BATON ROUGE, La. – During the week of April 17-23, 2023, Keep Louisiana Beautiful (KLB) will present the 2nd Annual Love the Boot Week – Louisiana’s largest litter removal effort held in conjunction with Earth Week. Businesses, governmental entities, schools, non-profit organizations, and individual citizens across the state are encouraged to participate in cleanup and beautification events for a cleaner, greener Louisiana. KLB and the Office of the Lieutenant Governor lead Love the Boot Week with support and participation from the Governor and First Lady, state departments and employees, mayors, parish presidents, and other Louisiana leaders.
“We need the help of every person in every parish to clean up Louisiana,” said Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser. “Litter does not belong in our Sportsman’s Paradise. It hurts our environment, our quality of life, and it negatively affects economic development. Please join me in cleaning up our communities during Love the Boot Week.”
KLB’s first Love the Boot Week in 2022 led to 8,476 volunteers dedicating over 40,000 hours to the removal of 293 tons of litter at 280 events in 54 parishes. In addition to litter removal, groups planted 802 trees and plants to help beautify Louisiana.
“We would like to double our collective impact in 2023 and we can with your help,” said KLB Executive Director Susan Russell. “I’d like to see 100% parish participation during Love the Boot Week. Sign up to clean up and help us shed light on the importance of taking care of our communities.”
Event registration and volunteer sign up are available at www.lovetheboot.org. Volunteers can search by zip code to find events in their area. Events can be registered as either public or private. The first 250 organizations who register their Love the Boot Week events will receive cleanup kits with shirts and supplies. The first 100 individuals or families to register events will receive Louisiana State Park day passes.
Data collection is an important part of Love the Boot Week. Event organizers will report on the number of volunteers, volunteer hours, number of trash bags collected, the estimated weight of large items found, and commonly picked up items. An impact report will summarize and recognize participants’ collective efforts.
Love the Boot Week event planning tools and promotional graphics are available to all online. KLB encourages event organizers to use these assets to plan and promote a successful event. KLB will spotlight cleanup and beautification events on their social media platforms. Everyone is encouraged to share how they #LovetheBoot on social media.
Sponsors of Love the Boot Week include the Office of the Lieutenant Governor, Lamar Advertising, Coca-Cola United, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana, Cox Communications, Alexandria and Pineville Convention and Visitors Bureau, Louisiana Restaurant Association, and Texas Brine Company.
Learn more about Love the Boot Week at www.lovetheboot.org.
Litter is not a new problem for Louisiana’s 64 parishes. For decades, litter has become increasingly detrimental to our communities, leading to a multitude of repercussions such as:
- Blight on natural areas, cities, towns, roadways, and waterways
- Death of wildlife due to polluted habitats
- Decline in quality of life in neighborhoods
- A negative impact on economic development, infrastructure, and tourism
- Flooding caused by storm drains clogged with litter and debris
