Join South Alabama's Largest Community Cleanup!

Keep America Beautiful estimates that litter cleanup costs in the USA are $11,500,000,000 each year.

Your commitment to share the “It’s in the Bag” Cleanup Campaign with your friends and colleagues is essential to keeping our community and waterways clean! Did you know that 80 percent of the trash in the ocean has come from our lands and waters? Yes it’s that trash you see in parking lots and on the roadside. We see two ways to pick up trash - happily taking care of our community or angrily being dumped on by litter bugs. Let’s take the first option. Let’s join the tens of millions of people around the world who know that picking up trash is the fun, easy and popular thing to do.

More than 17 billion pounds of plastic pollution flow out of our communities and into the ocean every year.

Three Easy Steps to Make a Difference for Future Generations

Step 1: Call on your friends & colleagues

Most of us are aggravated with the trash on the streets, in the rivers, and on the beaches. Many still step over the trash or avoid the places where it collects. But a growing number of us know that picking up just a few pieces of trash during our day or week, can make a difference! We know that no matter where we are whether it is in the mall parking lot, walking in the neighborhood or hanging out at the beach, just bending down to pick up a few pieces of trash really is the way to create a trash free community and a trash free ocean. And now you are joining with others in fun, easy and popular activities. Because we know that it really is all that!

Just ask David Sedaris, best-selling author, Grammy-nominated humorist, prolific radio contributor, US chat show regular and internationally celebrated figure; who also picks up trash along the roads of his neighborhood of Sussex England.

Or ask Tony Waldrop, president of the University of South Alabama who walks the Dauphin Island, Alabama beach with his wife picking up trash. He gushes about how the people who pass them say thank you. And when they walk the beach the next day some of these people have their own bags and are picking up trash!

So who else in your network worries about trash? Who gets hot when they see the beaches littered with trash or plastic bags drifting in the wind? We are looking for funders and volunteers to create unique and local cleanup campaigns.

Step Two: Design your own unique campaign

But I don't have much time! What does an It’s in the Bag cleanup campaign look like? How many people have to participate? That will vary with your team and territory.

Basically you’re asking people to pick up a small amount of trash each week and tell us about their experiences. This is easy because with their campaign donation they get some beautiful bags that connect them to this growing community of people who are keeping our lands and waterways clean of trash. Here is an example of just how easy it is:
  1. Share the bags with your neighbors. Hank Caddell, Thiry and Caddell LLP, plans to give them to his walking neighbors. This way when folks are walking the neighborhood, they can pick up the odd water bottle or soda can. Hank says that it’s like adding a Pilates routine to his walk.
  2. Share the bags with a youth group. Hendrik Snow, Snow Law Firm, has committed to donate his bags to his son’s Boy Scout troop and help them with a few park and neighborhood cleanups. This way, the scouts take litter cleanup to areas beyond where they camp, learn how litter impacts wildlife, and see how much litter is a resource wasted.  So much of litter is material that is recyclable.
  3. Share them with your beach buddies. BJ Smith, Shorecombers LLC, and her friends are going to the beach and while they’re carrying out their own trash, they can pick up a few pieces that someone else left behind or that washed up on the shore.
These are a few ideas off the tops of our heads. What ideas can you think of? Where does litter bother you the most? Would you share your bags with your neighbors, family, coworkers, schools, church, or youth groups? Who else?

Step Three: Pick up litter and tell us about it!

We'll be tracking and celebrating our progress. So while you are picking up litter whether on your own or in a group, we want to know what you are finding and where you are finding it.  We want to hear your stories about the weirdest trash and the wildest location. Tell us how you talk to people about picking up trash and how many people you are converting. Take photos of your catch and photos of yourself and your team. Post them to your favorite social media with #itsinthebag. Or you can email them to us to be posted on our social media.

Even if you only use the bag for shopping, instead of getting a plastic or paper shopping bag, we know you are making a difference. Remember there is no amount too small because truly every piece makes a difference.