As spring, sunlight, and warm days flourish, Americans are invited to roll up their sleeves and join in the fight to beautify public spaces, as well as increase knowledge of littering and recycling. During April, we keep America beautiful by planting trees, joining community cleanups, and doing sustainability projects that build a legacy of positive change for the next generation. So, we had to ask: What is the most important information you need to know about this year’s Keep America Beautiful Month?

👉 Official Name: Keep America Beautiful Month
💚 Cause: Encourage the cleaning and beautifying of American public spaces
📅 Next Date: April 1-30, 2026
🌐 Official Website: kab.org/april-is-keep-america-beautiful-month-10-ways-to-take-action
🐦 Hashtag: #KeepAmericaBeautifulMonth, #DoBeautifulThings

Keep reading to find out all the important information about Keep America Beautiful Month at a glance: its big picture, why it’s important, and how you can get involved. We’ll then share its brief history, three interesting facts about it, its future dates, and how you’ll never miss any important awareness event again.

The Most Important Information About Keep America Beautiful Month at a Glance

1️⃣ The big picture: Keep America Beautiful Month is an event dedicated to improving our public spaces through action and education. This celebration is a call to action to reduce litter on streets, parks, or roads, prevent future littering through educational events, and beautify communities by planting trees or other plants. In addition, this observance highlights the importance of the eco-friendly Rs – reduce, reuse, recycle – and raises awareness of the zero-waste lifestyle. 

2️⃣ Why it is important: Small actions can have big effects, and littering has far-reaching consequences. Not only are there over 50 million pieces of litter in the US – with more than 2,000 pieces per mile –, but over half of them are actually found in waterways and ocean shores. The human issue of littering also affects faraway ecosystems and species of animals and plants. In a recent survey, 90% of Americans said that litter is a problem in their state, so this is the perfect time to educate our communities on the environmental repercussions of littering, as well as the insufficient trees and green spaces in the US – and start planting!

3️⃣ How you can get involved: From organized cleanup events to planting trees for beautiful communities, these are the best ways to celebrate Keep America Beautiful Month:

1. Clean Litter: Participate in the Great American Cleanup organized by the Keep America Beautiful Foundation as a grassroots spring-cleaning movement. You can find events near you or clean up a site in your community alone or with a small group of friends.
2. Plog: “Plogging” is simply picking up litter from your community as you jog! This healthy activity helps us reduce litter while serving our health. And don’t forget to responsibly dispose of what you pick up. 
3. The Triple “R”: Take steps to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle during this spring cleaning celebration and give a second life to items you wanted to throw away. Challenge yourself with the #BeRecycled Pledge and show your commitment to a beautiful America. 
4. Plant Trees: Find local events for tree planting in your community or plant with your friends in your backyard. Native species of trees rebuild ecosystems and are a beautiful addition to the environment. You can also join the annual RETREET program. 
5. Explore Zero-Waste: Use this event as an opportunity to live a zero-waste lifestyle during April and create a healthier, more sustainable, less-littered community. Challenge your friends to join in this experience and learn together. 

Below are our favorite charities that are relevant for Keep America Beautiful Month:

• Best Charities for This Year’s Earth Day
• Best Charities That Promote Recycling
• Best Charities That Fight to Protect Our Environment
• Best Charities for Planting Trees

A Brief History of Keep America Beautiful Month

When was this event established: Keep America Beautiful Month was established in 1971 by the Keep America Beautiful Foundation and the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts of America as “Scouting Keep America Beautiful Day” to encourage a massive national cleanup and recycling movement. This observance occurs in the same month as Earth Day and Arbor Day, catalyzing collective action that benefits our environment. 

How has it developed since then: Keep America Beautiful Month was changed to a weeklong event in 1982 and, in 1984, it was extended to a full month dedicated to the reduction of waste, prevention of litter, and beautification of communities nationwide. Today, the event involves 700 state and local partners, as well as millions of passionate volunteers who are empowered to take greater responsibility for their public spaces and build an America where everyone lives in a beautiful community. 

3 Interesting Facts About Keep America Beautiful Month

1. Cleanup Impacts: Since the start of the program, the Great American Cleanup, part of Keep America Beautiful Month, has engaged millions of volunteers who collected over 23 million pounds of litter across 5.3 million hours of community involvement. In this way, they beautified 66,300 miles of streets, parks, and roads. Also, in 2024, they planted over 71,000 bulbs and plants: shrubs, flowers, and trees.
2. Doing Your Part: There are about 50 billion pieces of litter across the US, and if every American picked up 152 pieces, we would clean it all up! During this month, do your part by joining the #152PickUpChallenge and share your progress with friends or on the internet to encourage others to do their part as well. 
3. Cigarette Litter: The Keep America Beautiful National Litter Study found cigarette butts to be the number one littered item, accounting for 9.7 billion butts on any given day across the US. So, the nonprofit has organized the Cigarette Litter Prevention Program for 21 years and implemented special cigarette litter stands in over 1,800 communities. 

Upcoming Dates of Keep America Beautiful Month

Keep America Beautiful Month is observed every year for the entire month of April.

Never Miss an Awareness Event Again

Sources

• Keep America Beautiful: Volunteer
• Keep America Beautiful: April is Keep America Beautiful Month
• Rogue Disposal: Exploring the three Rs of waste management — Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
• Green Match: 16 Sustainable Zero Waste Tips for Sustainable Living
• Keep America Beautiful: litter study
• PEW Trusts: Plastic Pollution Affects Sea Life Throughout the Ocean
• Truckee Meadows Parks Foundation: The Litter Problem: Out the Window and Out of Our Minds
• American Forests: For Tree Equity and Climate Change, How Many Urban Trees Do We Need?
• Keep America Beautiful: GREAT AMERICAN CLEANUP
• Keep America Beautiful: home page
• Iberdrola: ‘Plogging’, the running that mixes ecology and sport
• Medium: 10 Ways To Reduce Reuse And Recycle
• Keep America Beautiful: AMERICA RECYCLES DAY
• Keep America Beautiful: RETREET program
• Flaske: Know 30 Top Tips for Going Zero-Waste
• David Suzuki Foundation: How to go zero waste
• Keep America Beautiful Month history
• Girl Scouts of the USA: home page
• Boy Scouts of America: home page
• Earth Day: home page 
• Encyclopedia Britannica: Arbor Day
• National Today: KEEP AMERICA BEAUTIFUL MONTH
• Keep America Beautiful: Great American Cleanup 2023 Wrap Up Report
• Keep America Beautiful: Join the #152PickUp Challenge!
• Keep America Beautiful: Share Your Progress – #152PickUpChallenge
• Bottle Bill: KEEP AMERICA BEAUTIFUL 2020 NATIONAL LITTER STUDY
• Keep America Beautiful: Cigarette Litter Prevention Program