Twelve hours after walking through my front door with a suitcase and backpack — home from the airport, I stepped back into my usual routine. Except it wasn’t. Last week we picked up curbside recycling on Thursday after spending the first part of the week at the Keep America Beautiful National Convention in Washington, D.C. The gathering shifts your view, if only briefly, from our own community and state to the successes and challenges of other affiliates throughout the country.
Watching the first rays of sunlight hit the Sandhills lakes as we gained altitude south of the Alliance Airport on the first leg of the trip there, I wondered how this KAB convention would compare to the only other one I had attended — Memphis, February, 2019. That had been just before the pandemic. And now, though everyone still wore masks on the planes and at the airports, DIA was busier than ever. Traveling with our executive director, Kathy Worley, we caught a cab from Dulles International Airport and arrived at the hotel about an hour before sunset. Sessions were set to open the next day at 10 a.m.
Compared to Tennessee, it was soon apparent that this event was pared down. No big projection screen behind the speakers, breakout sessions or high-key welcome like the marching band in that Memphis ballroom. Even with the official opening after the America Recycles Day luncheon there was still nowhere near the crowd I had navigated the previous time.
However, conventions should not be judged on size or entertainment value. I expect substance. Do the speakers impart information not easily uncovered in a Google search? Would we have ever networked with any of these people without being brought together in the same room? Presenters delved deeply into topics I knew at least something about, while others highlighted current events or ongoing challenges. Everyone sitting in the cavernous room could relate to the issues being presented then dissected at our tables.
Traditionally scheduled in early spring, this late fall edition of the convention began on America Recycles Day, Monday, Nov. 15. Beyond national statistics, the biggest news of the morning came with the announcement of the Environmental Protection Agency’s first national recycling strategy. Keep America Beautiful affiliates will be among organizations vying for grant funding through the EPA made possible by the Recycle Act — $75 million over five years.
Waste reduction in America’s national parks was another memorable presentation before lunch the first day. I saw efforts on the National Mall firsthand on a couple occasions that week where 25 million people visit every year.
The most in-depth discussion, by far, focused on the organization’s 2020 National Litter Study, which I highlighted after the Keep Nebraska Beautiful meeting in August. This data is being used to create plans and programs and cleanups. Presenters addressed cigarette butts in a separate session.
Of course, leadership updated affiliates on Keep America Beautiful itself. President and CEO Helen Lowman noted that she will be stepping down at the end of this year. Her departure comes as KAB has completed a new strategic plan with four pillars: clean, green, resilient and inclusive. The process tapped more than 700 stakeholders during about a year in development. In the past 18 months KAB has also begun a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion.
An added dimension this year was advice and how to build advocacy networks with legislators and officials. Many affiliates took time to visit their representatives on Capitol Hill.
The convention concluded Wednesday morning, Nov. 17, with Lowman’s closing remarks.
Look for more information on topics from the Keep America Beautiful conference in upcoming columns.