Your Community 

As you walk down the street in Covington, Kentucky, you might notice a few unsettling things. What should be a clean stretch of sidewalk is instead lined with litter. With every car that passes, the litter shifts in the wind. Worst of all, a large problem builds with discarded cigarette ends lining the streets, says Sheila Fields, solid waste and recycling manager, at local initiative Keep Covington Beautiful and for the city of Covington.

Although now this is a problem of the past, Keep Covington Beautiful continues working to reduce litter and restore the city’s streets through cleanups and community involvement.

Keep Covington Beautiful

“I am currently an employee for the Center for Great Neighborhoods, which is a nonprofit here in Covington. We work really closely with the city,” Allison Wendling, Community Development Program Manager said. “We essentially do a lot of community development initiatives, a lot of things like real estate and afterschool programs. I manage the Keep Covington Beautiful program, and I also manage the Covington Farmer’s Market. The Keep Covington Beautiful program is an affiliate of Keep America Beautiful.”

Keep America Beautiful is a national nonprofit that works as an umbrella for local organizations, providing resources, training and support to help communities reduce litter, improve recycling and beautify public spaces. Across Kentucky, its network includes regional groups such as Keep the Bluegrass Beautiful, which carry out the mission on a local level.

“Keep Covington Beautiful was established through a resident-driven litter task force because it was important for the residents of Covington to address the litter problem. The problem goes all the way back to 2008, when the initiative was brought to the city of Covington. They really wanted to do something about the litter. They joined together and organized litter pickup, cleanup days and started the dialogue about the concept of Adopt-A-Spot,” Wendling  tells reporters.

Adopt-A-Spot Program

Wendling says the Adopt-A-Spot program is like no other and was “adopted out” from larger initiative Keep America Beautiful and currently has 77 volunteers for the Covington area specifically.

“Adopt-A-Spot is a program that gives Covington residents, businesses and community groups the tools and support they need to clean up and beautify a spot of their choosing. Participants determine the work that needs to be done themselves and work at their own pace. So essentially, people will register through our website, type their name, their address and then type what site location they want to adopt in Covington. So that could be the area in front of their house, that could be like a public street, it doesn’t matter how big or small it is,” Wendling said.

After participants sign up for free to Adopt-A-Spot they get a fun starter kit.

“The kit comes with a five gallon bucket, a fun litter grabber, trash bags, a little window cling that says adopt a spot partner, a t-shirt, a tote bag, just two little giveaway items, of course, and then we sometimes have tools available for certain projects people work on. Like right now we have like weeding forks and hand rakes and trowels and tool belts,” Wendling said.

Adopt-A-Spot is important because the program increases the frequency of cleanups, reduces visible litter and helps prevent debris from entering storm drains and waterways. Such programs also supplement municipal services by adding volunteer-based maintenance in parks, roadways and sidewalks. rganized cleanups and site stewardship contribute to improved public spaces while supporting broader waste reduction efforts, according to Keep Covington Beautiful.

Lastly, individuals can “self-report” how many hours they spent maintaining their spot and how many pounds of trash they picked up. Keep Covington Beautiful then collects data to

improve their needs for the next year and how they can expand their initiatives. An unnamed participant of the Adopt-A-Spot program claimed Howard Litzler Drive in Covington, which is incredibly littered. Last month, they self-reported that they picked up the area for 42 hours and claimed 934 pounds of trash. With this, if you self-report 10 times, you get a $10 gift card to a local business.

“This is the perfect way to keep community members engaged and keep self-reporting so that Keep Covington Beautiful can collect their data for the next year,” Fields said.

Other Options

The Adopt-A-Spot initiative is not the only program that community members can be a part of. KCB Blair Tech Tech Castle electronics drop-off is another local initiative that Wendling works very closely with.

“They refurbish electronics, and they’ll recycle and, you know, they have a sustainability concept business model where…they’re working to ensure that all the materials from the e-waste are diverted from the landfill,” Wendling said. “We also have an e-waste drive the third Saturday in June, and we partner every year with Cohen, who recycles electronics, and with Shred It, who shreds paper, and then styrofoam.”

One of the key efforts led by Keep Covington Beautiful has been its cigarette litter prevention program, funded through Keep America Beautiful. The initiative included a grant to collect and dispose of cigarette waste.

“We installed about 36 urns throughout the city and did a marketing campaign. And yeah, we had some good results and some high visibility,” said Fields.

Wendling said the program was built not only around cleanup, but a focus mostly on behavior change.

“It’s just another aspect of what we’re trying to raise awareness about and help with solutions and then change behaviors,” she said.

She added that ongoing maintenance and engagement are important for long-term success, as the organization continues improving the urns and working with local businesses to keep participation consistent.

Bridging The Gap

Fields said the work helps bridge the gap between community concerns and real action, explaining that people often bring issues to the city or the organization, looking for solutions. She described the effort as a “grassroots system” that connects residents, businesses and city support through ongoing collaboration. Fields said community involvement is essential to the program’s success and stressed the importance of having consistent, day-to-day attention on local issues. Overall, the organization’s goal is not only to clean up Covington’s streets but also to build long-term awareness and encourage residents to take responsibility for their environment.