The 33rd annual Oklahoma “Trash-Off,” part of a goal to keep Oklahoma free of litter as volunteers spring into the season, is open for registration. The Oklahoma Department of Transportation and Keep Oklahoma Beautiful are once again partners for the event, which is part of the national three-month annual Great American Cleanup.
Trash-Off is a statewide all-day event on April 16, and the Great American Cleanup is open to all communities and volunteers through May 31. To register for either event, groups, counties and individuals may join online at www.keepoklahomabeautiful.com or call (405) 286-9141.
Trash-Off is the Transportation Department’s statewide cleanup day when Adopt-A-Highway groups, cities and communities, counties, state parks, Corps of Engineers lakes and other organizations and individuals volunteer to clean Oklahoma highways, roads and community areas. The event began as a coordinated pickup day for AAH groups, but has grown to include a wide variety of organizations.
Many groups have expanded Trash-Off Day into a week or even a month. Cities often participate by arranging free dump days or curbside pickups. Many groups combine cleanups with other events such as picnics, contests or trash parades to encourage participation.
Keep Oklahoma Beautiful was able to partner with 138 Great American Cleanup community events in 2021, up from 49 previously. Keep Oklahoma Beautiful had 9,320 participants who collected nearly three million pounds of litter and cleaned nearly 6,000 miles of roads, more than a 1,700% increase from the year before. Typically, yearlong contributions save the state more than $5 million a year in cleanup savings as a result of these volunteer efforts.
Keep Oklahoma Beautiful provides Trash-Off supplies and promotional items to participants, including cash grants, trash bags and water donations. ODOT distributes the supplies to each of its 77 county maintenance yards where they are picked up by volunteers. This year’s participants are advised to use gloves at all times, practice social distancing, limit groups to 10-20 individuals, and keep any children closely supervised when participating in the cleanup efforts.
Keep America Beautiful recognized ODOT and the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority with the national 2021 State Agency Partnership Recognition Award for ODOT’s continued involvement with the Great American Cleanup. Both ODOT and OTA also earned this national honor in 2020.
Oklahoma’s Great American Cleanup is sponsored by ODOT, OTA, Keep Oklahoma Beautiful, Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, OG&E, Public Service Co. of Oklahoma, Warren CAT, Oklahoma Beverage Association and Pepsi Bottling.