Georgia's Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful Receives Governor's Circle Award

DULUTH, Ga. - April 15, 2016 - PRLog -- Aspart of the Keep Georgia Beautiful Foundation's Annual Legislative Day at the State Capital on January 26, Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful (GCB) was honored with an esteemed Governor's Circle Award. This recognition marks the community-focused nonprofit organization's second major honor of 2016, following the announcement of GCB's 25^th consecutive President's Circle Award win from Keep America Beautiful earlier this year.

The Governor's Circle Award recognizes exemplary performance by certified Keep America Beautiful (KAB) affiliates in reducing litter, minimizing waste and greening local communities. To qualify for the Governor's Circle Award, affiliates must be in good standing with KAB, conduct an annual Litter Index, calculate the affiliate's cost/benefit ratio and engage volunteers to take greater responsibility for their community environment. Additionally, the affiliate must be an active member of the Georgia network. Georgia is the first state in the Keep America Beautiful (KAB) network to create a Governor's Circle Award modeled on KAB's national good standing designation. Other organizations that received this distinction alongside Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful included Keep Atlanta Beautiful, Keep Alpharetta Beautiful, Keep Hall Beautiful and Keep Roswell Beautiful - just to name a few.

"The affiliates receiving the Governor's Circle Award represent the best of community improvement efforts", said Sarah Visser, Executive Director of the Keep Georgia Beautiful Foundation. "They are doing the hard work every day to keep their communities economically vibrant and environmentally sustainable."

Ever since its launch in 1980, Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful has been dedicated to educating and engaging local citizens and businesses to join forces in making Gwinnett County one of the nation's greenest, cleanest and most livable communities. As a result of its efforts, GCB has been recognized with 128 awards and honors - 65 of which have been at the national level. In 2015 alone, Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful was responsible for:

·         the education of 141,103 students to foster an early love of environmental stewardship

·         the training of 9,613 teachers to help promote future generations of environmental stewards

·         the education of 200,312 residents to increase environmental knowledge and awareness

·         the recovery of 26,319,354 pounds of recyclables

·         the provision of 314,955 volunteer hours

To learn more about Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful - including how to "recycle smart" and ways to volunteer - interested parties are encouraged to visit www.GwinnettCB.org.

About Keep Georgia Beautiful Foundation (KGBF):  Created in 1978 by Governor George Busbee, Keep Georgia Beautiful (KGB), became the first state affiliate of Keep America Beautiful.  In 2011, the Keep Georgia Beautiful program merged with the Keep Georgia Beautiful Foundation, Inc. which was created in 1985 to promote private sector financial support for worthwhile educational programs that enhance the environment and the quality of life in Georgia. KGBF coordinates a number of environmental efforts including the Great American Cleanup™ and the statewide Bring One for the Chipper Christmas tree recycling program.  The Foundation is based on a fundamental premise that the environmental interests of the state of Georgia and the people who live here are best served when public and private interests work hand-in-hand to achieve common goals. Our connections with the public and private sectors aid us in our mission to support local Keep Georgia Beautiful affiliates as they build and sustainable communities through litter prevention, waste reduction, recycling, water resource management and community greening.  For more information about the KGB Foundation, please visit www.keepgeorgiabeautiful.org or call the office at (404) 679-4910.

About Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful:  Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful Services, Inc. (GCB) is a Keep America Beautiful affiliate and award-winning 501(c)(3) charitable organization. It boasts an expansive community-based network dedicated to finding long-term solutions to environmental and quality of life issues through individual action. The organization is guided by a Citizens Advisory Board that represents all sectors of the Gwinnett County community. A nationally recognized leader in creating cleaner, greener and more livable communities throughout Gwinnett, GCB involves more than 100,000 volunteers annually to clean and restore public places, recycle more, protect watersheds and develop the next generation of environmental stewards. To learn more about Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful, please visit www.GwinnettCB.org.