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greening restores our hope, our schools, our families, our pride, our honor, our passion, our creativity, our beauty, our businesses, our vision, our economy, our lives.

Greenspaces restore our local economies.They create stronger, more cohesive communities with real dollars-and-cents benefits.

• Commerce: Treescaped business districts average 12% higher revenue than treeless areas, and consumer responses to green retail and business locations are consistently positive. “Views of green” have even been shown to improve employee satisfaction and productivity for area businesses.

• Property values & rent rates: Planting a tree within 50 feet of a residence can increase its value by 9%. Houses within 1/4 mile of a park average 10% higher value. And the reclamation and greening of vacant lots has been shown to increase adjacent property values by 30%.

• Safety: Beautification projects bring neighbors together, building pride, cohesion and connection. Public housing areas with trees and vegetation have shown a 50% reduction in both violent crimes and property crimes.

• Health: Green public spaces encourage exercise, while local gardens promote healthy eating habits and better nutrition. Access to public greenspaces has been shown to lower heart rates and reduce stress, and even has been connected to reduced rates of asthma, ADD and skin cancer.

• Infrastructure savings: Treescapes reduce soil erosion, decrease stormwater runoff (reducing need for mechanical controls), and extend the life of street/sidewalk surfaces because of shade. Street trees in Minneapolis are shown to save $6.8 million annually in energy costs, and $9.1 million in stormwater treatment.

Vacant lots and abandonned properties are a growing burden in many American downtowns. Neglected properties drag down entire neighborhoods by serving as breeding grounds for urban blight. They create the impression of a community in decline, and contribute to crime, disorder, lower property values and decreased commerce.

The g.r.o. initiative is seeking a solution in national partnership with Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS), which has used innovative practices to transform over 11,000 vacant lots in the city of Philadelphia alone. Through the partnerhship we seek to train and educate local organizations in practices for vacant lot stabiliazation. Full immersion learning strategies will be combined with webinars to apply the knowledge that PHS has gained to communities nationwide. And technical assistance grants will provide needed funding as well as dedicated experts to directly address the problem on a local level.

Forests and trees are essential to the health and livability of our cities and towns. They purify the air we breathe and the water we drink. Trees improve property values, stabilize soil erosion, and even reduce crime and blight. In fact, trees are one of the most sensible investments a community can make in its own future.

In 2010 alone, KAB affiliates planted 160,000 trees, establishing roots that will flourish as benefits to their communities for years to come. The g.r.o. initiative will leverage our current activities with partners such as Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, the Arbor Day Foundation and the Sustainable Urban Forest Coaltion to increase tree planting activities by 20,000 trees over a 3-year period.

Sustainable gardening practices are the cornerstone of smart municipal planning. Conservation of resources and emphasis on native vegetation create thriving, healthy ecosystems and help build a tangible connection between the public and the local environment.

Promoting sustainable gardening maximizes the impact of community greening efforts. Green spaces that are designed for sustainability result in reduced maintenance burden, more efficient use of resources, and amplified environmental benefits through cleaner air and water. The g.r.o. initiative provides education and incentives to replace invasives with native species, conserve water with rain barrels and water-smart design, create edible community gardens, mitigate storm water runoff, restore wildlife habitat, prevent soil erosion, use beneficial pests, and more. Partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Pennsylvania Horticultural Society provides affiliates with knowledge, tools and resources.

“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find resources of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.”
- Rachel Carson

Beautiful public spaces transcend aesthetic appeal to postively impact the lives of area residents, visitors, businesses and institutions. Long active in our nation’s most significant beautification efforts, KAB and our affiliates have been at the forefront of community greening efforts for over 55 years.

Through the g.r.o. initiative, KAB will plant millions of flowers, bulbs and ornamentals annually, creating beautiful public spaces, community gateways, streetscapes and memorial gardens. These projects will touch downtown areas as well as schools, corporate campuses, places of worship, parks, monument grounds and more.

With over 55 years experience in creating and sustaining beautiful public spaces, Keep America Beautiful knows the restorative power of community greening. Here are just a few examples from around our network...

Trees Keep Indianapolis Beautiful

Since 1995, “KIB Clubs” have engaged 40 schools and 10,000 students each year in building gardens, creating wildlife habitats, and planting trees. Adhering to the model of school and student ownership, KIB ensures that a three year maintenance plan for any garden is in place before they engage the students. With a majority of members from low income households, KIB Clubs are often the students’ first opportunity to dig in the dirt and engage in their natural surroundings.

KIB is deeply committed to the planting and preservation of trees. In 2006, they announced the goal of planting 100,000 trees by 2017. In October 2010 they planted the 20,000th tree of the program. KIB also has embarked on effort to transport vacant lots in Indianapolis from eyesores and areas of crime to greenspace which raises property values in the adjacent community and helps to build a greener city environment.

Garden Spotlights Sustainability in Glendale

Calfornia’s Keep Glendale Beautiful (KGB) partnered with the Coalition for a Green Glendale to transform a lot that had been vacant for over 30 years into a vibrant community garden. Today, 20 families grow fruits and vegetables. The project also showcases a demonstration garden featuring California native and drought-tolerant trees, plants and flowers.

This “first-of-its-kind” project for the City of Glendale features 20 plots for local community members who may otherwise not have an area for gardening in their place of residence. This new “Eco-Community Garden” is unique to the City for its educational component - a model garden that promotes sustainable living while showcasing the beauty and diversity of drought tolerant plants. Additionally, this is the first in the State of California to be authorized to use recycled water.

Flowers in Bloom in Winston-Salem

In 2010, Keep Winston-Salem (N.C.) Beautiful planted over 740,000 flowers and bulbs as part of its annual “Community Roots Day” event. Now in its 10th year, the effort has distributed and planted nearly 5 million bulbs along streets, traffic circles, islands, parks and more throughout the city. Local garden clubs, associations, businesses and families maintain the beds and compete for awards in the fall.

The annual Clean & Green school campus program encourages public schools to join in a competition judging the quality and impact of beautification projects and education programs. In 2010, 46 schools out of 65 applicants were recognized as “Clean & Green” schools, with 34 selected as winners of the Campus Excellence Awards. The winning schools planted over 10,000 flowers as well as many trees and ornamentals.