Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful Infuses Elements of its ME (My Environment) Campaign into Community-Based Initiative that Runs March 1-May 31, 2016 

Duluth, Georgia, February 25, 2016 – Environmentally focused nonprofit organization – Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful – is proud of its mission to educate and motivate local environmental stewards to do their part to clean-up, fix-up, paint-up, and green-up in a combined effort to keep the Gwinnett County community green, clean and beautiful. At no time is that more evident than during the annual Great American Cleanup – Gwinnett Challenge, Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful’s answer to the nation’s largest community improvement program – which was originally launched by Keep America Beautiful in 1999. Celebrating its 18^th year in Gwinnett, the 2016 Great American Cleanup takes an exciting new direction – thanks to GCB’s vision to pair the far-reaching and powerful message at the heart of Great American Cleanup with the sense of empowerment behind the newly launched ME (My Environment) Campaign.

Created in 2015 through a partnership between GCB and the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners, the ME Campaign is designed to inspire local citizens, civic groups, school clubs, community organizations and small business to take action and show individual initiative by lending their time and talents for the benefit of the environment we all share. In addition to potential environmental impacts, the physical appearance of Gwinnett County’s public lands can have wide-reaching economic and social impacts.  The hope is that by instilling a sense of ownership, spreading awareness and providing opportunities for Gwinnett residents and businesses to take personal action, members of the community will all work together to keep ‘ME’ clean.

In addition to the rewards that come with having a positive impact on the world around them, five lucky winners will be selected to earn CASH PRIZES of $500 each! Winners will be selected from each of the five following categories for 2016 Great American Cleanup – Gwinnett Challenge. Participants will select a category, submit their project idea, complete the project, report their results, share their photos and cross their fingers in the hopes that their project will be selected as one of the winners. Of course, GCB also rewards innovation for those Great American Cleanup participants who create a project of their own imagining that is beneficial to Gwinnett County and the environment.  Before beginning their project, participants are encouraged to visit the Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful website at www.GwinnettCB.org to “take the pledge”. By taking the pledge, they promise to change habits and practices at home, school, work, and play, and to be environmental stewards – caring for the land, water, and community every day. One additional winner will be selected at random from new pledges to win $100!

2016 Great American Cleanup – Gwinnett Challenge Categories Include:

• Protect ME – Safeguard our Waterways
• Keep ME Clean – Stop Litter and Graffiti
• Make ME Green– Beautify your Neighborhood
• Educate ME – Teach Others How to Rethink the Way They Recycle
• Inspire ME – Discover a Creative Use of a Resource

For project ideas under each of the categories listed above, prospective participants are invited to visit www.GwinnettCB.org. Projects must be registered and completed between March 1 through May 31, 2016. During Great American Cleanup – Gwinnett Challenge 2015, Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful engaged more than 13,000 participants in 256 community improvement projects throughout the county. Over the course of just 92 days, GAC volunteers:

• Collected more than 5.5 million pounds of recyclables – enough recyclables to fill the recycling bins at over 36,000 homes
• Cleaned and beautified 503 miles of roadway
• Removed 35,771 pounds of litter – enough to fill 1,788 large trash bags that span the length of Sugarloaf Pkwy from the Gwinnett Center to Sugarloaf Mills Mall
• Collected 506 books to donate to charity
• Planted 243 trees, shrubs, flowers and vegetable plants

About Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful:  Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful Services, Inc. (GCB) is a Keep America Beautiful affiliate and award-winning 501(c)(3) charitable organization. It boasts an expansive community-based network dedicated to finding long-term solutions to environmental and quality of life issues through individual action. The organization is guided by a Citizens Advisory Board that represents all sectors of the Gwinnett County community. A nationally recognized leader in creating cleaner, greener and more livable communities throughout Gwinnett, GCB involves more than 100,000 volunteers annually to clean and restore public places, recycle more, protect watersheds and develop the next generation of environmental stewards. To learn more about Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful, please visit www.GwinnettCB.org.