When John Pope relocated from Southern California to Van Buren, he noticed a larger amount of visible litter around this area compared to his previous home. After meeting other local residents who were also dissatisfied with the city’s appearance, the group of business leaders formed a committee known as City Pride & Enhancement. In their research on how to reduce litter and trash, the group discovered a national organization known as Keep America Beautiful (KAB), with state and city affiliates across the country. After gathering support from the city and chamber, the group completed the necessary training to become an affiliate and Keep Van Buren Beautiful (KVBB) began in May 2006.
    During the training, a Community Appearance Index was performed, labeling segments of the city and scoring them based on KAB’s rating system of 1-4, with 1 being the best. That initial scoring left Van Buren with an overall rating of 3.5, creating an obvious steppingstone for vast improvements. Pope became director of KVBB and got to work reducing litter around the city. With approval from city officials, Pope began managing court assigned workers to pick up trash and has continued doing so for over eight years. Between these workers and various groups looking to serve, KVBB averages an annual collection of over 1,000 30-gallon bags of trash.
    Any group looking to serve the city by picking up trash can contact Pope for help organizing their project. KAB provides materials for clean-up efforts, and many groups such as high school students, boy and girl scouts, along with local businesses such as Experian have partnered with Pope for cleanups within the Van Buren city limits.
    Cigarette litter has been a priority for Pope and KVBB, as cigarette butts are the number one item littered in the world. The KVBB board early on completed a “butt count” covering six blocks of Van Buren’s Main Street and found an astonishing 1,085 butts littered in the area. They worked on grants and funding, put together a plan to reduce cigarette litter, and began placing cigarette urns outside businesses in downtown. Pope joined with government officials and had Act 1500 adapted, encouraging businesses owners to buy and place urns outside their building for a tax incentive. A significant amount of litter decreased on Main Street and owners began taking pride in their storefront’s appearance. Today, 12 urns can be found along Main Street. KVBB continues to perform “butt counts” of the area and has found that along Main Street, cigarette litter has reduced by 90%, with only 125 butts found along the downtown sidewalks during the most recent count. Adding to this reduction is also the use of pocket ashtrays, provided by KAB and distributed at Shopper’s Value on Pointer Trail and at KVBB events. Pocket ashtrays are handy for smokers to dispose of used cigarettes in a small, sealed container they can keep in their pockets without fear of spilling or leakage.
    Reusing and recycling are also key characteristics of KVBB. The organization partners with Lions Club in collecting prescription eyewear people no longer need and reusing them for those in Central America with matching prescriptions. Locally, the groups collect around 1,000 pairs of glasses each year. Putting a recycling program into place with the Van Buren School District was also an important task for Pope. He believes teaching children to recycle at school is an idea the students can take home and continue. Since starting the recycling program 8 years ago, over one million pounds of materials have been collected and recycled that would have otherwise ended up in a landfill. KVBB hosts many annual events such as a Spring Cleanup, Fall Cleanup at Lake Louemma, and an E-Waste Dropoff, which recently collected over 10,000 pounds of electronic waste.
    Keep America Beautiful has awarded Keep Van Buren Beautiful for its cigarette litter prevention efforts, choosing the affiliate as the source of training videos shown at annual conferences. Pope says that he has also received accolades and awards from Keep Arkansas Beautiful (our state affiliate of Keep America Beautiful) and has been personally named “Individual Recycler of the Year” by the Arkansas Recycle Coalition.
    Pope notes that having KVBB as a member of the Van Buren Chamber of Commerce is one aspect of being part of our community, and that the chamber itself is a community. He believes the attitudes of Van Buren’s people and businesses have changed over the last few years, becoming more proactive towards reducing litter and caring for our city.
    In the recent years, Van Buren’s Community Appearance Index has dropped dramatically, rating from 1.5-1.25 each year. As they continue aiming for that perfect score of “1”, Pope is grateful for the KVBB board of directors and the growing support across the city. Four of the original board members still serve on it today and Pope keeps a growing list of ideas on how to further enhance Van Buren long-term. Pope stressed that the success of Keep Van Buren Beautiful is a direct result of the support from Keep America Beautiful and Keep Arkansas Beautiful. In addition, local support from city and county officials, Van Buren Municipal Utilities, the Van Buren Chamber of Commerce, the VBPD and the A&P Commission are also key in helping KVBB reach its goals.  To keep in touch with Keep Van Buren Beautiful or to contact Pope for organizing a cleanup, please visit their Facebook page at facebook.com/Keepvbb.