Keep Arkansas Beautiful Launches 2024 Great Arkansas Cleanup
Keep Arkansas Beautiful is gearing up to host the 2024 Great American Cleanup and the Great Arkansas Cleanup. These events aim to bring together volunteers across the state to clean up local communities, parks, and public areas.
Great American Cleanup
The Great American Cleanup will take place from March through May. In 2023, it saw tremendous success with volunteers collecting over 630 tons of litter from every county in Arkansas. Robyn Taylor, the Volunteer Program Manager, hopes to surpass that achievement this year.
“Our goal is to get it clean and keep it clean,” Taylor stated. “Hopefully, each year our volunteers will go up, but the amount of litter they pick up will go down.”
Great Arkansas Cleanup
The Great Arkansas Cleanup, scheduled from September 7 to October 31, encourages Arkansans to come out and clean their neighborhoods. In 2023, the initiative recorded nearly 150,000 hours of volunteer work, removing 514 tons of bulky waste from 2,132 miles of roadways and 772,051 acres of parks and public areas. This effort also led to an economic value of nearly .4 million returned to local communities.
Signed up for the Great Arkansas Cleanup are volunteer events such as the Keep Lake Poinsett on Point, Gosnell Highway Cleanup, Big Mississippi County Cleanup, and more. These events involve locals and groups like Keep Jonesboro Beautiful and the Girl Scouts participating in statewide cleanup efforts.
Impact and Goals
Volunteers like Shea Lewis, Secretary of the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism, believe that clean spaces not only enhance outdoor recreation but also boost property values, echoing Keep Arkansas Beautiful’s message that these efforts are as much about fostering community pride as they are about cleaning up litter.
Registration for both cleanup events is open, and interested participants can sign up to volunteer or host their own cleanup events. Supplies and support are available, including t-shirts, on a “first come, first serve” basis.
