(Family Features) Spring is not just the season to clean out closets and cupboards, but it can also be a great time to spruce up your community - from the neighborhood block to the public beach - and to make sure outdoor spaces are ready for everyone to enjoy as the weather warms up.

One organization can help. Keep America Beautiful is the nation’s largest volunteer-based community action and education non-profit focusing on litter prevention, waste reduction and beautification. Every year between March and May, the organization’s Great American Cleanup mobilizes three million volunteers who spend 5.7 million hours to clean 33,000 communities in 30,000 events nationwide.

“What I love about our spring events is not just the immediate difference you see volunteers make on the beaches, in the parks and for the recreation areas of this country, but it is also the lasting impression the work makes on everyone in the community,” said Gail Cunningham, managing director of the Great American Cleanup. “It reminds us that we all can do our part to make our neighborhoods beautiful and that there are simple ways to do it.”

Cunningham shared easy ways to expand your annual spring cleaning outside the home to help clean and beautify your community:

Take it to the Bank: Keep America Beautiful’s long-standing partner, The Glad Products Company, created a new campaign called The Glad Bag Bank as a way to distribute more than four million Glad ForceFlex trash bags to worthy causes, like the Great American Cleanup. Anyone who wants to host their own community clean-up event can visit www.TheBagBank.com to request free trash bags.

Turn a Trash Can into Treasure: Need an activity for your next neighborhood block party? Turn trash cans into works of art. Paint strips of chalkboard paint on the cans and let the kids label the bins for trash, compost and recycling. Use stencils and paint pens on wood crates for smaller collection areas in the house for newspapers or soda cans. The project also provides a great opportunity to teach everyone about how to recycle and why it is important.

Get Active: Cleanup projects not only provide an opportunity for your family to do good for the community, but to also bond and be active. Spend a weekend afternoon cleaning up a stream and then hike along the bank. After picking up litter on the beach, play soccer or Frisbee.

Give New Life to Old Clothes: Get neighbors, friends or family together to host a spring cleaning clothing drive to collect and distribute gently used clothes to those in need. Set up shop at a school, church, park or where you work. Distribute trash bags in advance to those participating.

For more information about Keep America Beautiful or to find Great American Cleanup events in your area visit www.KAB.org.

---

Tell Us what You Think: