(November 3, 2022) Stakeholders in the fight against litter convened on November 1 and 2 for Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful’s 2022 Litter Summit hosted by the City of Lancaster. The Summit was held in coordination with the PA Department of Environmental Protection and PA Department of Transportation.

The two-day event began with a walking tour of Lancaster’s sustainable community, including two projects funded by Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful; the Tiny Cans Project, that provides free trash cans for neighborhood residents to install on their porch railings to reduce littering and the Lancaster Compost Bin Co-op Expansion project, allowing the city to add new compost bin locations throughout the city. Other stops on the tour included the Storm Water Rain Garden and Art Mural at Musser Park, the Urban Forestry project and the new Bike It Lancaster Bike Share. The tour was followed by an evening reception featuring an Upcycled Art Exhibit curated by Red Raven Art Company.

Keynote Speaker, Danene Sorace, Mayor of Lancaster, spoke about how clean and beautiful communities support strategic priorities for the city: strong neighborhoods, safe places, sustainable economy and sound government.

The national organization, Keep America Beautiful (KAB) recognized the PA Department of Environmental Protection and PA Department of Transportation for their support and collaboration with Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful’s programming, including Pick Up Pennsylvania and the new Young Ambassadors Program. KAB also recognized Governor Wolf’s office with a State Innovative Partnership Award for the state’s first Litter Action Plan.

The Summit also featured the state’s new anti-littering campaign, PA Fights Dirty: Every Litter Bit Matters, which was developed as part of Governor Wolf’s Litter Action Plan and outlines strategies for all Pennsylvanians to help in the fight against litter.

“We want to thank state agencies, community leaders, affiliate partners and stakeholders across the state for joining us for this years’ Litter Summit to celebrate our collective successes. It is a great reminder that we all play a role in keeping our communities clean and beautiful and through collaboration and sharing we can accomplish so much more. It was inspiring to learn about different approaches to enforcing litter and illegal dumping laws, how infrastructure affects waste disposal and new education initiatives,” said Shannon Reiter, President of Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful. “I hope it inspired everyone to continue the fight against litter.”

The 2022 Litter Summit was sponsored by Republic Services, Inc., PA Beverage Association and Dow.

###

About Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful
Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful’s vision is a clean and beautiful Pennsylvania. Since 1990, Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful has worked with hundreds of thousands of volunteers across the state to pick up nearly 152 million pounds of trash from Pennsylvania’s roadways, waterways, greenways, vacant lots, forestlands and other community spaces. Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful’s core programming focuses on litter and illegal dump prevention, cleanup, community greening, and proper waste handling and sustainable practices. Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful works with many partnering organizations on the state and grassroots level to accomplish our goal of a clean and beautiful Pennsylvania. Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful is the state affiliate of Keep America Beautiful, Inc., the nation’s largest volunteer-based community action and education organization. To learn more about Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful, visit www.keeppabeautiful.org.

Download Press Release