Nearly 20,000 people volunteered for more than 100,000 hours during "Love the Boot" week, and they picked up a record tonnage of garbage in every one of Louisiana's parishes.
Officials say that 19,441 people volunteered a total of 100,712 hours and picked up more than 347 tons of litter in all 64 parishes. They picked up almost 300 pounds of aluminum cans and 330 pounds of plastic bottles which will be recycled.
The volunteers also planted almost a thousand trees and more than 4,000 plants.
Keep Louisiana Beautiful (KLB) and the Office of the Lieutenant Governor announced the statistics Monday.
“Litter hurts our environment, our economy, and our quality of life,” said Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser. “Love the Boot Week’s impact is a testament to our state’s readiness for a cleaner, greener Louisiana. It’s encouraging every year to see more and more Louisianans gather during the week to clean up our state. Let’s love the boot every day and put the paradise back in our Sportsman’s Paradise.”
Love the Boot Week experienced growth across the board. Using the Independent Sector rate of $28.70, the volunteer value of Love the Boot Week 2024 was $2.89 million. The number of events registered increased by 36%, and the number of volunteers increased by 52%.
“We are blown away by the growth of Love the Boot Week this year, and I am grateful to the people of Louisiana who want to clean up and beautify our great state,” said KLB Executive Director Susan Russell. “This initiative plants the seeds for a movement that we hope will continue all year long. Let’s keep working together to change behaviors and mindsets so we can prevent litter from happening in the first place.”
Participating in Love the Boot Week were 23 colleges and universities, 72 K-12 schools, 64 individuals and family groups, 273 businesses and non-profit organizations, and 243 governmental entities. Impact numbers continue to grow with the support and leadership from the Office of the Lieutenant Governor, State Parks, State Police, along with the Departments of Transportation and Development, Environmental Quality, Public Safety and Corrections, Wildlife and Fisheries, and Agriculture and Forestry.
Plastic beverage bottles were the most common litter type picked up. Other common items found included metal cans, snack packaging, and fast-food packaging.
This information is comparable to findings reported in the 2023 KLB Litter Study. The study reported that of the 143 million pieces of litter on Louisiana’s roadways, 49% of visible litter was plastic and 20% was metal (visible = greater than 4 inches). According to the study, the most visible litter items were beverage containers (34%), drink cups (14%), and fast-food packaging (10%).
Visit KeepLouisianaBeautiful.orgto learn and access:
- Litter prevention tips
- Grant opportunities
- Educational resources
- How to check out clean up supplies at your local library through Get Down & Clean Up
- How to get your business involved in the Clean Biz Partnership
- How to get involved with your local KLB Affiliate
Love the Boot Week sponsors included Coca-Cola, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana, Cox Communications, Energy Transfer, Republic Services, Unum Group, Lamar Advertising, The Advocate-Times-Picayune, Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board, The Crawfish App, Waste Management, Hotel Monteleone, Winn Dixie, Texas Brine Company, LLC, ExxonMobil Baton Rouge, Visit Webster Parish, Cajun Coast Visitors Bureau, and Tangipahoa Parish Tourism.
