Keep America Beautiful Presents 2019 Cigarette Litter Prevention Program Grant

Keep America Beautiful Presents 2019 Cigarette Litter Prevention Program Grant to Keep Darke County Beautiful, National Nonprofit Provides Grant Funding, Resources to Help Darke County Battle Blight of Cigarette Litter

Keep America Beautiful®, the nation’s leading community improvement nonprofit organization, announced it has awarded a 2019 Cigarette Litter Prevention Program® grant to 50 organizations receiving a Keep America Beautiful Cigarette Litter Prevention Program (CLPP) merit-based grant.

Keep Darke County Beautiful’s grant award of $2500 will be used to Keep Darke County Beautiful to help it combat the most commonly littered item in America.

“Keep Darke County Beautiful with grant funding from Keep America Beautiful is pleased to provide pocket ashtrays to fair-goers at The Great Darke County Fair”, said Duane Edwards, President of the organization. Edwards also noted that there will be ash receptacles at most fair building entrances. Pocket ashtrays will be distributed fair week with the cooperation of Wayne Healthcare at their air-conditioned tent.

Communities implementing the CLPP in 2018 reported an average 62 percent reduction of cigarette litter, even greater than the previous year’s average reduction of 52 percent. Cigarette Litter Prevention Program grant funding empowers communities to help mitigate the economic, environmental and quality of-life impact of cigarette butt littering.

“Litter is both the smallest and largest problem at the same time,” said Jerred Jones, program director for the CLPP. “Keep America Beautiful is dedicated to educating consumers on the hazards of littering in public spaces and providing the tools to reduce litter. Access to ash receptacles and portable pocket ashtrays are crucial to changing littering behaviors.”

The CLPP, created by Keep America Beautiful in 2002, is the nation's largest program aimed at eliminating cigarette butt and cigar tip litter. Since its inception, the program has been successfully implemented in more than 1,800 urban, suburban and rural communities nationwide. Over the past decade, participating communities have consistently cut cigarette butt litter by 50 percent based on local measurements taken in the first four months to six months after program implementation. Research has shown that even self-reported “non-litterers” often don’t consider tossing cigarette butts on the ground to be "littering." Keep America Beautiful has found that cigarette butt litter occurs most often at transition points—areas where a person must stop smoking before proceeding into another area. These include bus stops, entrances to stores and public buildings, and the sidewalk areas outside of bars and restaurants, among others.

The CLPP is supported by funding from Altria, Reynolds American, and the Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company.

About Keep America Beautiful Keep America Beautiful, the nation’s leading community improvement nonprofit organization, inspires and educates people to take action every day to improve and beautify their community environment. Established in 1953, Keep America Beautiful strives to End Littering, Improve Recycling and Beautify America’s Communities. We believe everyone has a right to live in a clean, green and beautiful community, and shares a responsibility to contribute to that vision. The organization is driven by the work and passion of more than 600 Keep America Beautiful affiliates, millions of volunteers, and the collaborative support of corporate partners, social and civic service organizations, academia, municipalities, elected officials, and individuals. Join us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. Donate and take action at kab.org.