The Hagens in Arlington have made a game of picking up trash with their grandchildren. Photo by Jim Domke.
May 22, 2025
By July 4, the yearly spring Great American Cleanup Campaign will have come to an end.
During this time of year, most communities across the country pitch in to pick up litter from the side of the road, parks and along waterways. Sponsored by Keep America Beautiful, these annual “trash bashes” are typically coordinated through city governments, i.e. Keep Dallas Beautiful, Keep Fort Worth Beautiful, etc.
Last year, more than 64,000 clean-up events were held in the U.S. according to KAB.
DUELING HISTORIES
Launched in 1953, Keep America Beautiful was formed by a group of corporate and civic leaders in New York City who came together to promote the idea of national cleanliness and litter prevention, according to the KAB website. In 1965, Lady Bird Johnson joined the campaign, saying “We need urgently to restore the beauty of our land.”
Sounds squeaky clean, however, over the years, critics have accused the nonprofit’s founders, which included major packaging manufacturers, as having a hidden agenda.
Heather Rogers’ 2005 book Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbage, argues that KAB successfully shifted the blame of America’s waste problem away from corporations onto citizens. “Litterbugs” were cast as the source of the trash problem rather than the industries who created the throw away culture and fought regulations.
As a side note:
On Earth Day 1971, Keep America Beautiful in partnership with the Ad Council launched the famous "Crying Indian" public service advertisement. The gut-wrenching ad featured an Italian-American actor dressed as a Native American, tearing up at the site of urban blight. Arguably one of the most effective PSAs in the history of advertising, KAB later got flak for stereotyping Native Americans. In 2023, the ad was retired and KAB transferred the rights to the National Congress of American Indians Fund.
VOLUNTEERS CARRY ON
A Plogging Station on Balcones Trail in Cedar Hill encourages trail users to pick up trash on their hikes or runs, a practice known as plogging. Photo by Jim Domke.
Today, littering remains a concern for most people.
Keep America Beautiful says that data shows 90 percent of Americans believe there is too much litter in their communities.
The Don’t Mess with Texas website lists some of the excuses people make for littering: there is no trash can, the city or county will clean it up, it’s organic not trash, the place is already trashed or it’s tiny, no big deal.
Thankfully, good-hearted citizens won’t stop picking up trash after the trash bashes are done. There are people who simply hate seeing trash and aren’t afraid to pick it up.
Like the Hagens who once a week, give their daughter in Arlington some downtime by taking their grandchildren out to visit a park. The grandkids, ages six and three, quickly get bored with the slides and swings.
The Hagens have discovered a new competition the whole family can share: Who can pick up the most trash in the park?
The two grandparents and two grandchildren all carry their own trash picker poles with Grandpa carrying a plastic bag to collect what they pick-up. For their grandkids, this isn’t a chore — it’s a fun game. They race around the park picking up paper, plastic bags, foam drinking cups, candy wrappers, etc. Who will win and find the most stuff?
Then there’s Andrew Baker in Kennedale. He was bothered by all the litter his daughter passed as she walked to school — the water bottles, soda cans, paper, cups, etc. — so he started picking it up.
“Not just for her but for everybody.”
His daughter graduated from Kennedale High a couple of years ago, but he continues picking up trash in front of the school, mostly every day. He says he saves the cans and when he gets several pounds he sells it to a local recycler.
In Cedar Hill, the city’s Balcones Trail, which runs along FM 1382 adjacent to Dogwood Canyon Audubon Center, has a Plogging Station. A sign encourages joggers/hikers to take one of the picker sticks and a bucket to hold the trash found along the trail. Plogging is a portmanteau that comes from the Swedish term “plocka upp,” meaning to pickup, and jogging. (The buckets are heavy, bring a plastic bag).
In Pleasant Grove, 81-year-old retired electrician Kenneth Winn has been picking up trash in his neighborhood for 20 years in his tricked out Trash Truck. Winn won Green Source DFW's Unsung Hero Award in 2018 for his heroic efforts. Watch a sweet 2-minute video about his work.
Courtesy of city of Dallas.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Check your local cities web site for events they have planned this summer. Here are a few coming up:
Grapevine
Post Memorial Day Cleanup Crusade
May 27 from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m.
“Looking for an impactful way to improve your community and enjoy the outdoors?” asks the City of Grapevine where they want volunteers to help remove litter left behind after Memorial Day Weekend.
Dallas
Keep Dallas Beautiful has events planned on June 7 and June 14 as well as July 19 and August 8.
Fort Worth
Keep Fort Worth Beautiful is hosting an event on June 14 in Meadowbrook.
RESOURCES
Texas Recycling in Dallas has a useful guide to recycle everything from tennis balls and toothbrushes to aluminum cans and paper.
You can also check with your city's website for recycling options. For example, the city of Fort Worth offers a searchable recycling wizard.
Texas Recycling in Dallas has a useful guide to recycle everything from tennis balls and toothbrushes to aluminum cans and paper.
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Author
JIM DOMKE
J.G. Domke was raised in Greeley Colorado, where he looked forward to Sunday trips to Rocky Mountain National Park. A journalist who likes telling the story in words and pictures, he has worked at numerous newspapers around the country. He is now based in Arlington, where there is lots of sun and no fear of getting stuck in the snow. Contact him at [email protected].
