Keep Charleston Beautiful

Keep Charleston Beautiful Educating today for a litter-free tomorrow! Join us in creating a cleaner, more beautiful Charleston Litter Cleanups and Prevention Presentations.

All programs are FREE.

The dog days of summer are almost over! ☀️🥵As we look ahead to cooler days and the start of fall, Keep Charleston Beauti...
08/24/2026

The dog days of summer are almost over! ☀️🥵

As we look ahead to cooler days and the start of fall, Keep Charleston Beautiful is ramping up our volunteer programming with plenty of ways to get involved, get outside, and give back to our community. 🍂🌿

Check out our upcoming events—we hope to see you out there! Please register through our webpage here: https://www.charleston-sc.gov/2730/Volunteer-With-Us

Did you know that the first line of defense isn’t spraying pesticides throughout our communities, over homes, schools, w...
08/24/2026

Did you know that the first line of defense isn’t spraying pesticides throughout our communities, over homes, schools, wetlands, and other sensitive sites? Not only are such aerial spray efforts not the most effective strategies for protecting people, they also put pollinators at risk. Across the country, communities are actively working to bring back the pollinators. As a result, many municipalities are seeking ways to align important public health efforts, such as mosquito management, with pollinator protection goals.

Fortunately, there are time-tested and effective ways to protect people from disease-carrying mosquitoes while also protecting pollinators.

The linked fact sheets provide a brief overview of those methods plus two case studies in effective mosquito management.https://xerces.org/sites/default/files/publications/20-006.pdf
https://xerces.org/sites/default/files/publications/26-017_01_Mosquito-Spray-Risks-brochure_web_0.pdf

Looking for ways to scale this us to a community level? Check out this great resource -https://xerces.org/sites/default/files/publications/26-017_01_Mosquito-Spray-Risks-brochure_web_0.pdf

Come join Keep Charleston Beautiful for our Clara's Kids Club Labor Day event at Johns Island Park from 9am to 10am! Our...
08/13/2026

Come join Keep Charleston Beautiful for our Clara's Kids Club Labor Day event at Johns Island Park from 9am to 10am! Our Labor of Love event encourages kids and their families to show their appreciation and love for our city parks through taking care of them💚

Plus a bonus! Clara will be flying in to show her love with us! We hope to see you there💚

To wrap up Plastic Free July, we are ending with waste as a form of litter. Litter is trash that does not end up in the ...
07/31/2026

To wrap up Plastic Free July, we are ending with waste as a form of litter. Litter is trash that does not end up in the proper disposal containers. While litter is not pleasing to the eye, it can also harm local ecosystems.

When plastic is littered, it's often in the form of products such as cups, straws, grocery bags, and food wrappers. Plastics can also be accidentally littered when garbage bags are not securely loaded into vehicles. This results in the trashbags getting loose and bursting open on the sides of roads. Once on the ground, plastic can easily be moved away from the place where it was originally dropped. Plastic is an extremely lightweight material, so small amounts of wind and water will pick it up.

Once plastic enters waterways, it can become detrimental to many species. Pelicans, for example, are known to mistake plastic items in the water as fish. This results in these pelicans having digestive issues and even premature death. Marine animals such as sea turtles, fish, and birds can get tangled in plastic nets, bottle rings, fishing lines, and more.

Fortunately, Keep Charleston Beautiful offers many opportunities for you to prevent and mitigate plastic litter in our Charleston community! We have monthly clean up events that we host all over the greater Charleston area, and we even offer DIY litter clean up kits that you can request to host your own clean ups. In addition, you can become stewards of your neighborhood while also taking part in citizen science through our Adopt-A-Block program. All you have to do is perform at least four clean ups on your block! KCB is also involved in the implementation of monofilament recycling and cigarette butt disposal sites all across the city!

If Keep Charleston Beautiful sounds like an organization that you want to be a part of, check out our website linked in our bio to learn more! You can also sign up for our newsletter to receive regular updates on KCB initiatives and volunteer opportunities near you!

Thank you for staying tuned with us through Plastic Free July! We hope you learned something, and we also hope to see you at our next litter sweeps!

The results are in! 🐢🦦🐊Our Trashformers Project challenged local students to turn trash into treasure by cleaning up the...
07/31/2026

The results are in! 🐢🦦🐊

Our Trashformers Project challenged local students to turn trash into treasure by cleaning up their communities and transforming the litter they collected into incredible 3D Coastal Critter sculptures. Through art and teamwork, these students shared an important message about the impact litter has on our oceans and marine life. 🌊♻️

After all of the sculptures were displayed at Hampton Park for a community voting event, our top three creations were showcased last weekend at the South Carolina Aquarium!

🏆 1st Place: You Otter Not Litter – Charleston Collegiate Art Club
🥈 2nd Place: Trashie the Sea Turtle – Academic Magnet High School
🥉 3rd Place: The Alligator – Charleston Charter School for Math & Science

Congratulations to all of our talented student artists, and thank you to everyone who participated and voted! 💚 Keep scrolling to see a few more of the amazing entries that helped turn litter into lasting lessons.

While we are in the week of Waste, it is time to bring back the distribution phase of plastics. These two phases overlap...
07/29/2026

While we are in the week of Waste, it is time to bring back the distribution phase of plastics. These two phases overlap as there is an industry that focuses on the distribution of waste. In the US, plastic recycling gets extremely tricky. Only #1 PET and #2 HDPE plastics can be easily recycled in the country. So, what happens to all the other kinds that we consume and then dispose of?

In 2022, the US exported around 950 million tons of plastics to other countries. While the goal is to get them to a site where they can be recycled, a lot of this plastic is lost during transportation. It is estimated that around 20% of marine debris comes from ships. In addition, plastic waste enters the oceans through rivers that flow directly into the large body of water. Together, these loose plastics have amassed into floating trash patches. In the Pacific, there is a garage patch that is roughly twice the size of Texas. Some plastics do not stay within the confines of the floating island. Depending on the density, many will sink to the bottom of the ocean. Others can be transported long distances where they wash up on other countries' coastlines. There are many impacts to both humans’ and marine life's health.

But where does the plastic go that does not make it into the oceans? Before January 1 of 2018, the US exported nearly all of its plastic waste to China. However, once China banned all waste imported, the US had to discover new places that would accept their plastics. Now, countries such as Canada, Mexico, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Thailand, Taiwan, and more accept millions of tons of waste from the US every year. Some countries may have proper infrastructure to dispose of the plastics that cannot be salvaged, but many do not. This results in plastics leaking into both waterways and terrestrial habitats.

The exportation of plastic waste promotes the out of mind, out of sight mindset. By understanding the scale of our waste, we can work together to promote reducing plastic use. Even if we can’t see it, we must understand that consumption habits can affect life all around the world.

To wrap up Plastic Free July, we will close with the plastic phase of “waste.” Annually, South Carolinians dispose of ar...
07/28/2026

To wrap up Plastic Free July, we will close with the plastic phase of “waste.” Annually, South Carolinians dispose of around 4.2 million tons of waste in Class 3 landfills (municipal solid waste). Municipal solid waste consists of non-hazardous waste products, and this typically includes common household items. A large portion of municipal solid waste is plastics. Charleston county residents produce around 4.5 lbs. per day, and this leads to around 200,000 tons per municipal solid waste per year.

While South Carolina recycles a lot of plastic, there is still a lot of room to grow with plastic waste. Landfills can cause many negative impacts to the environment. As landfills grow, they require more and more land use. This results in forest and habitat loss. If the landfill technology is not upheld properly or there are breaks in the infrastructure, then leaks can seep into the ground.

Plastics have an extremely long lifespan, and they break down slowly due to exposure to sunlight and rain. As they break down, they release a particle known as microplastics. Microplastics are so small that they cannot be seen by the naked eye. Their low weight makes them easily transportable by both wind and water. Once in a landfill, it is easy for microplastics to spread out from their place of original disposal. Microplastics can contaminate drinking water and air that humans breathe.

By limiting the amounts of plastics that we consume then subsequently dispose of in the trash, we can help mitigate the amount of plastics that end up in our local environments. Just because you may not be able to see it, doesn’t mean that it's not there. Every little difference that you can make in your daily consumption habits can go a long way!

For Plastic Free July, consumption week, check out alternative items to replace everyday household plastics. Recommended...
07/22/2026

For Plastic Free July, consumption week, check out alternative items to replace everyday household plastics. Recommended alternatives are reusable, compostable, or refillable.

While some items may fit into your lifestyle easily, others may require trial and error to find the right one. For example, certain bar shampoos may not match your hair type. Fortunately, there are many different brands that you can trial. It is also important to remember that you do not have to swap every item in your life that is plastic. Every little change helps, so if all of these swaps do not fit your lifestyle, don’t force it! These are just fun and easy suggestions we recommend to try out.

A huge thank you to this group from McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base in Knoxville, Tennessee for choosing to give ba...
07/21/2026

A huge thank you to this group from McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base in Knoxville, Tennessee for choosing to give back to our community while here for training! ✈️

Their commitment to service extends beyond the mission and we were honored to have them volunteer with Keep Charleston Beautiful. Together, they removed an incredible 608 pounds of trash from our marshes and that's not including the 20 tires they pulled out! Shout out to the 134th Force Support Squadron for doing good and getting dirty! 🤎

Thank you for helping protect Charleston's beautiful marshes and for leaving our community cleaner and healthier than you found it. We appreciate your hard work, dedication, and willingness to serve wherever you're called!

Let’s take a pause on distribution! Part two of plastic distribution will come back in a later phase! For now, let's foc...
07/20/2026

Let’s take a pause on distribution! Part two of plastic distribution will come back in a later phase! For now, let's focus on the consumption phase.

Plastics have become staples in the average American’s life. In 2019, US citizens used more plastic per year than any other country coming in at 487 lbs. per person annually. Plastic consumption includes single-use and reusable plastic products.

Data from 2019 also shows that the majority of plastic use is consumed as packaging. Across the globe, 142.6 million tons of plastic packaging was used in a year. This becomes problematic because the lifespan (the time in which it takes the item to be produced and then disposed of) of packaging plastics is the shortest compared to other plastic uses. In half of a year, packaging will be made in a factory and then subsequently disposed of as a waste product.

While many plastic household items are glaringly excessive in use, other plastics can go unnoticed in the household. Plastic water bottles, grocery bags, disposable razors, and cleaning supplies containers are examples of plastics that people often think about when making everyday, lifestyle decisions. On the other hand, plastics that may get overlooked are pasta boxes with plastic windows, dryer sheets, tea bags, glitter, disposable wipes, ci******es, and synthetic clothing.

People combat the consumption of these items through using reusable, compostable, and refillable alternatives. Stay tuned this week for fun alternatives that you can use in your households!

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823 Meeting Street
Charleston, SC
29403

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+18435797501

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