INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Keep Indian River Beautiful (KIRB) is launching a local version of a successful national campaign called “Littering is Wrong Too!”
The new litter prevention education campaign calls attention to the inappropriate act of littering, and the thoughtlessness of offenders.
“Littering is Wrong Too,” allows everyone to get involved in a unique way. It links littering with other wrongdoings like “networking at a funeral” or “sending Mother’s Day Flowers C.O.D,” while also defining the act of littering as socially unacceptable.
Geared to those found to be most likely to litter, people ages of 18 to 34, which the campaign entertains in order to get people talking. The ultimate goal is to shine a spotlight on the thoughtlessness of the litterer, to induce a change in behavior and eventually lead to a cleaner, more beautiful community.
“Sadly, many people still don’t view litter as a real problem,” said Bronwen Evans, director of litter programs, Keep America Beautiful. “They don’t understand that litter has a real and serious economic impact on a community, in addition to the environmental fallout. We’re hoping to engage people through this campaign and, in the process, get them to recognize that littering is not only a costly problem, but a preventable one.”
Keep America Beautiful developed the “Littering is Wrong Too” campaign for its community-based affiliates across the country after a successful test pilot of the campaign in Cincinnati, Ohio. Keep Indian River Beautiful is the latest affiliate to launch a local campaign, which is being supported by Altria Group through a $5,000 Keep America Beautiful “Littering is Wrong Too” grant.
Keep Indian River Beautiful will host a social media contest to determine the top local “wrong” to use as our slogan in 2015. From Nov. 7 to Jan. 8, anyone can submit their wrong using #LitteringIsWrongTooIRC or visiting us at our store in the Indian River Mall. A team of volunteers will be at local events also promoting the contest and accepting entries. For a list of these events, visit our website at KIRB.org or “Like” KIRB on Facebook and follow on Twitter @KeepIRBeautiful.
Keep Indian River Beautiful needs the community’s help to generate more buzz for the problem of litter while engaging residents in a humorous way.
“Indian River is a beautiful place to live and our economy depends on tourism. Both are excellent reasons to care about the aesthetic beauty and health of our environment,” say Daisy Packer, Executive Director of Keep Indian River Beautiful. “This is a fun, constructive way to show litterbugs we care about keeping our community litter free.”
Keep America Beautiful is the nation’s leading nonprofit that brings people together to build and sustain vibrant communities. With a national network of community-based affiliates, Keep America Beautiful works with millions of volunteers who take action in their communities to transform public spaces into beautiful places. Through programs and public-private partnerships, Keep America Beautiful engages individuals to take greater responsibility for improving their community’s environment. For more information, visit kab.org, follow them on Twitter, like them on Facebook, or view them on YouTube.
Keep Indian River Beautiful is a 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization and local affiliate of Keep America Beautiful. Formed in 1998, KIRB is dedicated to improving the community and environment through education and hands-on volunteer opportunities. Its mission is to empower individuals to take greater responsibility for community environments by involving volunteers in litter prevention, beautification, recycling and conservation education. Visit them at KIRB.org or at the store located in the Indian River Mall. Ask about volunteering or for more information on opportunities such as Adopt-A-Highway, the Great American Cleanup or waterway cleanups and beautification projects.