This Year’s Initiative Focused Largely on Watersheds Throughout the County with Chances for Local Citizens, Businesses, Organizations, Schools, Churches, Neighborhoods and Civic Groups to Win Cash Prizes
Duluth, Ga., February 25 – Celebrating its 17th year, the Great American Cleanup™ is the nation’s largest annual community improvement program. Launched by Keep America Beautiful in 1999, Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful has motivated countless local volunteers to help clean-up, fix-up, paint-up, and green-up in a combined effort to keep the Gwinnett County community beautiful since the program’s inception. This year, the charge of the event – which runs from March 1 through May 31, 2015 – remains the same, but with more of a focus on the area’s waterways than in years past. In addition to the reward of giving back to one’s community in a meaningful way, participants in the Great American Cleanup 2015 – Gwinnett Challenge will have an opportunity to win one of eight $500 cash prizes.
“Last year, we partnered with Gwinnett County’s Department of Water Resources to host Art in Motion – a wonderful watershed cleanup event where some of the items found were repurposed for art projects at the Hudgens Center for the Arts,” said Connie Wiggins, Executive Director for Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful. “We would love for that endeavor to serve as inspiration for other watershed-related projects that local citizens, businesses, organizations, schools, churches, neighborhoods and civic groups might tackle for Great American Cleanup – Gwinnett Challenge 2015. We all live, work and play within a number of our county’s watersheds – which are those natural land formations where water collects before flowing into the rivers, streams, and other bodies of water. Pollution is a growing threat to our waterways and watersheds. Clean water is not only an essential element to support life, it can create opportunities for recreation, healthy habitats for plants and wildlife, increased property values, and improved draw to the community. Over the course of 92 days in 2014, together we were able to engage more than 16,000 Georgians, collect more than 6,000,000 pounds of recyclables, clean and beautify over 178 miles of roadway, remove over 21,855 pounds of litter, collect 1,439 books to donate to local and international charities, build a new community playground, and so much more. This year, we are hoping to blow those numbers out of the water – pardon the pun.”
Before beginning their projects, local citizens are asked 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. Some ways individuals, organizations and companies can do this include:
- Learning about their Local Watershed
- Doing a Water Walk
- Stenciling Storm Drains
- Cleaning a Waterway
- Adopting a Road
- Recycling More
- Reusing Resources
- Planting an Herb or Community Garden
Once they have taken the pledge, prospective participants can choose an activity from one of the eight categories in the Great American Cleanup Gwinnett Challenge Activity List or propose a project of their own imagining. They can then register their project online, and will have until May 31, 2015 to complete it. Throughout the project phase, they are encouraged to take 5 to 10 before and after digital photographs to include along with their post-project results form – which must be submitted to gwinnettcb@gwinnettcb.org no later than June 5, 2015 for recognition and consideration for one of eight $500 cash prizes. To take the pledge, view project ideas and register a project for Great American Cleanup – Gwinnett Challenge 2015, interested parties are invited to visit www.GwinnettCB.org or call (770) 822-5187 for more information.
About Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful: Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful Services, Inc. (GCB) is an award-winning 501(c)3 charitable organization that 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 55-member 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 help prevent litter and graffiti, recycle and reduce waste, and increase environmental awareness. To learn more about Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful and its programs, aspiring environmental stewards are invited to visit www.GwinnettCB.org.
