Keep Omaha Beautiful

The mission of Keep Omaha Beautiful (KOB) is to foster environmental and community stewardship through education, service, and advocacy.

Through core programming, community engagement, and advocacy efforts, our work contributes to a healthy urban ecosystem. Your donation supports the organization’s core programs, which include:

Environmental Education
KOB believes that environmental education is an essential part of connecting people to the natural world.

• Annually, more than 8,000 youth and adults engage in KOB’s school and community-based education programs and service-learning projects.
• Every year, 400 K-12 teachers and early childhood educators take part in our environmental education certification workshops, reaching over 9,000 students with this content.

Pollution Prevention
KOB coordinates with thousands of volunteers and partners each year to provide education, equipment, and community service projects that ensure Omaha is a safe and healthy place for everyone to enjoy.

• Annually, KOB works with over 5,000 volunteers to clean up litter and storm drains, which helps to prevent pollution in public spaces and local waterways.
• We coordinate neighborhood cleanups and community events that involve service-learning and behavior change information to help reduce land, air, and water pollution.

Waste Reduction & Recycling Education
KOB conducts the Recycle Right digital-outreach campaign, which helps residents learn how to reduce waste and recycle correctly.

• The Omaha Recycling Guide offers residents a searchable tool to help with recycling questions, and lists local resources for hard-to-recycle items.
• Engaging ad content and tips about sustainable living, waste reduction, and recycling help residents understand the everyday impacts their actions can make.

Tree Canopy Improvements
KOB engages local residents and organizations in tree planting and stewardship activities, and plants native tree species in public spaces to help improve our tree canopy’s resilience to pests.

• KOB’s Trees for Omaha initiative has strengthened our city’s tree canopy by planting underrepresented native species to replace ash trees lost to the invasive, Emerald Ash Borer beetle. Since 2018, over 3,500 native trees have been added throughout 111 parks, trails, and other public spaces.
• Additional tree planting programs are being developed to help mitigate heat island effects and improve access to green spaces in priority locations throughout the city.

In addition, our Community Engagement & Advocacy Efforts involve community partnerships, education, thought leadership, planning, and consulting for positive, sustainable environmental impacts. 

To learn more about Keep Omaha Beautiful, visit KeepOmahaBeautiful.org.