Katharine Gail Vogel Adventure in Loess Hills
March 2020 Newsletter
Community Improvement & Clean Up Ideas
Improvements to your community provide a win-win to everyone. From a renewed sense of pride among residents to creating a great first impression to visitors, any efforts toward clean up and community improvement serve to reinvigorate and set a standard for the future generations.
How you can help:
April is Keep Iowa Beautiful month. Organize business- or chamber of commerce-led litter clean up days during the month. Appeal to local businesses to donate trash bags, rubber gloves and other items. Connect with the local landfill authority and waste collectors to move bagged material to landfills or recycling centers. Pass a proclamation in support of April as Keep Iowa Beautiful month and identify what you are going to do to make your community better.
Beautify with more green. Develop a beautification plan for the community and work with your local plant nurseries for free or low cost materials. Contact the State Forester, County Conservation Board or your local Trees Forever representative about tree planting and planning for your community. Involve local service and garden clubs to help implement community beautification plans.
Organize clean-up events. Partner with various service clubs, organizations, church groups, youth groups to coordinate clean-up efforts in your community.
Promote litter-free communities. Work with local high-traffic public facilities like public libraries, auto dealers and service stations to hand out litter prevention materials at parks, business locations, stores, and other public locations or events. Work with the city officials to develop litter-free guidelines for city-permit events. 
Pick-Up Iowa 2020
This year, communities across Iowa are participating in Pick-Up Iowa in coordination with the Great America Clean Up. The Great America Clean Up is a community improvement initiative that takes place annually during the month of April in an estimated 20,000 communities nationwide. The event, which marks its 21 st  year in 2020, engages more than 3 million volunteers and participants every year to create a positive and lasting impact in their communities.

Help Iowa do its part!  Sign up to participate in our 2020 Pick-Up Iowa event!  Keep Iowa Beautiful will work with you and your community to acquire free and discounted pick-up supplies, promote your event, and make your Pick-Up Iowa efforts successful.  Pick Up Iowa will take place between March 15th and May 15th on any date that is convenient for your community.  

At Keep Iowa Beautiful, we work every day to inspire people to take action every day to improve and beautify their community environment through programs like the Pick Up Iowa and the Great America Clean Up. We can’t do it without your help!  Sign up to participate toda y!
Scholarship Winners Announced
Keep Iowa Beautiful is awarding three $1,000 scholarships to Iowa high school seniors who are enrolling in an Iowa college or university. The scholarships are in honor of three pioneers in KIB’s 20-year history:
  • Bob Byers, Educator
  • William Fultz, KIB Founding Board Member
  • Gerry Schnepf, KIB Founding Executive Director
Byers Environmental Scholarship
Molly Simmons
Hometown: Yale
School: Panorama High School
College: Iowa State University
Major: Environmental Science
William J. Fultz Communications & Marketing Scholarship
Lydia Johnson
Hometown: Bondurant
School: Bondurant-Farrar High School
College: Iowa State University
Major: Agricultural Communications and International Agriculture
Schnepf Community Service Scholarship
Patrick Taylor
Hometown: Iowa City
School: Iowa City West High
College: University of Iowa
Major: Geography
To learn more about the Keep Iowa Beautiful Scholarships, visit our website.
Keep Iowa Beautiful Photography Contest Honorable Mentions
Last month, Keep Iowa Beautiful announced the winners and honorable mentions of the 10 th  Keep Iowa Beautiful Photography Contest, aimed at raising awareness of Iowa’s natural and environmental beauty. Enjoy these photos.
Aaron Miller - Carlisle
“July Sunset Storm and Windmill"
Mark Iwig - Johnston
“Sunset at St. Paul’s Evangelical Church”
Win a Build with Bags Grant!
Application Deadline: March 30, 2020
Build with Bags
The Build with Bags program is a cooperative effort of the Iowa Grocery Industry Association, Keep Iowa Beautiful, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Metro Waste Authority and Plastic Recycling of Iowa Falls. The primary goal of Build with Bags is to tackle an environmental concern that has been receiving a great deal of attention – the use of plastic shopping bags. To address this issue, the Build with Bags program has defined four primary goals:
  • Reduce the consumption of plastic bags
  • Encourage the use of reusable bags
  • Increase the number of plastic bags recycled
  • Establish a grant program to aid parks and schools in purchasing products made of recycled plastic bags

Grant Eligibility
The grant program is available to any governmental entity, organization (i.e. service clubs, non-profit organizations) within Iowa that purchase the items for a park or school. The items must be made of recycled high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic (the base material for making plastic shopping bags). Those receiving grant awards must acquire the items and then show proof of purchase and payment before receiving reimbursement of the award.

Grant Limits
A maximum grant of $2,000 is available. Each entity applying for a grant is limited to one application or project per year.
KEEP IOWA BEAUTIFUL
2910 Westown Parkway, Suite 302 | West Des Moines, IA 50266