The City of Jacksonville and the Keep Jacksonville Beautiful Commission took second place in the annual 2007 Keep America Beautiful (KAB) Rogers Awards competition for the production of local anti-litter campaign public service announcements. The Rogers Awards recognize outstanding PSAs that advance the local and national goals of KAB.

Part of the city’s on-going Don’t Trash Jacksonville campaign, which started in 2003, the PSAs aced out hundreds of other KAB affiliates for the award. The four 30-second spots feature young people talking about their disgust with litter, the cost of cleaning it up and the inconvenience caused to motorists by unsecured loads.  The spots aired locally in 2007.

In one PSA, two teenage girls chat about how their interest in a young male motorist turned to disgust after he tossed a cigarette butt out his car widow.

In another spot, a 20-something man holds up a dollar bill and laments how littering wastes money because of the costs incurred by him, and others, in cleaning up someone else’s mess.

A third PSA features a young woman complaining that her commute abruptly stopped because an unsecured cooler fell off a vehicle and was blocking the flow of traffic.

The fourth spot features a young man lamenting stepping from his car into the filth of litter and asks viewers to be more responsible.

Keep America Beautiful annually salutes advertising agencies, non-profit organizations and KAB-certified affiliates that have produced PSAs designed to effect positive change regarding the environment.  KAB’s National Awards Program recognizes the work of its network of affiliates, as well as individuals, local corporations, governmental agencies, nonprofits and other organizations committed to delivering more beautiful, cleaner and improved communities.

The Keep Jacksonville Beautiful Commission is a mayoral-appointed board of 27 members who oversee cleanup and beautification activities in conjunction with the city’s Clean It Up, Green It Up program Programs include community cleanup support, education and outreach, annual community-wide cleanups such as the St. Johns River Celebration and Florida Coastal Cleanup, and the Adopt-A-Road program.