cleanup coordinator 

 and form a nonprofit 

 organization. 



"It's been a 

 pleasure for First 

 Citizens to serve as 

 title sponsor of Big 

 Sweep for the past five 

 years," says Chris 

 Bubin, vice president 

 of public relations for 

 First Citizens Bank 

 and a member of the 

 Big Sweep board of 

 directors. "The most 

 rewarding aspect is the 

 knowledge that even 

 though each year more 

 volunteers clean more 

 sites, we're picking up 

 less trash. First Citizens Bank Big Sweep 

 has had a measurable positive impact on 

 North Carolina's environment. And 

 that's what it's all about." 



To maintain corporate interest and 

 instill a sense of ownership for the 

 cleanup, organizers offered positions on 

 the Big Sweep board of directors to the 

 executives of key sponsors. This has 

 reaped multiple benefits. The corporate 

 representatives offer a different perspec- 

 tive, bring added expertise, offer valuable 

 services and attract other corporate 

 sponsors. 



To further increase Big Sweep's 

 visibility, organizers also sought media 

 sponsors willing to donate airtime in 

 major television markets in the state. 

 With the help of Dave Boylan and 

 Karen Adams at Fox 8 TV (formerly 

 WGHPiedmont) in High Point, a 

 television partnership program was 

 arranged with six North Carolina 

 stations. This arrangement allowed Big 

 Sweep to reach 4.5 million television 

 viewers with its no-litter message and to 

 increase participation in the cleanup. 



"These six stations are instrumental 

 in getting Big Sweep's message out to 

 the public," says Debbie Crane, a 

 member of the N.C. Big Sweep board of 

 directors and the director of public affairs 

 for the N.C. Department of Environment, 

 Health and Natural Resources. 



Plastic Beverage Bottles 



n i ■ 



i i i i n 



I I I I I I 



m i i i i i i i 

 i i i i i i II i i 



1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 



Big Sweep volunteers collected 180,337 plastic beverage bottles or the equivalent 

 of one plastic bottle for every resident in the cities ofWinston-Salem and Wilson. 



"With some help from our 

 television sponsors, we can reach 

 thousands of North Carolinians about 

 Big Sweep's efforts," Crane says. 

 "And the more people we reach, the 

 less litter we'll have along our water- 

 ways." 



The final and perhaps most 

 important link in the Big Sweep 

 partnership is the public. People from 

 Manteo to Murphy donate fours hours 

 of weekend time each September — 

 volunteer time worth half a million 

 dollars — to the important task of 

 ridding North Carolina waterways of 

 litter. The support of these watershed 

 stewards makes Big Sweep a continued 

 success and has raised awareness of 

 aquatic debris to an all-time high. In 

 some cases, it has effected change — 

 less litter, more trash cans at recre- 

 ational areas and boating ramps, 

 increased litter fines, storm drain 

 stenciling projects and more. 



"Our yearly events and education 

 efforts are having an effect," says Judy 

 Bolin, Big Sweep's executive director. 

 "Sites that were cleaned in the past 

 years have less trash. But our job isn't 

 done. We're still bagging a lot of litter, 

 and we still need every volunteer who 

 is willing to help us combat this 

 environmental problem." 



Big Sweep has attracted an army 



of volunteers through 

 a variety of means. It 

 has spread the word 

 through the television 

 media partners. Big 

 Sweep has blanketed 

 state newspapers with 

 news releases. 

 Organizers have 

 developed radio 

 public service 

 announcements, 

 brochures and posters 

 and solicited the 

 participation of 

 employees of 

 corporate sponsors. 

 With a donation 

 from MCI, Big 

 Sweep maintains a 

 toll-free hotline for volunteer and 

 cleanup site information. All of this 

 effort brings thousands of volunteers 

 on cleanup day. 



This year, as part of the 10th 

 anniversary, Big Sweep hopes to attract 

 more volunteers than ever before. FGI, 

 a Chapel Hill advertising agency, 

 donated hours of design time to create 

 two attention-grabbing television spots 

 and a series of posters, radio spots and 

 print ads. In addition, sponsors have 

 provided special giveaways: T-shirts 

 for county coordinators (Jantzen Inc.), 

 hats for site coordinators (BellSouth), 

 pens for data recorders (ITW Hi-Cone) 

 and wildflower seed packets for all 

 volunteers (N.C. Soft Drink Associa- 

 tion). And this year, Big Sweep has its 

 own trash bags provided by the 

 Surfrider Foundation. 



Together, public agencies, private 

 companies, media sponsors and private 

 citizens have built Big Sweep into a 

 nonprofit organization governed by a 

 board of directors. In 1994, the cleanup 

 hired a full-time executive director and 

 established an office in Raleigh. In 

 1995, Bolin established cleanup sites in 

 every North Carolina county — a goal 

 Big Sweep had worked toward since 

 1989, when organizers realized aquatic 

 debris was a watershed problem, not 

 just an ocean and beach concern. 



18 JULY/AUGUST 1996 



