2023 Everyday Heroes

Sgt. John Hattaway, Litter Enforcement Award 

Sgt. John Hattaway is a 10-year veteran with the La. Dept of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) Enforcement Division. and has proven year after year to be one of the department’s premier agents of litter enforcement. Over the last year, Sgt. Hattaway issued the highest number of gross littering citations issued by any LDWF agent in the past year. For this reason, he was given the LDWF Meritorious Service Award for Littering Apprehension. Sgt. Hattaway coordinates the camera effort in his district, which covers Ouachita, Jackson, Lincoln, and Union Parishes. He has been able to identify problem dumping areas and utilize the cameras to make a difference in his areas, in one instance making five separate gross littering cases in one day. As impressive as Sgt. Hattaway’s littering cases are, they are only part of his exceptional case load. His case load is consistently in the top 10 statewide, and he is almost always the top producer in his region.

Clean Pelican, Community Improvement Award 

Clean Pelican was organically formed in January 2021 by a group of volunteers after an explosion of litter in Baton Rouge. Glenda Pollard and Johanna Landreneau knew they wanted to make a sustainable difference, and that would require formally organizing a non-profit 501(c)3 which would allow them to apply for grants and accept donations for this monumental undertaking. Johanna took on the application and legal work, and they were up and going in March of 2021 with a strong board of directors made up of like-minded community leaders and professionals. To date, 40 community litter pickups have been organized, and an estimated 1,200 contractor bags of litter have been collected and hauled to commercial dumpsters.

LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens, Clean Biz Leadership Award (less than 50 employees)

The LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens is an expansive collection of specialty gardens, woodlands, wetlands, and arboreta. The 150 acres of urban woods is home to Trees and Trails, five miles of educational walking paths through the Burden Woods and wetlands. The mission of the Botanic Gardens is to promote the importance of plants and their environment to the physical, mental, and spiritual well-being of the citizens of Louisiana and beyond.  

Through the past 10 years as Resident Director, Dr. Jeff Keuhny has taken this facility to new levels of research, community outreach, education, funding, and environmental well-being. One of his many impacts has been spearheading the clean-up efforts in the wetlands of Burden where 50+ years of refuse buildup had occurred in barrow pits adjacent to Ward Creek, the primary drainage channel for all of Baton Rouge watersheds. He has worked with the Louisiana Stormwater Coalition, Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative, City of Baton Rouge, LDEQ, and the LDCRT to obtain funding through an EPA Trash Free Waters grant to employ the expertise of OSPREY Initiative, an environmentally passioned company. OSPREY, with the assistance of many volunteers, has performed the cleanup and recycling of the refuse along with ongoing monitoring and research for long-term litter abatement solutions. An estimated 3 tons of refuse has been removed from the area. This is part of a city/parish and statewide stormwater and litter abatement effort that has brought exposure to the issues of trash and non-point pollution that have become detrimental to the waterways of East Baton Rouge and Louisiana. 

ExxonMobil Baton Rouge, Clean Biz Leadership Award (more than 50 employees) 

ExxonMobil is consistent and passionate about the work they do in the community to make it an area employees, contractors and neighbors are proud to call home. Annually, ExxonMobil sponsors and provides volunteers for several clean-up days in the community and along their fence line. The company also plants indigenous trees and pollinator gardens in its greenbelt to establish a flourishing and healthy environment. ExxonMobil participated in Love the Boot Week for the past two years, participating in litter cleanups and planting efforts. Employees also hosted collection booths for electronic recycling and paper shredding.

In efforts to reduce plastic waste, ExxonMobil has created workplace initiatives such as “Bring Your Own Cup and Your Own Utensils,” as well as wash areas for reusable supplies.  Throughout the company’s complex, there are recycle bins placed in common areas to encourage recycling. Further practices include site collection of types 2, 4, and 5 plastic caps to be utilized as internal feedstock for ExxonMobil’s Baytown Facility Advanced Recycling efforts, which converts hard-to-recycle plastic waste into raw materials to create circular plastic products. ExxonMobil also has worked to implement collaborative, innovative solutions to combat illegal dumping.

Winnsboro-Franklin Chamber of Commerce, Chamber Clean Biz Leadership Award

The Winnsboro-Franklin Parish Chamber of Commerce is in the business of serving their community. From helping new businesses get started to representing the interests of the well-established pillars of the business community, the Chamber works to ensure that Winnsboro and Franklin Parish offer one of the best places in the South to work, live and play. Since its founding in 1949, the Chamber of Commerce has played an active role in the development of Winnsboro and Franklin Parish. They work to keep businesses and individuals informed and engaged with the issues impacting their community. This year, they are recognized for being the chamber of commerce with the highest percentage of members (14%) participating in KLB’s Clean Biz Partnership program.

Keep Tangipahoa Beautiful, Outstanding Community Affiliate Award 

Keep Tangipahoa Beautiful (KTB) has made significant strides in creating a cleaner, brighter Tangipahoa Parish. This group, which began with just five grabbers and a few reflective vests seven years ago, has grown to a board of directors representing every part of this 50-mile-long parish and a host of volunteers who in the last year picked up 17,794 bags of trash and 333 tires.

With the KTB board, Tangipahoa Parish operates a three-pronged litter attack (via education, beautification, and enforcement) five days a week, 52 weeks a year, plus many weekends. Over the last year, the parish also identified 175 illegal dump sites and made efforts not only to clean those sites up but also to identify the culprits involved and take action to prevent future dumping by those individuals.

Collaboration is a key value in KTB’s work. They work with partners in their community such as Osprey Initiative to support recycling during Love the Boot Week, and Southeastern Louisiana University to expand the reach of their educational programming. Their collaborative spirit and innovative efforts serve to promote a culture of cleanliness throughout their community.

University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Outstanding University Affiliate Award

Over the past year, Keep UL Lafayette Beautiful (KULB) has worked diligently to facilitate and participate in campus and community litter collections, native tree and plant planting events, training and educational workshops, and campus service work. With assistance from University Affiliate and Community Beautification Grants through KLB, KULB was able to install three sets of landfill/recycling bins in campus building lobbies and increase the native tree and plant population on campus. Thus, increasing their management of waste streams on campus, decreasing opportunities for litter accumulation, and increasing the campus inventory of native plant/tree species. During the 2022-2023 year, KULB has engaged 107 volunteers and totaled 523 volunteer hours.

Tulane Trash to Treasure, Collegiate Environmental Steward Award

Tulane Trash to Treasure is determined to tackle the problem of waste during move-out with a nimble, sustainable social venture. The students lead an annual collection of gently used goods during spring campus move-out, store them over the summer, and sell them to the campus community during fall move-in.

The organization was founded in 2014 by Tulane undergraduate students Tracy Godbe, Anne Bevis, and Margot Habets as a social venture to divert waste, reduce consumption, and donate funds to local non-profits. Operating since 2014, with the exception of the first year of the pandemic, the quantity of materials collected has increased annually. The 2023 collection diverted 5,120 cubic feet of dorm furnishings alone from the landfill. These figures do not include clothing, books, school supplies, Mardi Gras throws, bedding, toiletries, cleaning supplies, and food that were collected, sorted, and donated to local non-profits with the help of collaborators and volunteers.

Janet Vincent, Leaders Against Litter Award 

At the center of every event and improvement effort in DeRidder is city employee Janet Vincent, Project Coordinator and Assistant to Director of Utilities. Janet is conscientious, a hard worker, and creative. Her co-workers call her “MVP.” She has a passion for DeRidder, striving to make it the best city it can be. Janet has been able to attract and collaborate with local industries, businesses, and residents alike to help in the cleanup of our city.  Janet has spearheaded grant-writing initiatives for the city to pave the way for educational opportunities, beautification, and litter reduction projects. Perhaps most notable is Janet’s grant work to obtain funding to support the recycling collection center at Beauregard Arc. This local recycling option has benefited the organization’s mission to provide work opportunities for developmentally disabled adults — as well as the DeRidder community as a whole. The conveniently located center collects recyclables including cardboard, newspaper, aluminum, and tin cans.

Ryan Chavers, Let Louisiana Shine Volunteer Award

Described as “the Ray of Sunshine in the Watson Community,” Ryan Chavers is passionate about serving the community he has called home for 31 years. Chavers has been volunteering for the Watson Spring and Fall clean-up events for the past 4 years and organized clean-up efforts for Love the Boot Week. He has gone the extra mile by collaborating with Livingston Parish Council Members, bringing awareness to the litter problems and illegal dumping sites on Parish and State roadways. At Parish Council meetings, Ryan has presented on the tons of litter and debris in all 9 Livingston Parish districts. As a result of his efforts on the Board of Keep Livingston Beautiful, 100% of his districts participated in Love the Boot Week in 2023.

Keep Tiger Town Beautiful, Love the Boot Community Impact Award

Keep Tiger Town Beautiful is a group of litter warriors who are passionate about maintaining and improving beautiful Baton Rouge. They host community cleanups daily across the city and provide all of the resources needed for individuals to plan their own cleanup events. In addition, they have placed and continue to maintain 150 public trash cans, cleaned up over 50 abandoned homeless camps, removed hundreds of illegally dumped tires, cleaned out hundreds of drains, and removed over 12,800 contractor bags of litter since January 2021. Led by local realtor and volunteer extraordinaire, Jennifer Richardson, Keep Tiger Town Beautiful demonstrated outstanding initiative and dedication during this year’s Love the Boot Week. With over 100 volunteers and nine events during the week, the group collected around 600 trash bags of litter and 11,000 pounds of large item waste.

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