Remarkable results are pouring in from the Great American Cleanup events that are happening during Keep America Beautiful Month (April).

In its 36th year, Keep Brevard Beautiful’s Trash Bash covered about 40 sites with more than 1,100 volunteers dedicating more than 4,300 hours on Saturday, April 1. In just a short period of time, those volunteers removed more than 30,600 pounds (approximately 15 tons) of trash and debris from public spaces within Brevard County, Florida.

“We were so impressed with the leadership role that local municipalities and our elected officials took in this year’s initiative,” said KBB Volunteer & Events Coordinator Allison Arteaga.“The litter removal we’ve accomplished together will help to protect our ecosystems, our economy, and the health and well-being of our citizens.”

During this year’s event, the City of Cocoa recruited the most volunteers, with 404 participants, and also collected the most litter, at an estimated 13,681 pounds.  The City of Melbourne came in a very close second for volunteer turnout, with 352 people and was also the runner-up for litter removal with an estimated 8,261 pounds collected. The City of Satellite Beach claimed third place this year for volunteer turnout, with 93 volunteers, while the City of Rockledge came in third for litter removal with an estimated 1,420 pounds. Honorable mention went to the volunteers at Kiwanis Island Park on Merritt Island, who had the highest efficiency at this year’s Trash Bash, collecting an estimated 35 pounds of litter per volunteer hour.

Each year, KBB’s Trash Bash partners with municipalities to organize volunteers who remove litter from local areas. All participating cities benefit from community improvements as a result, and the cities with the greatest levels of volunteer participation and the most trash collected also have a shot at winning a $500 donation for the nonprofit of their choice, provided by Waste Management.

“There’s always lots of excitement around our Trash Bash event,” said KBB Executive Director Tony Sasso. “There’s just something special that happens when you get so many local groups and individuals all working together for the betterment of our community.”

(Photo courtesy of Delores McLaughlin)