A Conversation with Carliss Bates, Our 2019 Innovative Program Award Winner
We’re thrilled to share another post in our 2019 awards interview series. Every year, we honor individuals, schools, corporations, nonprofits, and government agencies working to improve Georgia’s environment. Our Innovative Program Award highlights affiliates that utilize new, unique ideas; use nontraditional approaches; or launch programs our network has not previously seen. Join us for a chat with Carliss Bates, the executive director of Keep Savannah Beautiful.
Photo by Tom Meyer
Thanks for joining us, and congratulations on receiving the award! Your affiliate won for your revamped Adopt-a-Spot program. Can you tell us more?
In Savannah, we have amazing community partners, ranging from neighborhoods to local businesses to faith-based and local civic organizations. Many of them have committed to helping us keep Savannah beautiful, and that entails ongoing participation with our Adopt-a-Spot program. They commit to cleaning up and maintaining whatever spot they adopt at least four times per year, and we were very happy to broaden that scope during our 2019 Great Savannah Litter Pickup. We said, “We’re going to throw out all the spots, anything people can think of”. We had all these people reaching out wanting to adopt neighborhoods, schools, and parks. We even had one group adopt a bus stop in their neighborhood! We received an overwhelming response of support from people who love this community and are committed to keeping it clean and green. The whole idea is to engage people and encourage them to help us maintain and address the litter situation in our neighborhoods. It’s been an overall improvement—we find that in most cases, most of the organizations clean up more than four times per year. As they do that, they also get to see firsthand what we already know: in many cases, as quickly as we clean trash up, somebody throws more back down. Our Adopt-a-Spot participants realize we have to do more than just clean up. Their involvement leads to additional conversations on how we can educate people and change the behavior of the folks in our community.
That’s amazing! So what inspired you to join the Georgia KAB network? Why are you still here today?
I’ve been with the city of Savannah for a little over twenty years. My background is in PR and communications, and in my first role, I worked with my predecessor on various Keep Savannah Beautiful initiatives. I always felt excited about the amazing things they were doing, from youth engagement to waste management to community beautification. In 2017, I had the opportunity to try something different and step into the executive director role. I am very excited about the ongoing support that we receive from the KGBF network. I work with amazing, beautiful people with creative minds and such a willingness to help and to share. All of the affiliate staff that I have met across Georgia are such great people, and so passionate. It ignites something in me and gets me even more fired up!
Some Adopt-a-Neighborhood partners cleaning up on a local street in Savannah
What are some of your other favorite projects at Keep Savannah Beautiful?
There are so many to choose from, but our Cigarette Litter Prevention Program has been one of my favorite experiences. For the past two years, we’ve participated in a collaborative grant partnership with Keep Golden Isles Beautiful, Keep Liberty Beautiful, and other coastal affiliates. It’s been an amazing experience working together for a common cause. A lot of people don’t even realize the impact cigarette butts have on our environment, so our main focus is education and outreach. We inform citizens and make them aware of the effects of cigarette litter on our environment. Again, many people don’t even realize that cigarette butts are litter. We have certain areas downtown and near our River Street area, a popular place for tourists, where cigarette butt litter remains an ongoing challenge. Right now, we’re working in partnership with local businesses to install ash receptacles and change littering behaviors. (To learn more, please visit georgiascoastisnotanashtray.org.)
What guidance can you offer to other leaders interested in galvanizing their communities?
I would say that you really have to be creative in finding a way to leverage the power of partnerships in your communities. That’s the biggest success that’s come out of Keep Savannah Beautiful. We’re able to work together with other stakeholders, and they’re willing to have tough conversations about how we can find creative solutions for litter prevention, recycling, and beautification. Community partners are the most valuable asset in the success of any type of beautification program. There is power in numbers. When we all come together, we can do greater things than if there were just one person at the table.
What is one thing everyone can do to make their community cleaner, greener, or more beautiful?
Right now, we encourage everybody to clean up around their homes. If you see litter on your street, make the effort to pick it up. If everybody did this, our neighborhoods would be at their best. I’d also advise people to work together with others in their neighborhoods. We have to social distance, of course, but you can get creative with it—we still have to address how to keep our communities clean during this time.