Garland beautification commission honored

The Hot Springs/Garland County Beautification Commission was honored during the recent 58th annual Keep America Beautiful National Conference for distinguishing itself as an exemplary volunteer organization. Taking the first place award in the nation, the organization was recognized for its outstanding Cigarette Litter Prevention Program on sites surrounding Lake Ouachita.

The conference, which took place in New Orleans, brought together award-winning affiliates and organizations from across the country to share best practices and celebrate the successes of the past year. The KAB National Cigarette Litter Prevention Program Awards are open to all affiliate participants for their cigarette butt litter reduction efforts during 2011. The honored organizations are those who addressed and implemented the program’s four key strategies: encourage support of litter laws that include cigarette litter; raise awareness about the issue using public service messages; place ash receptacles at transition points such as entrances to public buildings; and distribute pocket ashtrays to adult smokers.

“Cigarette butt litter is the most-littered item in America, as measured in Keep America Beautiful’s landmark ‘Litter in America’ study,” said Matthew McKenna, president and CEO of Keep America Beautiful. “Organizations such as the Hot Springs commission are exceptional because its volunteers are removing cigarette butt litter, while simultaneously educating community members about the problems associated with this common source of litter.”

Lake Ouachita was the focus of the largest Keep America Beautiful (KAB) Cigarette Litter Prevention Study this year, involving 40 test sites. It was funded by a grant from Philip Morris USA, an Altria company, with additional support from RAI Services Company. The study, developed by the Hot Springs/Garland County Beautification Commission and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, involved selecting each of the sites to either receive full intervention measures, or to receive no intervention and function as a placebo site.

The commission was also honored as a President’s Circle Award recipient for outstanding administrative accomplishments. Adam Roberts, Executive Director, gave two different presentations during the conference. He also became a certified Tree Tender Teacher, and will seek volunteers early next year. This portion of the program concluded by planting a tree in a run-down area of New Orleans. This was interrupted by automatic gunfire on the other side of the block, caused by a drive-by shooting that killed a young man less than 100 feet from where Roberts was working. This sad incident underlines the need for making communities safer. Some of the greatest attributes of a safe community, proven by numerous studies, are green spaces, clean streets, and trees.