Every Litter Bit Hurts and the Keep Oklahoma Beautiful (KOB) Litter Education program is working hard to spread that message to Oklahomastudentsinpublic, private, and parochial institutions, as well as those who are home-schooled. Participants from extracurricular activities outside of school settings are also encouraged to participate!
The elementary school program, UnCapped , encourages students to take an active role in preserving the environment by recycling.
UnCapped asks participating students to collect bottle caps and use them to create a work of art. Photos of the artwork are posted to an online voting site, where the public is able to vote for their favorites. The middle school program, UpCycled ,
encourages students to reduce waste by reusing items rather than sending things to landfills. Students participating in UpCycled create art by reusing items to make “UpCycled” art and will also be posted on a contest website for the public to vote to determine contest finalists. The participating students for UnCapped and UpCycled are also required to write an essay describing what they learned throughout the program. Winners in both contests are chosen based on their art piece and accompanying essay.
The final program is End Litter , which reaches high school and college students, challenging them to tackle the issue of litter and illegal dumping. End Litter challenges students to create a 30-45 second video that conveys littering is costly, deplorable, and illegal. The finalists in each division of End Litter will have their video uploaded to an online voting page for the public to vote on their favorite. Winners will receive a $1,200 cash scholarship and have their video clip appear across the internet sparking a campaign to encourage personal responsibility as the foundation for keeping Oklahoma beautiful.
“Thesestudentspourtheir hearts into their projects! If you are an educator, this is an opportunity that you will not want to miss!” said Beverlee Caraway, KOB Education & Recycling Coordinator.
Groups of 6-30 students (unless home-schooled) are eligible to register for Un-Capped and UpCycled between August 21 st and September 22 nd . Projects are due to be submitted online by October 7 th. End Litter participants can register as individuals or groups of no more than 6 between August 21 st and November 17 th . Video submissions must be received by December 31 st . All entries must include a faculty member listed as the contactpersonandmustmeet the eligibility rules, which are available on the contest website.
All finalists will be honored at KOB’s 33 rd Annual Environmental Excellence Celebration on November 17, 2023.
TheKOBLitterEducation program is sponsored in part by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation and the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality. For more information about KOB, Litter Education, and program sponsors, please visit: www.keepoklahomabeautiful. com or contact Beverlee at beverlee@keepoklahomabeautiful. com.