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2007
GREAT PA CLEANUP KICKOFF
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GOVERNOR RENDELL ANNOUNCES 4TH ANNUAL GREAT
PENNSYLVANIA CLEANUP
Themed 'Let's Pick It Up, PA,' 2007 Effort
to Promote Litter-Free School Zones
HARRISBURG - Governor Edward G. Rendell today invited schools
and community groups to join the 4th Annual Great Pennsylvania
Cleanup, a statewide effort to remove litter and trash from
roadways, parks, riverbanks and open spaces.
The entire cleanup campaign - with a special emphasis on creating
Litter-Free School Zones - will run from March 1 to May 31.
A featured one-day, statewide cleanup event will take place
on April 21, in conjunction with Earth Day.
"The volunteers of the Great Pennsylvania Cleanup do an
outstanding job helping to make Pennsylvania a clean and beautiful
place in which to live, work and play," Governor Rendell
said. "Each year, a growing number of Pennsylvanians join
together for this important effort. I encourage all citizens
to volunteer for or organize a cleanup event in their community."
Last year, more than 132,000 volunteers from all 67 counties
removed 6.7 million pounds of trash from roads, parks, schools,
waterways, wildlife areas and communities.
 This
year's initiative includes a focus on Litter-Free School Zones,
a new program launched by Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful, cosponsor
of the Great Pennsylvania Cleanup. Participating schools agree
to check the campus grounds weekly and remove litter, and also
to promote and implement all campus events as litter-free events.
Environmental Protection Secretary Kathleen A. McGinty visited
the Wilson Middle School in Carlisle, Cumberland County, and
echoed the Governor's message before 200 enthusiastic sixth-graders
who signed personal pledges not to litter.
"Thank you for volunteering to be among the very first
students to create a Litter-Free School Zone," Secretary
McGinty said. "Litter and illegal dumping affect everyone's
quality of life and I want you to ask all your friends, teachers,
coaches and every adult you know to get involved in this year's
Great Pennsylvania Cleanup and to keep Pennsylvania litter-free
every day."
In December 2006, Secretary McGinty received Keep America Beautiful's
Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson Award, the organization's highest award
given to women volunteers. This national achievement award is
presented annually to an outstanding woman for exceptional leadership
in litter prevention and beautification activities.
 Keep
Pennsylvania Beautiful Inc. is again playing a major role in
the Great Pennsylvania Cleanup. Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful
is supported and sponsored by a wide range of businesses, trade
organizations, civic and environmental groups, and state and
local government agencies. It is the state affiliate of Keep
America Beautiful, which was founded in 1953 to promote litter
prevention, community beautification and improvement, and waste
reduction.
The state departments of Conservation and Natural Resources,
Education, Environmental Protection and Transportation are members
of the Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful alliance.
 PennDOT
supports the cleanup by providing participants with free gloves,
safety vests and trash bags. In 2005, Keep America Beautiful
presented PennDOT with one of six partner awards for its role
in making the Great Pennsylvania Cleanup a success.
PA CleanWays, a nonprofit group dedicated to fighting illegal
dumping and litter, is coordinating all cleanup event registrations
and collections reporting.
Member companies of the Pennsylvania Waste Industries Association
are again offering free landfill space to dispose of nonrecyclable
waste collected during the cleanup. Groups must register their
events by April 16 to be eligible for this offer.
This year's Great Pennsylvania Cleanup also features exciting
incentives for groups that register their events and report
the results of the efforts through a Web site, www.greatpacleanup.org.
Random drawings will be held to award gift cards from a growing
number of Pennsylvania businesses sponsoring the Great Pennsylvania
Cleanup. The Web site offers information on how to take advantage
of the national Keep America Beautiful incentive programs.
For information on the Great Pennsylvania Cleanup, and to find
or register a cleanup event, visit www.greatpacleanup.org. The
site contains safety information, links to other cleanup organizations,
a logo that can be downloaded, T-shirt iron-on transfers and
posters, and lesson plans for teachers.
For additional information, call the toll-free Pennsylvania
Recycling and Litterbug Hotline at 1-888-548-8372.
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The Rendell Administration is committed to creating a first-rate
public education system, protecting our most vulnerable citizens
and continuing economic investment to support our communities
and businesses. To find out more about Governor Rendell's initiatives
and to sign up for his weekly newsletter, visit his Web site
at: www.governor.state.pa.us.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The following is a list of organizations sponsoring
Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful and the Great Pennsylvania Cleanup:
AAA Mid-Atlantic
Audubon Pennsylvania
Best Buy
Cities: Allentown, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: Departments of Conservation and
Natural Resources, Education, Environmental Protection and Transportation
County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania
GreenTreks Network
Home Depot
Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries
Keep Lancaster Beautiful
Keep Philadelphia Beautiful
Keystone Sanitary Landfill
PA CleanWays
Pennsylvania Association of Convention & Visitors Bureaus
Pennsylvania Builders Association
Pennsylvania Downtown Center
Pennsylvania Environmental Council
Pennsylvania Farm Bureau
Pennsylvania Food Merchants Association
Pennsylvania Horticulture Society
Pennsylvania Host Municipal Inspectors
Pennsylvania Landscape & Nursery Association
Pennsylvania Organization of Watersheds and Rivers
Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation
Pennsylvania Resources Council
Pennsylvania Soft Drink Association
Pennsylvania State Association of Borough Managers
Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors
Pennsylvania Waste Industries Association
Pocono Mountains Vacation Bureau
Professional Recyclers of Pennsylvania
Schuylkill Keep It Pretty
Sierra Club of Pennsylvania
The Steel Recycling Institute
Waste Management Inc.
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