Keep Tennessee Beautiful (KTB) is right in our midst, housed on South Campus at The University of Memphis.
Established on campus in 1983 as the Clean Tennessee Program, the name change to KTB took place in 1998.
Chris Kilpatrick is the Great American Cleanup coordinator for Keep Tennessee Beautiful.
The Great American Cleanup is an annual event held all over the nation during March, April and May. KTB coordinates the event in Tennessee.
Kilpatrick said KTB is a “grant project administered by The University of Memphis” and the Tennessee Department of Transportation provides funding.
“We are litter prevention more than litter pickup,” Kilpatrick said.
KTB members promote their program to counties and states. However, most of the work done on campus takes place in coalition with the Memphis City Beautiful Commission — the local affiliate for Keep America Beautiful.
Kilpatrick said the Memphis City Beautiful Commission worked with the Art Department on an environmental art project last year.
Eldra White, executive director of Memphis City Beautiful Commission, said The U of M has “helped with various cleanup campaigns.”
Memphis City Beautiful Commission organizes community projects and public awareness campaigns.
Their goal is to make citizens “responsible with waste handling practices,” White said.
White said they also try to provide a unified approach to beautification by their program “Plant the Town Red.”
Kilpatrick said they encourage recycling of paper and aluminum on campus and are primarily a clearinghouse of materials donated by sponsors. He said they ensure items like trash bags, banners and posters are distributed across the state in 74 of the 95 counties in Tennessee. The group also coordinates with local community groups to pick up trash.
Kilpatrick said they have several national sponsors —including Pepsi, TV Guide, Lysol and Firestone — that provide financial assistance or donated materials.
KTB works primarily in organization, marketing, public service announcements and news releases. Kilpatrick said that in the last fiscal year the group received $1.8 million in donated airtime for their cause.
He added they “try to direct to local affiliates because we try to represent the entire state.”
