In 2009, GAC volunteers cleaned up just over 11,700 pounds of litter from the parks, beaches and roads of Martin County. This year, that number increased by more than 690 percent, setting a record-breaking number of 93,332 pounds of litter and household hazardous waste collected throughout the duration of the cleanup, with an additional 28,800 pounds of vegetative waste collected as well.

The KMB Adopt-A-Road program benefited during the Great American Cleanup in the same record breaking way. Nearly 200 volunteers cleaned litter from 75 roads in Martin County. Spending 330 hours along approximately 100 miles of road, nearly 1 ton of trash was removed from the roadways in our communities.

In addition to the typical litter removal efforts, a series of community revitalization projects were also organized throughout the community as a part of KMB’s Extreme Martin Makeover.

The kick-off of the Extreme Martin Makeover began in East Stuart as KMB volunteers, along with Habitat Angel, Hooks Construction, East Stuart Main Street and the City of Stuart, came together to makeover homes in the neighborhood.

Hooks Construction donated time and manpower to prepare the homes that

Dave Holzinger and Steve Hooks of Hooks Construction

were in need of structural repairs prior to the cleanup and volunteers came out to pick up litter, plant trees around the homes and paint exterior walls.

Volunteers also participated in large numbers to support the communities of Booker Park and Westbrook in Indiantown at a recent GAC event coordinated by KMB. The Booker Park neighborhood cleanup was one of the largest GAC events in Martin County this year.  Residents and volunteers removed almost 15 tons, or 30,000 pounds, of litter and debris from roadways, vacant lots and canals. In addition, the Martin County HazMobile collected nearly 50 gallons of paint, 62 pounds of batteries and 15 pounds of miscellaneous hazardous chemicals.

Hundreds of volunteers participated in the East Stuart cleanup event on Saturday, March 13, 2010

In addition to these two community projects, other revitalization projects included exotic vegetation removal, landscaping, and litter removal at the Rio/Jensen Beach Skate Park; landscaping and litter removal in Banner Lake in Hobe Sound; litter and hazardous waste removal in the Golden Gate area in Stuart; and litter removals on Jensen Beach, in Halpatiokee Park and in downtown Port Salerno.

Members of Boy Scout Troop #825 came out to participate in the Neighborhood Cleanup of Golden Gate

Keep Martin Beautiful would like to thank all of the sponsors of the Great American Cleanup and the Extreme Martin Makeover, including: Florida Department of Transportation, Waste Management, Publix Super Market Charities, South Florida Water Management District, Culpepper & Terpening, Florida Power & Light, Forest Hills Funeral Home, Lively Orthodontics, Treasure Coast Urgent Care, Wallace Nissan, CDM, the Ferraro Law Group, Captec Engineering, the Treasure Coast Chapter of Florida Environmental Professionals, Ampersand Graphics, Becker Tree Farm, Botanics Wholesale, Code Red Roofers, Craig’s Designs, Hooks Construction, Kross & Decker, Mecca Enterprises, Mosley & Son Construction, Picture Perfect Landscape, Pipers Landing Yacht & Country Club, Red Tail Hawk, Sherwin-Williams, Steven Martine Photography, SWS, The Firefly Group, and United Rentals.

Another thank you goes to the community partners of Keep Martin Beautiful who helped make the 2010 Great American Cleanup a success. Those partners include: Boy Scout Troup #825, Boy Scout Troup #832, the City of Stuart CRA, East Stuart Main Street, Habitat Angel, Habitat for Humanity, South Florida Water Management District, and The Firefly Group.

For photos of this years events, click here.

For more information, or to participate in the cleanup, contact Keep Martin Beautiful at (772) 781-1222 or info@keepmartinbeautiful.org.

Symbol of the Great American Cleanup: Iron Eyes Cody

Iron Eyes Cody is most famous for his "Crying Indian" role in the Keep America Beautiful public service announcement in the early 1970's, an ecology commercial in which he sheds a tear after trash is thrown from a speeding car and lands at his feet. On his passing in 1999, Iron Eyes Cody was interred in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California. He is survived by his adopted son, the Native American flautist Robert "Tree" Cody. “Nearly all my life, it has been my policy to help those less fortunate than themselves. My foremost endeavors have been with the help of the Great Spirit to dignify my people’s image through humility and love of my country. It is my sincerest wish to reach the hearts of the people of the world by my Keep America Beautiful film of ‘The Crying Indian’ so they will be more aware of the dangers of pollution facing the world today. If I have done that, I have done all I need to do!” Iron Eyes Cody

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