lakes, wetlands and shores cleaned
planted, helping restore communities
Great American Cleanup® (GAC)
Our signature program, the Great American Cleanup®is a nationwide effort spanning 3 months each year. Hundreds of thousands of people come together to take part in local volunteer opportunities, educating, cleaning and beautifying.
Together, our work cleans, greens and beautifies thousands of communities – and counting.
Cigarette Litter Prevention Program
Since 2002, our Cigarette Litter Prevention Program, the nation’s largest program aimed at eliminating cigarette litter, has been implemented in over 1,800 communities, reducing cigarette litter by HALF within six months, on average.
Litter Resources
Looking for additional information on litter?
Whether you’re an individual looking to find information about living a zero-waste lifestyle, a teacher looking for educational resources, or a company looking for information on how to hold a corporate cleanup day, take a look at our resource page!
