Keep Aiken County Beautiful

06/02/2026

📢Join us for our bi-monthly board meeting!
Tomorrow, June 3rd. We meet at the Aiken County Government Center.

06/02/2026

❓Did you know… ❔
Some spaces unintentionally invite crime?

Dark corners.
Blocked sightlines.
Overgrown landscaping.
Poor lighting.
Confusing entrances.

Most people never notice these things…until they learn CPTED.

A FREE two-day training is coming June 16–17 that may completely change how you view neighborhoods, schools, parks, businesses, and public spaces.
📲Register to attend: Esther Wagner, [email protected]

05/28/2026

🚨 SAVE THE DATE 🚨

What if the way a space is designed could actually help PREVENT crime?

What if lighting, landscaping, sidewalks, windows, and even benches could make neighborhoods safer?

Join Keep Aiken County Beautiful and PalmettoPride for a FREE two-day training on: 🏘️ Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED)
📅 June 16–17
💲 FREE to attend
⚠️ Seating is LIMITED
Register to attend: Esther Wagner, [email protected]

This nationally recognized training explores how thoughtful design and maintenance of neighborhoods, businesses, schools, parks, and public spaces can reduce opportunities for crime and increase feelings of safety.

Whether you work in:
✔️ Community development
✔️ Code enforcement
✔️ Planning & zoning
✔️ Public works
✔️ Law enforcement
✔️ Property management
✔️ Neighborhood leadership
✔️ Education …this class will change the way you see the built environment.

👀 Once you learn CPTED, you’ll never look at a parking lot, playground, streetscape, or building the same way again.

More details and registration information coming soon.
Don’t wait — this one WILL fill up quickly.

05/26/2026

📣 First Friday Cleanup Is Coming Up!📣
Our June First Friday Cleanup is right around the corner, and we hope you’ll come out and help tackle litter on Old Aiken Road!
💚Whether you’ve volunteered before or this will be your first cleanup, there’s a place for you. Every bag collected helps create a cleaner, safer, and more beautiful Aiken County. 🌿

✨ And here’s the best part — YOU can host one too!
We’re looking for future First Friday Cleanup hosts who want to make a difference in their own neighborhoods and communities. Rally your church group, coworkers, civic club, friends, or neighbors, and let Keep Aiken County Beautiful help you organize a cleanup.

📧 Reach out today to host an upcoming First Friday Cleanup! [email protected]
💪

05/24/2026

📢Court-ordered community service litter abatement has changed significantly over the years in Aiken County. This graphic shows the number of individuals who started community service litter cleanup with Aiken County Code Enforcement from 2016–2025.🚯

These types of programs help remove trash from our roadsides while supporting accountability and community improvement efforts across Aiken County.

05/22/2026

🚯Recently, Aiken County Code Enforcement Officers picked up 15 bags of litter collected by an individual completing court-ordered community service.

Both Aiken County Code Enforcement and the City of Aiken manage court-ordered community service litter abatement programs that help remove litter from our roadsides while encouraging accountability and community improvement.

05/22/2026

🚬 DID YOU KNOW? Cigarette butts ARE litter. HARD STOP.
We’ve recently received several reports through the Report-A-Litterbug email involving people flicking cigarette butts out of their car windows. When contacted by enforcement officers, many of the suspects claim that they did not think tossing a cigarette butt was littering...👀

⚠️ That’s not just littering — it’s also a FIRE HAZARD. 🔥

Many people mistakenly think cigarette filters are made of cotton. They’re not.

🚫 Cigarette butts contain hundreds of hazardous chemicals, and the filters are made from a type of PLASTIC fiber called cellulose acetate.
That means cigarette butts don’t simply “go away.” They break apart into microplastics and can contaminate storm drains, waterways, soil, and roadside areas.

🔥 One cigarette tossed from a vehicle can spark a roadside fire.
💸 One cigarette butt tossed from a vehicle can also result in a littering citation.

No matter how small it is, LITTER IS STILL LITTER!

➡️ Keep those butts in the car until you can dispose of them properly in an ashtray!

05/21/2026

💙🌿This , we’re shining the spotlight on the amazing team from the Gregg-Graniteville Library at USC Aiken 📚✨
Last weekend, the USCA Library team rolled up their sleeves and helped make Aiken County cleaner and more beautiful during a litter pickup along Robert M. Bell Parkway.

Adopt-A-Highway Stats:
👏9 volunteers
🕘 2 hours of service
🗑️ 12 bags of litter collected

Their hard work and dedication to community service are a reminder that even a small group of committed volunteers can make a big impact. From the library to the roadside, this team showed what it means to care for the community beyond campus walls. 🌎💚

📢Thank you to the USCA Gregg-Graniteville Library team for helping keep Aiken County beautiful!

🌱

05/21/2026

Congratulations to one of our amazing Green Steps Schools in Aiken County!

We are excited to announce that Tall Pines STEM Academy is officially certified as a Green Steps School! After working diligently for multiple years, our staff and students have worked to create and implement multiple ongoing projects to promote environmental education. We are proud to now be a Green Steps School through the Environmental Education Association of South Carolina. Thank you to our GSS mentors, participating faculty, energetic students, and encouraging school that made this goal achievable. A special thank you to Mrs. Chevonne Slack for leading our school to this achievement. Her dedication made this possible!

Projects include a worm tower, upcycled art sales, Girls in STEM Club, plant sale, upcycled STEM projects, Lithium Ion Battery Recycle Drives, Adopt a Stream, rain barrel installation and usage, Keep Aiken County Beautiful tree plantings, pollinator garden with feeders, victory gardens, Green STEM Parade with upcycled floats, plant propagation, Trash to Treasure litter prevention, growing cut flower gardens, indoor & outdoor composting.

05/20/2026

📢 **Our June FIRST FRIDAY CLEANUP Has a Host!**
Join us as Darnell Holston, Candidate for the South Carolina House of Representatives**, hosts our next community cleanup focused on **Old Aiken Road**! 💚
📅 Friday, June 5, 2026
🕘 9:00 AM
📍 Old Aiken Road
🧤 Cleanup supplies provided
🌦️ Weather permitting
There’s nothing more powerful than community members stepping up to care for the places we all share. Come roll up your sleeves with us and help put a shine on Old Aiken Road.

Bring a friend, bring your community spirit, and let’s make a visible difference together!
💪🌱