Earth Month, Individual & Group Cleanups
Keep Columbus Beautiful is a City of Columbus community improvement and sustainability program working to #KeepColumbusBeautiful and is a national affiliate of Keep America Beautiful. KCB focuses on public education and volunteer service related to quality of life environmental issues including litter, recycling, and beautification.
Cleanup projects across the city range from large-scale events that KCB hosts to smaller individual and group cleanups that really add up. For the first four months of 2024 (and also as a part of the Clean Earth Challenge), KCB volunteers collected an incredible 172, 410 pounds of litter and trash. This translates to over 1.5 million pieces of litter and trash collected!
KCB’s Earth Month cleanup event was held during the entire month of April 2024 and marked its largest month of action to date! Over 3,500 volunteers participated in 202 cleanups throughout the city and collected a whopping 86,850 pounds of litter! KCB couldn’t be prouder of the community’s commitment to keeping Columbus beautiful.
Some of the more noteworthy items collected included king crab legs, a daiquiri glass, Seinfeld die, an ironing board, a door frame, a pay phone, a fitted sheet, and a Marvel Wolverine action figure. A wallet was also found and happily returned to its thankful owner!
To dispose of the litter, individuals or groups can locate a large dumpster to use or contact Keep Columbus Beautiful. KCB will then reach out to its refuse department who will arrange to pick up the bags at various locations throughout the city.
Through Keep Columbus Beautiful, volunteer, Chelsea Elliott, participated in an Earth Month cleanup with her daughter. “My daughter, Natalie, who’s just 7 years old, has been incredibly passionate about cleaning up our planet for the past two years,” notes Chelsea, “so she decided to host her very first community cleanup event.”
Even though it was a rainy day, Natalie and 12 friends donned raincoats and held umbrellas, and carried on undeterred in their collection efforts. The area chosen needed attention and the inspired young crew found more than expected hidden beneath the bushes and scattered along the roadside.
“Natalie’s commitment to ‘saving the world,’ as she puts it,” says Chelsea, “inspired everyone who passed by us, proving that age is just a number when it comes to making a difference.” This dedicated group of kids collected nine bags of trash in just 1.5 hours!
A big thank you to the thousands of volunteers and the Keep Columbus Beautiful organization for helping to keep outdoor spaces healthy and clean and for collecting over 1.5 million pieces of litter and trash. And a special shout out to Natalie and her team for their collection effort! Well done!
