The national Keep America Beautiful System (KAB), a behavior based approach to litter prevention and voluntary recycling was launched in 1976 after three years of research. Since then, more than 400 cities and communities in 40 states have implemented the System, experiencing litter reduction of up to 80%. The KAB process begins when a community files a completed application for certification with KAB. To be admitted to the pre-certification phase, the community must get the written support of its chief elected official for local implementation of the System, ask the public works director to evaluate the problem and commit funds. Then the community must name a three-person organization team to guide the early development of the program. This organization team attends a task oriented 1-day Pre-certification Training Workshop at which they learn to organize a citizens' committee, hire a local coordinator and gather the facts and figures necessary to start the System. This process takes 60-90 days. For information on a mini-workshop presentation on the Keep America Beautiful System, contact KAB at Mill River Plaza, 9 W. Broad St., Stamford CT 06902 Telephone 203-323-8987.

KAB, Keep America Beautiful, Inc. website: http://www.kab.org/