KOB Affiliates and ODOT Win National Awards
 

Keep America Beautiful sponsors a National Awards program each year. These awards recognize outstanding Keep America Beautiful Affiliates and their successful initiatives to educate the public about litter prevention and encourage grassroots volunteer efforts to clean and beautify communities, thereby improving the quality of life.

Keep Cincinnati Beautiful was awarded 2nd Place in the nation in the Previously Recognized category for affiliate awards. Keep Perrysburg Beautiful was awarded Honorable Mention and $500 for their work on the cigarette litter prevention program. Keep Ohio Beautiful received the Silver Level award in the state recognition program. The Ohio Department of Transportation was awarded the Partnership Award for the Great American Cleanup and the Partnership Award for their work with Keep Ohio Beautiful. Congratulations to all!

Ohio also had 23 affiliates earn the Presidents Circle award for 2007. The Presidents Circle Recognition Awards were created in 2001 to recognize the extreme effort and commitment made by Keep America Beautiful affiliates to reduce litter, minimize waste, and beautify and improve their local communities. Congratulations to the following affiliates for earning the 2007 award!

City Of Cuyahoga Falls, Litter Prevention & Recycling
City of Newark Litter Prevention & Recycling
Defiance County Environmental Services/KAB
Erie County Waste Reduction Program
Hancock County SWMD Environmental Services
Keep Akron Beautiful
Keep Allen County Beautiful
Keep Alliance Beautiful
Keep Cincinnati Beautiful, Inc.
Keep Columbus Beautiful
Keep Delaware County Beautiful
Keep Grove City Beautiful
Keep Hardin County Beautiful
Keep Jefferson County Beautiful
Keep Lakewood Beautiful
Keep Middletown Beautiful, Inc
Keep Montgomery County Beautiful
Keep Ohio Beautiful
Keep Perrysburg Beautiful
Keep Toledo/Lucas County Beautiful, Inc.
Keep Wickliffe Beautiful
Lorain County Beautiful
Youngstown Litter Control & Recycling

 Ohio Affiliate Elected to the KAB Board of Directors
 

The Keep America Beautiful Board of Directors has seats for three affiliate representatives to serve on the board. Two of the seats are held by local affiliates and one is held by a state affiliate. Keep Ohio Beautiful is pleased to announce that Paula Davis, Executive Director of Keep Akron Beautiful, has been elected to the national Board of Directors!

Paula has been the Executive Director of Keep Akron Beautiful for 18 years. As a state and city funded agency, Paula has been responsible for raising over $300,000 annually to operate the agency by extensive grant writing. In 2004 a countywide Dreamscape Raffle was introduced to supplement direct mail fundraiser efforts. Annually, over $106,000 of private sector donations must be solicited to implement the urban beautification program. Keep America Beautiful, Inc. awarded the agency third place recognition in 2001 for comprehensive program excellence of affiliates serving similar populations and a President's Circle Award annually since 2003. The agency's Flowerscape program is considered a "model" program within the national network.

Paula is a graduate of the Leadership Akron program and is involved in the Leadership Akron Alumni Association. She has also served on several local boards, including the Akron Home & Garden Show Advisory Board, the Women's Board of Children's Hospital, Downtown Akron Partnership Board of Trustees, and the Junior League.

Paula is a graduate of Firestone High School and she received her B.S. degree in Retailing from Miami University in Oxford. She lives in Akron with her husband Ralph and they have raised two children, Blair and Paul.

Congratulations Paula! We are thrilled to have you represent Ohio!

 2008 State Roadway Cleanup Plans Are Underway
 

The Ohio Department of Transportation and Keep Ohio Beautiful invite you to participate in the second annual State Roadway Cleanup. This initiative is part of the Great American Cleanup of Ohio. The Great American Cleanup, sponsored by Keep America Beautiful, is the nation's largest community improvement program. Great American Cleanup activities take place across the country during the months of March, April and May.

KOB affiliates and ODOT will be coordinating cleanup events around the state on Friday, March 28th and Saturday, March 29th. For more information on how to get involved, contact your local KOB affiliate or ODOT office. Events will be posted on the KOB website early next year.

 Reduce Catalog Waste Today!
 

Catalog Choice is a free service that lets you decline paper catalogs you no longer wish to receive. You can reduce the amount of unsolicited mail that you receive and help to preserve the environment at the same time.

The mission of Catalog Choice is to reduce the number of repeat and unsolicited catalog mailings, and to promote the adoption of sustainable industry best practices. We aim to accomplish this by freely providing the Catalog Choice services to both consumers and businesses. Consumers can indicate which catalogs they no longer wish to receive, and businesses can receive a list of consumers no longer wanting to receive their catalogs.

Each year, 19 billion catalogs are mailed to American consumers. What's the impact? 53 million trees are used to produce 3.6 million tons of paper for the catalogs. The energy used to produce this paper is 38 trillion BTU's, enough to power 1.2 million homes per year. This also contributes to global warming. 5.2 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions are released, which is equal to the emissions of two million cars.

How do you get started? It's easy to do! Just log on to www.catalogchoic e.org to sign up.

Catalog Choice is a sponsored project of the Ecology Center. It is endorsed by the National Wildlife Federation and the Natural Resources Defense Council, and funded by the Overbrook Foundation, the Merck Family Fund, and the Kendeda Fund.

 Keep Delaware County Beautiful Holds Annual Awards
 

Keep Delaware County Beautiful held their annual awards reception on December 6th. Several citizens, community groups, and businesses were recognized for supporting litter prevention and recycling. State Division of Recycling and Litter Prevention Chief Derek Anderson addressed the crowd, and Susan Sutherland of the Delaware General Health District gave updates on progress stemming from the 2003 Delaware County Litter Summit.

Award recipients were: The Strand Theatre in downtown Delaware, which received the Recycling Award for its groundbreaking efforts to recycle nearly all the trash produced by its patrons.

The Ohio Fallen Heroes Memorial committee in Sunbury recieved the Beautification Award for their memorial.

Republic Waste, recipient of the Business Award for providing cardboard and other recycling services to Olentangy Local Schools at no added cost.

The (noon) Kiwanis Club of Delaware County and the Delaware Soil and Water Conservation District, co- recipients of the Community Service Award. The Kiwanians were cited for assisting with the Olentangy River Sweep and providing lunch at that and several other community events, and the conservation district was recognized for helping with river sweeps and public education on water quality issues.

Hyatts Middle School teacher Jason Imbrogno, recipient of the Environmental Education Award for his work in creating an Outdoor Classroom when he previously taught at Alum Creek Elementary School.

Dempsey Middle School in Delaware and teachers Beth Maclehose, Megan Pollack, and Carrie Richards, recipients of the Litter Prevention Award. The award stemmed from last spring's cleanup of the Dempsey wetlands area and trails by about 200 Dempsey students and staff members.

Preservation Parks of Delaware County Planner Ted Miller, recipient of the Garrison Brown Award for recognizing initiative. Miller was praised for efforts including design work on the Alum Creek Lake osprey viewing platform and creation of maps of local greenways and possible future trails. The award is named for the late Charlotte Garrison and former Mayor Janet Brown of Ashley, both passionate supporters of community beautification.

 Go Green for the Holidays
 

It is estimated that between the Thanksgiving and the New Year holidays, the amount of garbage in the U.S. increases by an extra MILLION TONS PER WEEK.

Over 38,000 miles of ribbon is thrown out each year. Since the Earth's circumference is 25,000 miles, that means that you could tie a bow around the earth with ribbon waste!

Here are a few ideas to help you trim your trash, conserve resources, and save money in the holiday season.

• Choose a reusable tree. Artificial trees can be used over and over again. Mulch or compost your holiday tree if you don't have an artificial one.
• Make gift tags from old greeting cards.
• Donate unwanted gifts, used clothing and toys to a local shelter or charity.
• For electronic gifts that require batteries, buy rechargeable batteries to go with them.
• Choose reusable cloth napkins and glassware for holiday parties instead of disposable plates and utensils.
• Combine purchases into one bag rather than getting a new bag at every store.