Keep America Beautiful
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, with approximately 589 affiliate organizations (similar to local chapters) and more than 1,000 community organizations that participate in their programs.
Keep America Beautiful focuses on three key issues: litter
Litter in the United States
Litter in the United States is an environmental issue and littering is often an criminal offense, punishable with a fine as set out by statutes in many places.Litter laws, enforcement efforts, and court prosecutions are used to help curtail littering...
prevention, waste reduction
Waste minimisation
Waste minimization is the process and the policy of reducing the amount of waste produced by a person or a society.Waste minimization involves efforts to minimize resource and energy use during manufacture. For the same commercial output, usually the fewer materials are used, the less waste is...
/recycling
Recycling
Recycling is processing used materials into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution and water pollution by reducing the need for "conventional" waste disposal, and lower greenhouse...
and community greening & beautification. This is accomplished through a combination of community organizing
Community organizing
Community organizing is a process where people who live in proximity to each other come together into an organization that acts in their shared self-interest. A core goal of community organizing is to generate durable power for an organization representing the community, allowing it to influence...
, public education and the fostering of public/private partnerships.
History
Keep America Beautiful was founded in 1953 by consortium of American businesses, nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and concerned individuals in reaction to the growing problem of highway litter that followed the construction of the Interstate Highway SystemInterstate Highway System
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, , is a network of limited-access roads including freeways, highways, and expressways forming part of the National Highway System of the United States of America...
, and an increasingly mobile and convenience-oriented American consumer. The original goal of the organization was to reduce litter through public service advertising (PSA) campaigns.
Keep America Beautiful conducted many local PSA campaigns early in its history. One of these early campaigns in Pennsylvania, some attribute to having coined the term "litterbug", as opposed to the New York Transit Authority . Keep America Beautiful joined with the Ad Council
Ad Council
The Advertising Council, commonly known as the Ad Council, is an American non-profit organization that distributes public service announcements on behalf of various sponsors, including non-profit organizations and agencies of the United States government....
in 1961 to dramatize the idea that every individual must help protect against the terrible effects litter has on the environment.
A popular television campaign theme in 1963 was "Every Litter Bit Hurts". Another appeared in 1964 featuring character Susan Spotless. In 1970 KAB began distributing a free brochure; more than 100,000 copies were requested within 4 months.
Keep America Beautiful joined with the Ad Council
Ad Council
The Advertising Council, commonly known as the Ad Council, is an American non-profit organization that distributes public service announcements on behalf of various sponsors, including non-profit organizations and agencies of the United States government....
in 1961 to dramatize the idea that every individual must help protect against the terrible effects litter has on the environment.
On Earth Day 1971, a new campaign was launched with the theme "People Start Pollution. People can stop it" featuring the now iconic "Crying Indian" played by Iron Eyes Cody
Iron Eyes Cody
Iron Eyes Cody was an American actor. He frequently portrayed American Indians in Hollywood films. In 1995, Cody was honored by the American Indian community for his work publicizing the plight of Native Americans, including his acting in films...
.
In 1975 Keep America Beautiful introduced its "Clean Community System" which encouraged local communities to prevent litter through education efforts, advertising, local research, mapping of litter "hotspots", and clean up activities. During the height of the campaign KAB received over 2,000 letters a month from people wanting to join their local programs. The "Clean Community System" evolved into KAB's current network of roughly 580 local "Keep My Town Beautiful" organizations nationwide. By the end of the campaign locals had succeeded to reduce litter by 88%.
In 1999 Keep America Beautiful introduced its annual "Great American Cleanup" campaign, where volunteers are organized to clean up litter and illegal dumpsites in their communities, remove graffiti, and plant trees, flowers and community gardens.
Accomplishments
Keep America Beautiful is best known for the "Crying Indian" public service advertisement (PSA) which launched on Earth DayEarth Day
Earth Day is a day that is intended to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's natural environment. The name and concept of Earth Day was allegedly pioneered by John McConnell in 1969 at a UNESCO Conference in San Francisco. The first Proclamation of Earth Day was by San Francisco, the...
in 1971. This advertising campaign has been widely credited, including in Frank Lowenstein's "Voices of Protest" with inspiring America's fledgling environmental movement.
KAB was the first organization to bring littering to national attention and made "litterbug” a household word.
The Great American Cleanup, KAB's annual signature event, organized 3 million volunteers through 30,000 events in 17,000 communities in 2008. The effort removed 86 million pounds of litter from landscapes and waterways, recycled 10 million pounds of metals, 37 million pounds of newsprint, 1.4 million tires, and 5.3 million pounds of electronics.
Criticism
Walter Lamb, head of the organization Cigarettelitter.org, accused KAB in 2001 of acting in the interests of large corporate sponsors such as cigarette company Philip Morris, to ignore cigarette butt litter. In recent years, Lamb has been encouraged by KAB's Cigarette Litter Prevention Program, telling the Riverside (CA) Free Press: "We were very happy with the progress that Keep America Beautiful has made in addressing this important issue, but the tobacco companies need to do much more." His organization's website lauds recent efforts, saying: "ABC News and Keep America Beautiful are to be commended for helping to raise awareness about litter, including the #1 form of litter, cigarette butts."Heather Rogers, creator of the documentary film Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbage and book of the same name, classifies Keep America Beautiful as one of the first greenwashing corporate fronts, alleging that the group was created in response to Vermont's 1953 attempt to outlaw disposable containers
Disposable
A disposable is a product designed for cheapness and short-term convenience rather than medium to long-term durability, with most products only intended for single use. The term is also sometimes used for products that may last several months to distinguish from similar products that last...
. The focus on litter, and indeed construction of the modern concept of litter, is seen as an attempt to divert responsibility from industries that rely on disposable products to the consumer that improperly disposes of them.
Shepard Krech III begins his book The Ecological Indian with a critique of the 1971 Iron Eyes Cody
Iron Eyes Cody
Iron Eyes Cody was an American actor. He frequently portrayed American Indians in Hollywood films. In 1995, Cody was honored by the American Indian community for his work publicizing the plight of Native Americans, including his acting in films...
campaign, writing that the KAB campaign "cleverly manipulated ideas deeply engrained in the national consciousness.... Even though an invention of Madison Avenue, the Crying Indian is an effective image and advocate because its assumptions are not new."
Elizabeth Royte
Elizabeth Royte
Elizabeth Royte is an American science/nature writer. She is best known for her books Garbage Land , The Tapir's Morning Bath: Solving the Mysteries of the Tropical Rain Forest , and Bottlemania: How Water Went on Sale and Why We Bought It Elizabeth Royte is an American science/nature writer. She...
author of Garbage Land, describes Keep America Beautiful as a "masterful example of corporate greenwash," writing that in contrast to its anti-litter campaigns, it ignores the potential of recycling legislation and resists changes to packaging.
See also
- Clean Up the WorldClean Up the WorldClean Up the World is a community-based, environmental campaign that inspires and empowers communities around the globe to clean up, fix up and conserve their environment....
- Container deposit legislationContainer deposit legislationContainer-deposit legislation is any law that requires collection of a monetary deposit on soft-drink, juice, milk, water, alcoholic-beverage, and/or other containers at the point of sale...
- Don't Mess with TexasDon't Mess with TexasThe phrase Don’t Mess with Texas is a trademark of the Texas Department of Transportation, which began as part of a statewide advertising campaign started in 1986...
- Iron Eyes CodyIron Eyes CodyIron Eyes Cody was an American actor. He frequently portrayed American Indians in Hollywood films. In 1995, Cody was honored by the American Indian community for his work publicizing the plight of Native Americans, including his acting in films...
- Keep Britain TidyKeep Britain TidyKeep Britain Tidy is a British campaign run by the Keep Britain Tidy environmental charity, which is part funded by the UK government. The majority of their campaigning is around the issue of litter. They have been using "Keep Britain Tidy" as their slogan for almost fifty years...
- Clean Up AustraliaClean Up AustraliaClean Up Australia is a not-for-profit Australian environmental conservation organisation founded by Australian Ian Kiernan, and co-founder Kim McKay, in 1989. It works to foster relationships between the community, business and government to address the environmental issues of waste, water and...
- Litter in the United StatesLitter in the United StatesLitter in the United States is an environmental issue and littering is often an criminal offense, punishable with a fine as set out by statutes in many places.Litter laws, enforcement efforts, and court prosecutions are used to help curtail littering...
- Recycling in the United StatesRecycling in the United StatesThis article examines recycling in the United States. Since there is no national law that mandates recycling, state and local governments often introduce recycling requirements. A number of U.S...
- Roads Beautifying AssociationRoads Beautifying AssociationThe Roads Beautifying Association was founded in the United Kingdom in 1928 by Wilfrid Fox.The group had the aim of improving the environment around the new roads being built to accommodate cars around London. It published Roadside Planting in 1930. It was also created to help Britain out of the...
(in the UK) - TIDY Northern IrelandTIDY Northern IrelandTIDY Northern Ireland is a non-profit environmental organisation that runs the "Keep Northern Ireland Tidy Campaign", and manages a number of local environmental quality programmes such as Blue Flag, Borough Cleanliness Survey, TIDY Communities, TIDY Business and Eco-Schools.-Overview:TIDY Northern...