At this time of year, the dingy snowbanks are slowly absorbed into the thawing earth, revealing the dregs of accumulated garbage along rural roadways in the Upper Delaware River region. The Pennsylvania road where I live is littered with unlovely, castoff crap like plastic water bottles, aluminum beer cans and strangely—empty cat-food cans.

Soon we will head out to join thousands of others throughout Pennsylvania during the 2015 Great American Cleanup of PA, which began on March 1 and ends on May 31. Those who register their cleanup event through www.gacofpa.org can receive free bags, gloves and vests from PennDOT district offices while supplies last.

In addition, volunteers who schedule events between April 11 to May 4 will be able to take their collected trash to participating landfills for free or reduced disposal during Pick It Up PA Days. (Contact Michelle Dunn at 877/772-3673, extension 113 or email mdunn@keeppabeautiful.org).

Pennsylvania has been making other strides in tackling trash-related problems. More than 115,000 volunteers hit the pavement year-round with the Adopt-A-Highway Program. And students can keep the areas surrounding their schools clean in the Litter Free School Zone Program for grades K-12, an initiative sponsored by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (Visit www.keeppabeautiful.org/KeepIt/LitterFreeSchoolZone.aspx).

Those willing to wield a camera and create a video of their cleanup can compete for a $200 prize. The 2014 Video Contest winner, Clean and Green Harrisburg with Tri County Community Action in Dauphin County, disposed of 9,000 pounds of electronics, over 160,000 pounds of trash and over 250 tires. Submission deadline for 2015 is May 22 (Visit www.gacofpa.org).

Those who want to take on illegal dumping will find tools on the new microsite sponsored by Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful at www.IllegalDumpFreePA.org. The toolkit contains sample letters to legislators and media releases aimed at helping municipalities address illegal dumping at the local level. (Contact Heidi Pedicone at 877/772-3673 or hpedicone@keeppabeautiful.org).