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The State’s Great American Cleanup® Kicks-off at Annual Event

NASHVILLE – Gov. Bill Lee has once again designated March as Keep Tennessee Beautiful month. To officially kick-off the activities, including the state’s participation in Keep America Beautiful’s Great American Cleanup®, KTnB will host a rally and awards luncheon, 11 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. CST, March 1. The event will take place in Conservation Hall at the Tennessee Governor’s Residence with Commissioner Mark Ezell, Tennessee Department of Tourist Development, slated to bring the keynote address.

“Keep Tennessee Beautiful efforts motivate people to visit our state, which in turn leads to a positive impact on the tourism industry and benefits their communities,” Mark Ezell, Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development, said. “We support environmentally sustainable practices that conserve and protect our natural resources while providing access to both Tennesseans and visitors to our state’s stunning outdoors and rich scenic beauty.”

The event will also spotlight Tennessee’s participation in KAB’s Great American Cleanup®, the annual, nation-wide effort rallying community leaders and litter grant coordinators throughout the U.S. The Great American Cleanup® annually engages more than 500,000 volunteers and participants. In 2023, Tennessee’s participation in the GAC resulted in the removal of 445,344 pounds of litter by more than 8,000 volunteers. More than 650,000 trees and flowers were planted throughout all 95 Tennessee counties. KTnB will join Metro Beautification, TDOT, and Nobody Trashes Tennessee on March 2 in Nashville for a community wide KAB cleanup event. Cleanups are being planned throughout the state.

“We are grateful to Gov. Lee for continuing to support March as Keep Tennessee Beautiful month,” Executive Director Missy Marshall, KTnB, said. “This is definitely a celebration, but it’s also a call to action. We encourage all Tennesseans to live mindfully about our environment, to protect our state from careless littering, and to spend a day or two in the coming months volunteering for a local cleanup event. Let’s all contribute and help Keep Tennessee Beautiful.”

In addition to Commissioner Ezell’s keynote address, Missy Marshall will announce KTnB’s Love Where You Live and Leader Against Litter Award-recipients. The Love Where You Live Award is given to a Tennessee resident who takes pride in their community and supports KTnB’s mission. The Leader Against Litter Award is given to elected officials who have gone above and beyond their job description to involve citizens in environmental improvements.

For event details, visit KTnB RSVP.

Keep Tennessee Beautiful is the state’s official affiliate of Keep America Beautiful.
Keep Tennessee Beautiful Month and the Great American Cleanup help accomplish the mission of KTnB: to educate and inspire Tennesseans to take action every day to improve and beautify their community environment.

About Keep Tennessee Beautiful:
Keep Tennessee Beautiful is the state level affiliate of Keep America Beautiful and serves as a state resource for litter prevention, community greening, and recycling and waste reduction education.

Keep Tennessee Beautiful is a grant-funded organization sponsored by the Tennessee Department of Transportation as a community engagement program at The University of Memphis.