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GREAT AMERICAN CLEANUP®

Four young women grin on a dry creekside trail holding black and white trash bags and litter grabbers, one raising a grabber overhead

Every spring, hundreds of thousands of people spend three months cleaning, greening and beautifying the places they live — through a network of 700 local affiliates and the partners who back them.

Horizontal logo lockup: a circular mark made of blue stars and red waving stripes beside GREAT AMERICAN in blue over CLEANUP in large red capitals, with KEEP AMERICA BEAUTIFUL below a thin rule.

Our Impact

The Great American Cleanup is the nation’s largest community improvement program, mobilizing thousands of communities and millions of individuals nationwide to take part in litter cleanups, plantings and greening initiatives, recycling drives, and more. Each year, from the first day of spring through the first day of summer, the program inspires Americans to roll up their sleeves, do a little spring cleaning outdoors, and help create cleaner, greener, and more beautiful communities.

The Great American Cleanup annually engages more than 300,000 volunteers and participants, whose work returns, on average, more than $20 million in measurable benefits across thousands of participating communities.

Get Involved

Keep America Beautiful believes that people and places are profoundly interconnected. Whether you live in a big city, a suburb or a small rural town, the Great American Cleanup is a shining example of how lasting, positive change happens when people work together.

Through programs like the Great American Cleanup, Keep America Beautiful affiliates, corporate partners, and organizations, alongside millions of volunteers, contribute to the transformation of communities and public spaces. Together, they work to create cleaner, safer, and healthier environments where people can live, work, and play.

Flyer showing a laughing woman with glasses and long braids in a teal t-shirt and blue gloves holding a litter grabber inside a white social-media photo frame. Text reads Let's Do Beautiful Things and Join the Greatest American Cleanup, with instructions to pick up 250 pieces of litter by July 4, 2026, text LITTER to 475-500-8569, and a QR code.
Close view of a bed of white daisies and leafy seedlings being planted through black landscaping fabric, a spade upright at the right and an open bag of compost nearby. A smiling woman with curly hair, mirrored green sunglasses and a red Keep America Beautiful shirt kneels at the left with a plug plant in her hand.
Volunteer seen from behind in a neon Keep America Beautiful vest with the three-tree logo, flexing beside a pickup bed loaded with black bags and a scrap tyre
Four volunteers in name-tagged shirts stand on a sunny canyon path with bagged litter and long-handled grabbers among yellow wildflowers

Great American Cleanup Events Include:

Litter and debris removal from roadsides, highways, shorelines, and waterways.

Clean and restore nature trails, recreations areas, and playgrounds.

Educate communities about waste reduction and recycling.

Plant trees, flowers, and gardens.

Rebuild public spaces in communities impacted by natural disasters.

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The 2025 Great American Cleanup report

8.1 million

Pounds of litter and debris removed

168,000

Acres cleaned and improved

70,000

Plants, flowers, shrubs and bulbs planted

Three ways in

A line of volunteers in high-visibility vests spread out across a grassy verge, bending to collect litter into white bags.

Join an event near you

Local affiliates run organized cleanups all spring. Find one close by and turn up — registered volunteers get a free cleanup kit while supplies last.

A Great American Cleanup volunteer kit laid out on a grey sofa: a lime hi-vis vest with a silver reflective stripe and the Keep America Beautiful tree logo, a blue Keep America Beautiful drawstring bag, a black and yellow long-handled litter grabber, a bundle of bright green liner bags, grey work gloves, and a small orange digital hanging scale.

Run your own

No event nearby, or the timing doesn't fit? Clean your own block, on your own schedule. Registered volunteers receive a cleanup kit while supplies last — litter picker, gloves, liners, scale and a reflective vest.

Two Keep Hattiesburg Beautiful volunteers in hi-vis vests and sunglasses stand arm in arm at a playground, leaning on rakes, with children playing on the climbing frame behind them.

Find your affiliate

700 local Keep America Beautiful affiliates organize the work year-round, not just in spring. Yours is the fastest route to something happening near you.

News & Events

From Highways to Coastlines: New Research Uncovers the True Scope of Litter in America

June 15, 2026 · McCall Vrydaghs

Listen to this podcast episode exploring the methodology, data collection, and key insights behind the Keep America Beautiful 2026 National Litter Study.

Undescribed photograph from Keep America Beautiful Recycling Pilot Shows Strong Results at Grand Teton National Park. No description was migrated for this image.

Keep America Beautiful Recycling Pilot Shows Strong Results at Grand Teton National Park

June 15, 2026 · McCall Vrydaghs

Collaboration with TerraCycle® and Grand Teton Lodge Company®, with support from the National Park Foundation helped reduce landfilled waste, improve diversion, and create new recycling options for hard-to-recycle materials.

Undescribed photograph from National Secure Your Load Day on June 6 Marks 10 Years of Raising Awareness About Preventable Roadway Hazards. No description was migrated for this image.

National Secure Your Load Day on June 6 Marks 10 Years of Raising Awareness About Preventable Roadway Hazards

June 5, 2026 · McCall Vrydaghs

According to the Keep America Beautiful 2026 National Litter Study, an estimated 454 million pieces of roadway litter are linked to unsecured loads.

Thanks to our 2025 Great American Cleanup National Sponsors:

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iHeartMedia logo with a large red heart of broadcast waves beside iHeart in black stacked over MEDIA in grey
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Wide white banner carrying the Niagara Cares mark: orange lowercase "niagara" with a blue water droplet, and "cares" in script inside a blue brushed heart
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Wider white field carrying the blue "NORTHROP GRUMMAN" wordmark and its right-angle bracket mark

Great American Cleanup 2024 Report

Close view of a bed of white daisies and leafy seedlings being planted through black landscaping fabric, a spade upright at the right and an open bag of compost nearby. A smiling woman with curly hair, mirrored green sunglasses and a red Keep America Beautiful shirt kneels at the left with a plug plant in her hand.
Volunteer seen from behind in a neon Keep America Beautiful vest with the three-tree logo, flexing beside a pickup bed loaded with black bags and a scrap tyre
Four volunteers in name-tagged shirts stand on a sunny canyon path with bagged litter and long-handled grabbers among yellow wildflowers

Great American Cleanup Events Include:

Join us in creating cleaner and greener neighborhoods across America by supporting our work at Keep America Beautiful. Your contribution helps us plant trees, organize community cleanups, and inspire environmental stewardship nationwide. Click below to donate and be a part of the movement towards a more sustainable and vibrant future!

Looking for more information about the Great American Cleanup? Contact us!

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Keep America Beautiful 2025 Great American Cleanup Report

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