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National Cleanup Day 2026 is Saturday, Sept. 19, and September is National Cleanup Month! This event is the largest single day cleanup event in the country bringing together volunteers in service to their communities and a healthier environment. Do your part by organizing a cleanup and entering your photos in the Pennsylvania Resources Council's 2026 Gene Capaldi Lens on Litter Photo Contest. The contest is designed not to glorify litter, but to call attention to the careless and illegal act of littering, and how it threatens the environment across the Commonwealth.
Photos must be taken in Pennsylvania -- by Pennsylvania residents -- and will be judged on six criteria: anti-litter message, originality, photographic technique, quality of photo, originality of title and severity of the litter. Contestants (amateur photographers only) may enter in one of four groups--Students (through Grade 12), Adults, Before & After Students (through Grade 12) and Before & After Adults. Each group will be awarded a first-place prize of $500, second-place $250 and third-place $100. To qualify for the new Before & After categories, sponsored by Keep PA Beautiful, clean-up efforts must be registered with Keep PA Beautiful's Pick-Up PA Program https://www.keeppabeautiful.org/programs/pick-up-pa/
The deadline for submissions is Oct. 31, 2026.
Use the online entry form and find additional details, past winners, sponsors and simplified instructions for registering a clean-up with Keep PA Beautiful at prc.org/lens-litter/. Questions may be directed to lensonlitter@prc.org. Entries may also be sent to: PRC Gene Capaldi Lens on Litter Contest, 1521 North Providence Road, Media, PA or emailed to: lensonlitter@prc.org
Sponsors for the 2026 contest include Carolyn Capaldi, Robert & Mary Capaldi, Keep PA Beautiful, Sheetz, Inc. and Wegmans.