AASHTO Journal - Five State DOTs Honored by Keep America Beautiful

Keep America Beautiful, a national community improvement nonprofit organization, recently recognized 26 community organizations and individuals through its 2021 National Awards program – including five state departments of transportation.

[Above image by KAB]

The organization noted that its Keep America Beautiful National Awards program celebrates the work of its nearly 700 community-based affiliates, millions of volunteers and participants, and corporate and community partners for their commitment to end littering, improve recycling, and beautify America’s communities.

“Recognizing and honoring our affiliates, state agencies, and individuals each year is so important, as they are the backbone of our daily work to clean, green, and beautify communities across America,” said Jennifer Lawson, the organization’s president and CEO, in a statement.

“These awardees exemplify putting communities first, teamwork, and a genuine desire to ensure that everyone lives in a beautiful community,” she added.

The Keep America Beautiful State Agency Partnership Recognition National Award honors state DOTs and other state agencies for their support of Keep America Beautiful State Affiliates. Winners of 2021 awards include:

The California Department of Transportation
The Oklahoma Department of Transportation
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
The Tennessee Department of Transportation
The Mississippi Department of Transportation

The state DOT efforts recognized by those awards covers a wide array of efforts. For example, in March, the Tennessee DOT teamed up with Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful and other partners to establish a network of 17 “Seabin” automated litter and debris removal devices across the Tennessee River watershed.

Meanwhile, in August, PennDOT joined several fellow state agencies to help launch a new anti-litter campaign entitled “PA Fights Dirty: Every Litter Bit Matters.”

That campaign also features a new Young Ambassadors Program – formed as part of a new partnership between PennDOT and Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful – which aims to involve rising 10th- through 12th-grade students to help with the state’s litter clean-up plans.