Mission
We inspire and educate all Austinites to volunteer together, beautify green spaces, clean waterways, and reduce waste every day.
Vision
For Austin to be the cleanest, most beautiful community.
Values
- We believe all Austinites have a right to clean, safe, and beautiful green spaces.
- We believe all Austinites are responsible for keeping our green spaces and waterways clean and beautiful every day.
- We believe people who volunteer together outdoors are more connected to nature and each other.
- We believe in supporting individuals, community groups, businesses, and neighborhoods to volunteer through leadership training, tools, and information.
- We believe when people learn about the impact of their actions on the environment, they will reduce their waste.
- We believe when people have clean, beautiful green spaces they enjoy and maintain them and experience a better quality of life and improved health.
- We believe children and teens who experience the outdoors and learn about reducing waste will become stewards of Austin green spaces and waterways.
What We Do
Keep Austin Beautiful empowers people to care for the environment by providing community resources, education, and volunteer opportunities.
Visit our volunteer page to view and register for upcoming opportunities. Visit our programs page to learn about other ways you can get involved.
Visit our education page to learn about our education programs, to register your school for in-classroom presentations, or to request activity kits for independent service-learning.
Visit our resources page to learn about and request free supplies for community projects, including tools, cleanup supplies, event recycling materials, and beautification resources.
Areas of Focus
- Clean – removing litter from neighborhoods, creeks, and public spaces in collaboration with the community while raising awareness about the impact of litter.
- Beautify – building vibrant sustainable communities by empowering neighbors to beautify and restore public spaces.
- Recycle – cultivating waste reduction practices within the citizenry in order to divert waste from landfills and transition to a zero-waste culture.
- Educate – leading presentations, service-learning projects, and awareness campaigns to nurture environmental consciousness.
- Recognize – honoring the most outstanding environmental efforts of individuals, schools, and organizations.
History
In 1983, the Keep Austin Beautiful program was founded by Austin Mayor Ron Mullen with the intent to preserve Austin’s natural beauty and quality of life. Initially managed by the Public Works Department, the program was transferred to Lee Cooke at the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce. Cooke formed a committee comprised of citizens and business leaders to further develop the program. In 1985, the Keep Austin Beautiful program was launched and ultimately became an independent 501(c) 3 nonprofit service organization in 2010.
