Every spring
Join a cleanup
The Great American Cleanup runs every spring through 700 local affiliates — one of the strong local programs the study credits for the decline.
The Great American Cleanup
End littering
35 billion pieces and falling
The National Litter Study has tracked litter in America since 1969. Its 2026 count found 35 billion pieces on the ground, and 34% less litter along roadways and waterways than in 2020.
Why it matters
A costly problem we can solve
Litter costs money to clean up, affects our health and well-being, harms wildlife, and finds its way into our waterways and oceans.
What’s also true is that litter is a solvable problem.
The movement, measured
Where litter stands today
60,000
Community events
Held in 2025 alone
94,000
Public spaces
Cleaned by volunteers in 2025
Source: Keep America Beautiful 2025 community-event reporting (kab.org)
Working Within Communities
Keep America Beautiful works with individuals, communities, states, businesses, and our national leaders to address the challenges of ending litter and littering behavior.
Volunteer In Your Community
You might say, “I’m just one person, what can I do?”
Your help matters. When you volunteer to help clean up your community, you make a difference. When others see that you care for your community, they care too, and over time, behavior changes.
Our ongoing research shows that an end-to-end process for changing littering behavior through key activities like cleaning up public spaces is working.
Whether you work by yourself, or join a larger movement in your neighborhood, the cleanup is keeping America beautiful.
Volunteer Today and make a differenceNational Secure Your Load Day on June 6 Marks 10 Years of Raising Awareness About Preventable Roadway Hazards
According to the Keep America Beautiful 2026 National Litter Study, an estimated 454 million pieces of roadway litter are linked to unsecured loads.
Taking Statewide Action
State and municipal governments play a key role in addressing litter on our streets, in our parks, and in our waterways. Keep America Beautiful affiliates across America are working side by side with these organizations to effect change. By working together, our affiliates add their voices to those supporting infrastructure improvements and change to better manage waste in our country.
Since our inception, we have proven again and again that the power of sustained change happens when we bringing all members of our communities together.
Our 700+ affiliates working in thousands of communities across the nation are doing this work every day. Ending litter in America is possible. We’re in it together.
Learn More About Our AffiliatesWorking Together
Nationally, Keep America Beautiful supports the Federal policies and programs needed to end litter in America.
Learn More About Where We StandEducating And Organizing
Understanding that litter reduction is a long-term effort, Keep America Beautiful partners with businesses large and small to provide educational resources and promote cleaning, greening, and beautifying in communities across America.
Get Resources And ToolkitsSupporting Our Work Through Corporate Responsibility
When implemented properly, Reduce, Reuse, & Recycle solutions work to address the sources of litter. Our partners’ investments allow us to develop the capacity of our KAB affiliate network through improvements in technology, training, skills development, and other resources.
Together, we work to place our affiliates, volunteers, and corporate partners in a strong position to lead change.
What works
Half the cigarette litter in six months
One in five pieces of litter is a cigarette butt, on the 2020 study’s count.
Our Cigarette Litter Prevention Program, the nation’s largest program aimed at eliminating cigarette litter, has been implemented in over 1,800 communities, reducing cigarette litter by half within six months, on average.
Why open the study
The full picture is in the report
Keep America Beautiful has reported on litter in America since 1969. The 2026 study follows the 2009 and 2020 studies, and for the first time it includes a national estimate of litter along coastal areas.
Inside, it breaks the numbers down by place, by item and by what Americans think:
- Coastal areas carry 16,800 pieces of litter per mile.
- Cigarette butt litter is down 62% since 2020.
- 94% of Americans say litter is a problem, and 90% say reducing it is a personal responsibility.
Ways to take part
Ending litter takes all of us: communities, states, educators and companies working together.
Year-round
Work with your local affiliate
Local affiliates organize the cleanups and beautification projects where you live.
The affiliate network
On your own
Start on your own street
Things you can do by yourself, on your own schedule, wherever you are.
Individual Action Center
As a company
Partners for change
How companies work with Keep America Beautiful to address the sources of litter.
Partner with us