PA Environment Digest Blog: Keep PA Beautiful Litter Hawk Youth Award Program Now Open! Fun, Prizes & Litter Awareness For Grades K To 6

On October 27, Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful announced it is accepting applications for the Litter Hawk Youth Award Program, a recognition program for students in Kindergarten through 6th Grade, who complete a designated project specific to their grade level.

The deadline to participate is January 31. Winners will be announced in April in time for Earth Day celebrations.

Kids can participate individually or as part of a lesson initiated by schools, home-schools, scout troops, 4-H clubs, environmental clubs or other organized groups.

The Litter Hawk Youth Award Program is a way for kids to share their hope, optimism and concerns about litter and inspire others to care for their communities through art, words or video.

In response to Pennsylvania’s new anti-littering education campaign, PA Fights Dirty: Every Litter Bit Matters, the theme is: Show Us How Every Litter Bit Matters to You.

Projects include:

-- Grades Kindergarten through 4 - Poster

-- Grades 5 and 6 – Essay or video

Two entries will be selected as winners in each grade level. First place will receive a $50 gift card. First runner-up will receive $25 gift card. All participants will be recognized with certificates.

The Wolf Administration released its Litter Action Plan in 2021 in response to Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful’s 2019 Litter Research Study which found Pennsylvania has more than 500 million pieces of litter on its roadways.

As part of the plan, the state launched a public awareness campaign, PA Fights Dirty: Every Litter Bit Matters, this summer. The campaign calls upon Pennsylvanians to ensure every piece of their trash, regardless of size, is disposed of properly.

“We wanted to help bring awareness to the state’s new anti-littering campaign by incorporating it into this years’ Litter Hawk theme and have students show us and tell us how every piece of trash matters when keeping our neighborhoods clean and beautiful! Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful believes that engaging youth in protecting the environment not only creates a direct impact on changing behaviors and attitudes, but also influences their friends and families,” said Shannon Reiter, President of Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful. “We are all responsible for keeping our communities clean and beautiful. This program provides a fun and easy way for students to illustrate respect for the environment and their community.”

The Litter Hawk Youth Award program was created with funding provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

For more information, downloadable promotional posters and an online entry form, visit the KPB Litter Hawk Youth Award webpage. Questions should be directed to Michelle Dunn at mdunn@keeppabeautiful.org or 877-772-3673 ext. 113.

For more information on programs, initiatives and special events, visit the Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful website. Click Here to become a member. Click Here to sign up for regular updates from KPB, Like them on Facebook, Follow on Twitter, Discover them on Pinterest and visit their YouTube Channel.

Also visit the Illegal Dump Free PA website for more ideas on how to clean up communities and keep them clean and KPB’s Electronics Waste website.

The 2022 Pick Up Pennsylvania Initiative will be held until. Questions should be directed to Michelle Dunn at 1-877-772-3673 Ext. 113 or send email to: mdunn@keeppabeautiful.org.

Keep PA Beautiful helps mobilize over 100,000 volunteers a year to pick up litter, clean up illegal dumping and beautify Pennsylvania.

(Photo: Poster by Paisun Wilt, Perry County, 2022 Grade 2 First Place Winner.)

NewsClips:

-- Inquirer - Andrew Maykuth: Inside A Chester County E-Waste Recycler Where Thousands Of Old Laptops Get Restored Or Destroyed Every Month

-- Scranton Times: Study Finds Microplastic Pollution In NE PA’s Cleanest Waterways

-- Republican Herald: Schuylkill County Participating In National Prescription Drug Take Back Day For 17th Time

-- PennLive: Harrisburg, Dauphin County Fight Illegal Dumping: ‘We Will Find You, And You Will Be Stopped’

-- The Guardian: Only 5% Of Plastic Waste Generated In U.S. Recycled, Report Says

-- Keep PA Beautiful Announces Winners Of Litter Hawk Youth Art Awards Program

-- Still Time To Register For 2022 Statewide Litter Summit In Lancaster Nov. 1-2