Our sincere thanks go to all those participating in the 8th Annual Litter Prevention Award Competition with special recognition and CONGRATULATIONS going to the following 2007 WINNERS!

1st Place Government Agency ($1,000) - Keep Onslow Beautiful - Jacksonville, N.C. submitted by Ms. Kelly Lowery.

Response to need: What is the Motivation for your activity? Litter is an expensive problem, not just in terms of money. It costs the lives of animals that perceive litter as food. It cost us beauty of seeing our natural resources in a natural environment. Litter harms our water as debris is found every year at Beach Sweep. It also has an impact on tourism….It is important for people to be continually educated of litter prevention measures so that they can put into practice what they are taught…It is the goal of Keep Onslow Beautiful that the program of services provided makes it easy for individuals to make the right choice and take responsibility for our land.

Litter Prevention: How does your activity change people's attitudes and behaviors with regard to litter? KOB believes that a person's attitude and behavior change when they begin to take responsibility for what they have…The outreach program provides them with opportunities to do something about it…it also provides a perpetual anti litter momentum because the services are on going year after year. KOB continually builds upon those services to make them even more effective. This is why we are successful in meeting our program expectations. There is always room to improve; more audiences to target; and more programs to develop.

Measurability: How is the effectiveness of the activity being determined? The effectiveness of the activities within the Litter Prevention Outreach Program is determined by the number of people that we reach through the unit of services and the amount of litter or would be litter. For the loan-a-barrel program we ask volunteers to keep track of bags of trash collected...take a litter assessment along the parade route before and after and then the bags of trash collected are counted. In addition we use the litter index as a tool to aid us in determining the litter problems in the area as well as to determine where the litter is located…

Education: What educational techniques are being used to inform the public and community about the litter problem and the need to eliminate it? It is important to find out how to target a certain age group or audience. There is no one method that can be effective at reaching everyone. It takes different means to educate different people. For students, KOB uses a lot of hands-on activities that are simple and easy to understand. It is important to have pictures for younger students because they can relate better to a picture than words they do not know. Older students enjoy media based education. They are proficient with electronics. Presentations for this group are made with that I mind including adding music and graphics. Most importantly, presentations and activities are correlated to the NC Standard Course of Study. For other age groups and audiences, brochures, the Onslow County Web site and having an informal question and answer meeting is effective. Recently KOB used talk radio and a local county station to educate students.

Partnership: How does the program involve participants other than the sponsoring organization? It is very important for any group to have partnerships because what one cannot do by themselves, a group of groups can. KOB partners with various groups throughout Onslow County and other areas. The New River Foundation helps with waterway cleanups by providing canoes and we both provide volunteers. Onslow County Parks and Recreation invites KOB to attend Arbor Day Celebration at the mall. This is one way we introduce litter prevention outreach program to citizens. The Onslow County School system is a partner because they provide us with student volunteers and a place to educate students and teachers on what they can do to prevent litter. As an affiliate of Keep America Beautiful, KOB is a partner in bringing national recognized events to the local level. KAB provides the affiliates with the kits to market these events which can be effective in increasing attendance at cleanups.

Innovation: Is your activity unique? The Litter Prevention Outreach Program is unique in the fact that most programs target a specific audience. The outreach program targets all the audiences with different means to reach them. For the program to be more effective, KOB performs a SWOT Analysis, which assess the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the program. By monitoring those four areas, services can be improved and changed to fit the need for the people in Onslow County as well as the type of litter found.

Plans For Award Funds: How will the award dollars be used? The award funds will be used to fund various supplies needed for the Litter Prevention Outreach Program. This includes stickers for the loan-a-barrel program to identify the containers as litter disposal bins. Many times when we receive calls from volunteers wanting to help in organizing a cleanup, they request safety vests, which we do not have. Therefore, a portion of the funds would go to purchase safety vests that would be loaned out to volunteers. These vests would also be used in our Environmental Elf program. Additionally, Keep Onslow Beautiful is in need of a digital camera to further enhance litter prevention presentations and booths. Pictures can say what words cannot.

2nd Place Government Agency ($500) - City of Concord, N.C. submitted by Diana Horton. The Program Overview: The City of Concord administers several litter management activities that contribute to the beautification of the city, such as the biannual litter sweeps, an Adopt-A-Street program, a litter reporting program, a street sweeping program, a catch basin cleaning program, a community work crew program and civic education at area schools, the County Fair and through city mailings. City employees strive to set a good example for the stewardship of the community and encourage citizens to get involved.

1st Place Non-profit ($1,000) - Keep McDowell Beautiful, Inc. of Marion, N.C. submitted by Denise Buck. The Eco Van Environmental Awareness program provides hands-on interactive environmental education to the children of McDowell County… The program is a partnership between Keep McDowell Beautiful, McDowell County and the McDowell County School District. At the beginning of each school year elementary school teachers, grades k-6, are provided with a menu of activities and lessons, which are aligned and correlated to North Carolina curriculum for each grade level. A teacher from each school coordinates the Eco Van teacher to schedule the school year. The Eco Van is staffed by a fulltime certified science teacher. All lesson/activity materials and supplemental lessons are provided by the Eco Van teacher. During 2006, the Eco Van delivered 430 lessons to almost 9,000 students.

2nd Place Non-profit ($500) - Greater Whiteville Chamber of Commerce, Whiteville, N.C. submitted by Marjorie Rabon. Members of the Litter and Beautification Committee developed a program and obtained endorsement from the public school superintendent and three headmasters at three local private schools. The program was designed to address the problem of litter and change the habits of third, fourth and fifth graders - about 800 children in four schools and their teachers. The program included development of lesson plans; litter preventative art contest and kickoff programs at school; distribution of litter prevention packets and custom designed T-shirts for each child; an awards ceremony and reception for art contest winners at the local community college; a gallery display of the art of the 45 finalists at the college, and the adaptation of the winner's art work to be displayed on a local billboard.

1st Place Schools/Youth Groups ($1,000) - Hopewell United Methodist Church - Youth Group of Sherrills Ford, N.C. submitted by Tamara Wensil. The Hopewell Youth Group developed an initiative to gain community support by creating a litter prevention flier and planning a litter cleanup day in Sherrills Ford. The flier promoting Save the Earth & Don't Litter was approved by the Catawba County School board for distribution to elementary children. The fliers are to reach the students and parents. The educational component incorporated the flier and a visual presentation for the community through the elementary school.

2nd Place Schools/Youth Groups ($500) - Smithfield Selma High School NJROTC of Smithfield, N.C. submitted by Master Sergeant Randy Griffin. The Naval Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps provides its cadets the opportunity for self-improvement through instilling the student's value of citizenship, service to the United States, personal responsibility, self discipline, teamwork and cooperation. The SSHS NJROTC emphasizes community service projects. One of these is the Adopt-A-Highway Program and the cadets are dedicated to motivate litter removal from the roadways and promote pride in their community.