Litter Control

Community Cleanups

Keep Polk County Beautiful, Inc. can assist your club or community group in organizing a cleanup event. KPCB, Inc. will provide cleanup supplies to groups who agree to clean several blocks of right-of-way, easements or other common areas.

If this is your first time coordinating a cleanup event, not to worry. You can contact KPCB to help you with organizing your cleanup event. You can also print a volunteer sign-up sheet to help get other people involved.

Adopt-A-Road

Keep Polk County Beautiful, Inc. is looking for a few good men and women to help instill a sense of pride in their local community by working together to keep county roadways litter free.

The basics of the Adopt-A-Road program are:

  • A group adopts a minimum of a one mile stretch of both sides of a county road and agrees to pick up litter at least EIGHT times a year for a two-year period.
  • The group agrees to submit a Wrap-Up Report after each cleanup.

In return, Keep Polk County Beautiful and the Polk County Board of County Commissioners:

  • Provide equipment, trash bags, and trash pickup.
  • Erect recognition signs within adopted roadways to identify the group doing the litter pickup.

Adopting a road will reinforce the importance of litter control.  This Litter Prevention Program targets litter and illegal dumping throughout unincorporated communities.

The benefits to this program are a litter-free, more attractive community, recognition signs for the group, and a feeling that the individuals involved are making a difference in their community.

For more information about the Adopt-A-Road program, visit our detailed Adopt-A-Road page.

Great American Cleanup

Join The Great American Cleanup, America’s largest community improvement program, during March, April, and May. Approximately 10,000 Polk County volunteers participate in litter removal, tree plantings, flower plantings and much more each year during the Great American Cleanup.

This is a great opportunity for students to earn community service hours!  Volunteers are encouraged to choose a location in their local community to help clean and beautify.  Lakes, roadways, rivers and parks are great locations for volunteers to participate in the Great American Cleanup.  Volunteers may also join in one of our community coordinated cleanups or recycling events.

The Great American Cleanup is a nationwide cleanup initiative led by Keep America Beautiful.

Litter Trooper

Have you ever been driving down the road and seen a truck with trash blowing out of its bed? Or have you had the person driving in front of you toss their cigarette out the window?

If you have, you will appreciate the opportunity the Polk County Sheriff’s Office and KPCB, Inc. offer. Simply by completing the Litter Trooper Report, you can be sure the individual you are reporting will be notified that they were caught littering and warned not to let it happen again. Just complete a Litter Trooper Report and fax or mail it to KPCB. Information included on the report includes: vehicle tag number, date, time and location of violation.

Upon receipt of the report, The Polk County Sheriff’s Office sends letters to the “litter offender” reminding them that litter is illegal and informing them of what action will be taken when they are caught littering by an officer of the law.

This is a safe, positive way to get a message out to litter offenders because the identity of the person submitting the report is never revealed to the perpetrator and there is never any contact between the litter offender and the volunteer. To print a Litter Report using Microsoft Word, click on the link below. You can also pick up a “Litter Trooper” pad at the Keep Polk County Beautiful, Inc. office.

Litter Trooper Report Form

Litter Hotline

As part of its efforts to improve the physical appearance of the county, the Polk County Board of County Commissioners has established a Litter Hotline. The number is (863) 535-2200.

Citizens may call the number to report unsightly cases of extreme litter on county rights-of-way, including large items such as couches and white goods (refrigerators, stoves, etc.). During the hours of 8a.m. to 5p.m., Monday through Friday, the number will be answered by county personnel.

Clean Events

Keep Polk County Beautiful, Inc. provides eligible groups with cardboard garbage containers and recycling bins for community-related events. Groups wanting to use the cardboard garbage containers must agree to return any un-damaged containers following your event.  To request these cardboard containers or recycling bins, please contact Keep Polk County Beautiful.

NEW RECYCLING BINS NOW AVAILABLE FOR YOUR ORGANIZATION AND LOCAL EVENTS!

Thanks to the Lend-A-Bin Grant Program through Anheuser-Busch Foundation and Keep America Beautiful, KPCB has been granted 12 Clear Canable Bins for distribution at local events to help promote and encourage recycling.  Groups requesting to use these recycling bins, must agree to complete a wrap-up report of event and return these bins to KPCB.  To request the use of these bins, contact Keep Polk County Beautiful.

Florida Coastal Cleanup

Individuals, communities, churches and civic groups can help by signing up for this year’s cleanup scheduled during the months of September and October. As with all Keep Polk County Beautiful cleanups, all supplies are provided.

America Recycles Day

We at Keep Polk County Beautiful, Inc. love our volunteers who participate in our various cleanups throughout the year. And anyone who has participated in a litter cleanup project has seen first-hand the amount of debris tossed along Polk County’s roadsides that can be recycled. America Recycles Day during the month of November focuses on educating people on the importance of recycling to reduce the waste stream entering county landfills. For more information, go to americarecyclesday.org.