Bringing people together to build and sustain vibrant communities

Each and every day, Keep America Beautiful is singularly focused on transforming public spaces into beautiful places in communities across the country.

Whether the place is a neighborhood park, a nature trail, a river shoreline or a vacant lot, public places provide a neutral space in which people can come together, share ideas and establish meaningful relationships.

When provided the right tools and resources, we’ve found that people tend to take better care of these places resulting in even greater benefits. For example, we know that public places affect our sense of self, our connectedness to others, our belonging to a community.

Our organization has a rich legacy of leadership in creating sustainable impact in communities across the country. Through our strong national network of affiliates and partners, we serve as a powerful voice and a solution-provider for communities looking to unlock their potential.

We are committed to keeping this magnificent country beautiful. We hope you’ll join us in our mission.

A MESSAGE FROM KEEP AMERICA BEAUTIFUL

Lasting change happens when people work together

Thriving communities are rooted in individual responsibility and action

People and places are profoundly connected

OUR BELIEFS

Place recycling bins in public spaces to increase on-the-go recycling

Keep America Beautiful announced bold, measurable goals reflective of our actions in communities across the nation. By engaging our affiliates, our partners and our volunteers, we extend the reach of our initiatives and multiply the impact of our actions as we build and sustain vibrant communities. We are excited by the challenge of these 2013 goals, but we are motivated even more by the potential impact of achieving these goals.

200,000public acres and sites

100,000miles of roads and highways

10,000miles of rivers, lakes and shorelines

5,000recycling bins in public spaces

Clean and restore public places for safer, cleaner communities

GOALSCommunity Impact

Construct and restore playgrounds to encourage physical activity

Educate children to become the next generation of environmental stewards

5,000playgrounds

250,000educated children

Plant trees and gardens to enhance communities’ green infrastructure

750community edible gardens

3,000gardens and green spaces

150,000trees

There’s a lot you can learn from six decades of bringing people together to build and sustain vibrant communities. But one thing is for certain, people and places are profoundly interconnected.

Whether the place is a community garden or a vacant lot, public places provide a neutral space in which people can come together with a shared purpose of community building.

Continually improving public places while caring for neglected ones can result in positive and sustainable impact in urban, suburban and rural communities.

From public space recycling and waterway cleanups to urban revitalization and disaster restoration projects, we are committed to creating lasting change by transforming tens of thousands of public spaces into beautiful places.

transform public spaces into beautiful placesWE

Phoenix, AZ San Diego, CA Cincinnati, OH

Keep Phoenix Beautiful leads the country’slargest vacant lot restoration initiative bytransforming a 15-acre vacant lot into a vibrant public place. Local businesses and community organizations are transforming the barren lot into new opportunities such as urban community farming, an outdoor education space for local schools, and sustainable technology projects to conserve energy, water use and food cultivation. These restoration projects are temporary, however, while redevelopment of the lot is being pursued.

KEEP PHOENIX BEAUTIFUL

I Love A Clean San Diego spearheads the county’s largest volunteer events dedicated to protecting the area’s coastline and waterways. By combining its traditional cleanups with habitat restoration, park maintenance and beautification projects, its volunteers are able to transform outdoor areas in a single day. When complimented by its pollution prevention education in local schools, I Love A Clean San Diego is able to ensure a clean and healthy future for the region.

I LOVE A CLEAN SAN DIEGO

Keep Cincinnati Beautiful leads an urban revitalization initiative called Future Blooms, which is a high-impact, low-cost program that resurfaces the fronts of vacant properties by painting representations of doors, windows, awnings and flower boxes on the front of the designated buildings. The program’s goal is to reduce crime and blight. To date, more than 500 buildings and 150 vacant lots have been improved, resulting in nearly a 30 percent litter reduction since 2009. Blight has also dropped by 14% and quality of life crimes have gone down an impressive 24% in their target areas.

KEEP CINCINNATI BEAUTIFUL

transform public spaces into beautiful places

Today, Keep America Beautiful is well established as the nation’s leading nonprofit that executes actionable strategies in recycling education and behavior change. With an elite team of recycling experts based in Washington, D.C., we partner with state and local KAB affiliates, state recycling organizations, government officials, trade associations and businesses to identify priorities and further the recycling agenda.

We are focused on influencing people’s recycling behaviors at work, at home and at play through awareness-raising campaigns and, most importantly, with approaches designed to inspire action.

From our perspective, the environmental impact from recycling remains critical as a measure of sustainable economies and vibrant communities. We believe that the public and private sectors must collaborate on effective, cost-efficient solutions to achieve a 50 percent national recycling rate. National policy initiatives are not enough. It’s imperative that individuals are educated and motivated to take the action to recycle.

influence positive behavior to activate recyclingWE

Ad Council Campaign Affiliate Activation State Recycling Organizations

Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful’s goal is to be America’s greenest, cleanest, most livable community. During the 2012 Great American Cleanup, Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful engaged more than 15,000 volunteers in nearly 250 projects across the county, collecting over 1 million pounds of recyclables. In 2013, the affiliate is supporting KAB’s goal to increase recycling rates by announcing its own goal of increasing the rates by 10 percent in Gwinnett County.

GWINNETT CLEAN & BEAUTIFUL

Keep America Beautiful is partnering with the Ad Council to launch the first-ever national campaign on recycling. This multi-media campaign creates a compelling reason to believe in recycling and spurs behavior change that leads to individuals recycling more.

AD COUNCIL

Keep America Beautiful partners with many state recycling organizations to improve recycling rates across the country. The Indiana Recycling Coalition, led by Carey Hamilton, believes that the value of our waste creates endless potential for a more competitive economy, a stronger workforce and a cleaner environment in the United States. The IRC believes that recycling is a way of recovering resources to create jobs and reduce energy costs to improve the economy. The organization believes that recovering resources will conserve energy and that promoting awareness around recycling is an effective way to increase rates because “you cannot care if you are not aware.”

INDIANA RECYCLING COALITION

influence positive behavior to activate recycling

Each year, Keep America Beautiful involves millions of volunteers in its community greening programs. Our actions lead to sustainable edible and community gardens, tree plantings, native species plantings, urban forestry and youth education – all of which results in positive, lasting impact in communities.

We work hand-in-hand with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and its People’s Garden Initiative. This initiative establishes community and school gardens across the country with more than 700 local and national organizations. The People’s Gardens, which are officially registered with the USDA, are required to benefit the community, be collaborative and incorporate sustainable practices.

Whether planting a tree or a garden, there are meaningful outcomes of these simple actions. Planting a tree within 50 feet of a residence can increase its property value. Planting edible gardens produce fresh fruits and vegetables, and by tending these gardens, people are engaged in physical activity and have access to better nutrition.

It’s clear. Through our actions, we help create vibrant communities made up of beautiful public places that are socially connected and economically sound.

believe in the restorative powers of trees & gardensWE

Tampa Bay, FL Houston, TX Indianapolis, IN

Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful built a one-acre learning garden on the Florida State Fair Grounds. The Florida Learning Garden is filled with native and Florida-friendly trees, fruits and vegetables. Each year, more than 1 million people visit the garden while attending the Florida State Fair. The learning garden also serves as a year-round educational tool which provides hands-on experience to over 40,000 youth. Visitors to the garden learn about Florida Friendly practices and sustainable growing techniques.

KEEP TAMPA BAY BEAUTIFUL

Keep Houston Beautiful transformed a vacant lot into a one-acre nature play garden. With more than 1,000 varieties of fruits, vegetables and herbs, local youth have experiential learning opportunities in horticulture, environmental sciences and butterfly habitat gardening. This nature play garden provides a safe place for working gardeners’ children to experience the outdoors. The open green space also affords opportunities for physical activity and unrestricted play. KEEP HOUSTON BEAUTIFUL

Keep Indianapolis Beautiful engages diverse communities to create vibrant public places, which in turn helps people and nature thrive. KIB is transforming Indianapolis with a significant tree planting initiative that provides shade and better air and water quality throughout the city. NeighborWoods is a strategic initiative to grow the city’s tree canopy and make neighborhoods more inviting, environmentally sound and safe. Since 2006, more than 30,000 trees have been planted. In 2012, KIB utilized over 46,000 volunteers to clean up litter, build pocket parks, create green spaces, plant trees and flowers, and assist with special projects.

KEEP INDIANAPOLIS BEAUTIFUL

believe in the restorative powers of trees & gardens

On the playground, children have fun, create friendships and lead more active lifestyles.

Playgrounds have a positive impact on children emotionally, socially and physically. Play helps children feel more connected to their communities and community playgrounds create safe environments that let children play freely.

Keep America Beautiful and our affiliates have turned this knowledge into action by constructing and restoring thousands of playgrounds each year.

Tularosa, NM

Keep Tularosa Beautiful built the “Happy Hearts and Helping Hands” Park for an underserved community in rural southern New Mexico. A barren vacant area was reconstructed into a well-maintained community park with a covered recreational facility. Today, the park serves as a focal point in the community and, more importantly, local children now have access to a safe, shady and clean public park where they can play outside.

KEEP TULAROSA BEAUTIFUL

know the power of playWE

empower the next generation of environmental stewards

Whether planting an edible garden at an elementary school, hosting a tailgate recycling event at a college or restoring a community park following a disaster, Keep America Beautiful inspires generations of environmental stewards through our affiliates, our partners and our programs.

Education and behavior change are the cornerstones of our organization. Through our actions, we bring people together to transform public spaces into beautiful places. We provide the right tools and resources to guide people’s understanding and actions to reduce waste and increase recycling.

Each year, Keep America Beautiful reaches more than 2 million young people in formal and informal classroom settings. We provide the tools to teach the fundamentals of litter prevention, resource preservation, and how to reduce, reuse and recycle.

Our educational resources are designed using behavior change methodology and all educational materials are designed to be locally adaptable to meet the needs of individual communities.

Anderson County, TN

Keep Anderson County Beautiful created an experiential learning environment for students in rural Appalachia. Two outdoor classrooms were constructed for elementary students and their parents to learn about wetland ecosystems. The classrooms include rain barrels that catch storm water runoff that is routed back to the wetlands. This learning environment allows children in an underserved community to have a safe place to explore and study the importance of wetland ecosystems.

KEEP ANDERSON COUNTY BEAUTIFUL

WEknow the power of play

“With a passion for volunteering, I lead by example with my Mayor’s bi-monthly cleanup projects, and model the message I communicate to those around me to become civically engaged in our city’s beauti fi cati on and litt er abatement eff orts.

Taking pride in our community preserves the health and well-being of our residents, protects our property values, and contributes to Bakersfi eld’s excepti onal quality of life.”

- Harvey Hall, Mayor, City of Bakersfi eld, CA

What is the action you take to keep America beautiful

“Personally, I recycle whatever and whenever I can. Professionally, I work for a company whose mission includes helping communiti es across the country be clean and safe. Together, that’s the one acti on I take daily to keep America beauti ful.”

- Barry Caldwell, Senior Vice President, Public Aff airs & Communicati ons, Waste Management

“As a mom, it’s important to teach my children how to bett er care for the environment. We make it an everyday habit to recycle whether at home, on the road or at play. As a family, it’s the one acti on we take to keep America beauti ful.”

- Priscilla Natkins, Executi ve Vice President, Director of Client Services, Ad Council

“Lowe’s recognizes the opportunity to provide our communiti es convenient locati ons to recycle plasti c bags, rechargeable batt eries, compact fl uorescent bulbs and plasti c pots from plants we sell. See our progress at Lowes.com/SocialResponsibility.”

- Michael Chenard, Director of Corporate Sustainability, Lowe’s

1 ?1

What is the action you take to keep America beautiful

“I keep America beauti ful by educati ng my peers about environmental issues, so that they understand what they are trying to protect by recycling, litt er control and going green.”

- John Cutti no, Keep America Beauti ful Youth Advisory Council, Orangeburg, S.C.

?“I bring Austi nites together to remove litt er from neighborhoods, creeks and public spaces and install nati ve gardens and habitats to create an enhanced sense of place, build a greater sense of pride and ensure an evolving clean and beauti ful city. I believe by bringing people together towards a common purpose we can truly transform blighted areas into vibrant, thriving sustainable communiti es.”

- Rodney Ahart, Executi ve Director, Keep Austi n Beauti ful

Visit kab.org or facebook.com/KeepAmericaBeautifulKeep America Beauti ful is the nati on’s leading nonprofi t that brings people together to build and sustain vibrant communiti es. With a strong nati onal network of affi liates and partners including state recycling organizati ons, we work with millions of volunteers who take acti on in their communiti es.

It’s our mission to engage individuals to take greater responsibility for improving their community’s environment.

We off er programs that create clean, beauti ful places, reduce waste and increase recycling, while educati ng generati ons of environmental stewards.

Through our programs and public-private partnerships, we work hard to create communiti es that are socially connected, environmentally healthy and economically sound.

OUR PURPOSE

1010 Washington Boulevard, Stamford, CT 06901 - kab.org

Keep America Beautiful is the nation’s leading nonprofit that builds vibrant communities.