Keep Perry County Beautiful, formerly PA CleanWays of Perry County, was formed in 2009 with support from the Perry County Conservation District and the Perry County Commissioner's Office. As an affiliate of Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful, we focus on cleanups of illegal dumps and educating the public on the detriments of illegal dumping and littering. Since our inception, Perry County has held 7 cleanups removing and properly disposing of 25.76 tons of trash as well as recycling over 1,800 tires!
Since our inception in the spring of 2009, we have had a total of 672 volunteer hours with a value of over $13,000! Our affiliate has formed strong relationships with local organizations and businesses that provide dedicated and hardworking volunteers and in-kind support.
Perry County also participates in an annual friendly rivalry with neighboring Huntingdon County and Mifflin County. The Golden Rim Award is given to the affiliate who collects the most tires at a specific collection event, helping to remove unsightly tires and mosquito breeding grounds from the landscape. While we didn't win the event this year, we did collect and recycle 1,295 tires!
Unfortunately, illegal dumping is a problem in our county. The Perry County Illegal Dump Survey was completed by Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful in 2009 to identify illegal dumpsites within the county. The survey results show that Perry County has 105 illegal dumpsites that total over 106 tons of trash. One site on the survey, Boots Hollow Road in Saville Township, has had three cleanup events and still more to come. So far, 5.41 tons of trash and 834 tires have been removed.
Please check our Calendar of Events for upcoming cleanups. If you would like to become a volunteer for the affiliate, please contact Sally Tengeres, Affiliate Coordinator, at 717-582-5139 or
e-mail.