The rules for the Before, During & After photo contest are pretty simple. Take at least 3 pictures of your cleanup (see below), one with the litter (before), one with the volunteers (during) and one clean (after). Pictures can be digital or prints. Get them to us by April 24th and we will pick two winners by our Trash Bash on May 1. Notice how each picture is framed exactly the same AND the volunteers are NOT facing away from the camera (if you know what I mean). Also, in order to show the litter and the volunteers properly, you may need to stand closer to your subjects than you are used to. Do your best - it doesn't have to be perfect. The best sets of pics will be posted on this blog and in the photo album section of our website. The two winners will each win a digital camera donated by Best Buy and Walmart.

- posted by KKB Staff @ 9:30 AM

Friday, February 20, 2004

Here are some shots of our booth down at the Dogwood Village. KKB and the other non-profits are in the free section. If you come down to the show make sure you look for us because we aren't listed in the program anywhere. Pictured below are two booth visitors completing our radio survey, Annie Morton talking to a concerned citizen and KKB board member Neal Denton strolling by for a visit with John Evans at the County Solid Waste booth.

Below is an animation of John Evans and Neal Denton involved in some "Trash Talk".

- posted by KKB Staff @ 10:36 PM

And now the fun begins...the 2004 Great American Cleanup™ is just around the corner. Our promotion is just getting ready to kick off. Soon you will see newspaper ads, news stories, our special edition of our newsletter and for the first time some great radio ads. This is going to be a great year because we have already received commitments from these groups: Hidden Cove Homeowners Association, Friends of Fort Sanders, Seven Islands Community Association, Lake Forest Neighborhood Association, Lonas Drive Community Association, Wesley Neighbors, Burlington Homeowners and Residents, Cold Springs Neighborhood Watch, Linden Avenue Neighborhood Watch, Five Points Neighborhood Watch, West Hills Baptist Church and the Thorn Grove Community Club. This is by far the best response we have seen this far out from the kickoff. Stay tuned...

- posted by KKB Staff @ 8:48 AM

Tuesday, February 10, 2004

The results are in…No, not from the primary - from the litter prevention focus group. Our marketing students from PR Concepts held the first focus group tonight to gather ideas on how to make an effective litter prevention ad targeted at 16-25 year old males. Twenty male UTK students, aged 18 to 24 met for 90 minutes in the University Center and answered questions about their own littering behavior and attitudes and participated in discussions about what would it take to make people stop littering. Here are some highlights: Who litters? Everybody, slobs, and smokers. What is litter? Anything that doesn't make it to the trash. Do you litter? Most said yes, a few nos. When do you litter? In the car. Why? Need a trash can everywhere you turn around. What would make you stop littering? Self control. What are the effects of littering? Lack of pride in your town. What would a campaign look like? Like drunk driving ads, everywhere, always on people's minds. There was a consensus that a campaign must be serious, show consequences and at least for this group, focus on the UTK main campus. Most of the suggestions would require a visual ad like TV or print. The next session will focus more on slogans and ideas for radio ads. Many thanks to Dr. Mike McKinney who referred many of the participants. Many thanks also to the students who gave up part of their evening to help us brainstorm this issue.

Editorial comment: Conventional wisdom says these 20 guys will change their attitudes and behavior toward littering and maybe influence some others to do the same!

- posted by KKB Staff @ 9:16 PM

Sunday, February 08, 2004

It's a Mitzvah...This morning, KKB program coordinator Annie Morton and I made separate presentions at the Knoxville Jewish Alliance Mitzvah Day. Annie worked with two groups of middle schoolers on how to set up a backyard habitat and she had them do the litter relay (see picture). I had an adult group and covered litter basics, the Great American Cleanup, KKB and KAB missions and how to organize residential and commercial neighborhood cleanups. It was fun and I expect a couple of litter cleanups over time.

- posted by KKB Staff @ 1:36 PM

Sunday, February 01, 2004

Litter everywhere...Ok, it's Super Bowl Sunday, the sun is out, great time for a family walk in the neighborhood. So we did the walk and the first time around I saw so much litter we did a do over...with a litter bag this time. Here are the results of my first personal neighborhood-wide cleanup for 2004:

For what it's worth, I think there's only one family in the neighborhood with a pool, it's only been days since the lottery began, the flyer is promoting an event to help you beautify your neighborhood and there's a dirty diaper the picture. There were also cigarette packs, election door hangers and mailbox stuffers, and lots of miscellaneous paper and plastic. Anyway, I burned some calories, got a nice stretch, waved at a few of my neighbors and cleaned up a mess. Overall this was a very productive hour.