KickButtColumbus! Volunteers Cleanup 22.3 Tons of Litter and 284,315 Cigarette Butts
A record crowd of 600 volunteers chanting three words about litter…PICK
IT UP!!! came together to clean spring litter from 40 highway locations during
the 9th annual KickButtColumbus! on Saturday, March 25,
2017. This year’s efforts gleaned 22. 3 tons of litter, 1.1 tons of recyclables and 55,968 cigarette butts from
157 Columbus freeway exit and entrance ramps around the City’s urban
core. The event is also part of Keep America Beautiful’s “Great American
Clean Up” a volunteer machine of KAB affiliates tackling litter abatement
across the county.
Event volunteers were broken into teams from businesses and
community organizations they work for or represent. Team 13,( I 70 Exit 107)
which included representatives from Because I Said I Would and Leawood Gardens
collected 117 bags of litter to win the KickButt Pink Tiara crown and the
event’s Golden Ashtray Award, went to Team 11 (Exit I71 Exit 107) South Central
Commons Block Watch for the most bags of cigarette
butts.
KickButtColumbus! is made up of a small planning
committee who either provide and/or coordinate in-kind services each year for
the event. Team recruitment, trash pickup, food, t-shirts, team photos and
advertising are all donated. Thanks goes to the following businesses for
their 2017 KickButt contribution:
- Blendon Gardens
- Central Ohio Transit
Authority
- City of Columbus &
Keep Columbus Beautiful
- Columbus Young
Professionals Club
- Experience Columbus
- e-for-tit Designs
- Barcelona, White Castle,
Papa John’s Pizza, G & J Pepsi
- ODOT
- Peabody Landscape Group
- Momma Green/NAI Ohio Equities
- Lamar Outdoor Advertising
The following businesses and organizations adopted freeway ramps
that were cleaned by their representatives who volunteered last Saturday:
- Salem Civic
- Aqua Doc Lake & Pond Management
- Adena Brook Community
- Maize Road Civic Association
- Riverside Radiology
- Blendon Gardens
- North Linden Area Commission & Habitat For Humanity Mid Ohio
- The Flames Motorcycle Club
- Restoration Academy
- Dress For Success
- Old Town East (OTENA)
- South Central Commons Block Watch
- BESA
- Because I Said I Would
- Brainstorm Media
- Leawood Gardens Neighborhood Association
- OTENA
- State Auto
- Ni-Source, Columbia Gas of Ohio
- WBNS 10 TV
- Turner Construction
- Columbus Young Professionals Club
- COASPA
- Friends of the Hilltop
- Franklin Heights NJROTC
- Clean Turn, She Has A Name Cleaning Service
- Refuge Ministeries
- Hidden Creek Landscaping
- Environmental Management Inc
- Friends of the Lower Olentangy (FLOW)
- Benchmark Landscape Construction Inc
- The Cleary Company
- Columbus Gives Back
- WCMH NBC 4
- Momma Green/NAI Ohio Equities
- Rogue Rabbit
- West-Ward Pharmaceuticals
- Franklinton Board of Trade
- Franklinton Progressives
- Franklinton Young Democrats
- Greater Columbus Certified Tourism Ambassadors (CTAs)
- MPG Landscapes
- Columbus City Council
- TEAM Ginther
- CPO Building Blocks
- Speedway LLC
- Stowe Mission C3Love Team
- Southeast Lions Club
- Peabody Landscaping
- Lynch Retirement Advisors
- Gahanna Lincoln High School
- The Walker Movement
- City Year
- Alpha Phi Omega
- Kappa Alpha Theta
- Keel Outdoors
- Northwest Civic Association
- Black & Veatch
- Mission Possible
Keep Columbus Beautiful is a community improvement
program based in the City of Columbus’ Department of Public Service, Division
of Refuse Collection and an award-winning affiliate of national not-for profit,
Keep America Beautiful.