Jun 24 2026
Summer Sunrise Cleanup D4
Andres Ramos Park
Youth Recognition & Education
Keep Texas Beautiful offers resources to help youth learn, lead, and be recognized for their environmental stewardship. Our Patch Program allows Scouts, Camp Fire youth, and other groups to earn recognition through community projects, while our educational resources provide ways to engage young people in exploring key environmental issues.
Keep Texas Beautiful encourages Texas youth to get involved in community beautification projects and litter clean-ups and be conscious of the environment and sustainability. Our youth recognition efforts provide young Texans with resources and recognition for keeping their communities clean and beautiful.
What is Scout Pack and how do you get involved?
Scout Pack is a creative way to earn our KTB patch. If you’re involved in Scouts of America or Girls Scouts, it can even help you earn a Soil & Water Conservation Patch or complete your It’s Your Planet-Love It Journey.
To participate in this program, you can register your youth group for the Greatest American Cleanup (March-May) or a Fall Sweep Cleanup happening in the fall. The most exciting part of Scout Pack is the custom patches to show off all the great work you did with Keep Texas Beautiful!
Volunteering during adolescence helps our young Texans know how to keep Texas clean and shows them how littering can affect our environment.
History
Keep Texas Beautiful’s Youth Patch Program was launched and supported by the Honorable Ruthe Jackson, a founding member of KTB and councilwoman in Grand Prairie.
We continue to improve our patch program in Ms. Jackson’s memory. Today we have five different patches and more in the works. We believe recognizing youth for their environmental efforts is key to creating a sustainable future.
Scout Patches
What is Scout Pack and how do you get involved?
Scout Pack is a creative way to earn our KTB patch. If you’re involved in Scouting America or Girls Scouts, it can even help you earn a Soil & Water Conservation Patch or complete your It’s Your Planet-Love It Journey.
To participate in this program, you can register your youth group for the Greatest American Cleanup (March-May) or a Fall Sweep Cleanup happening in the fall. The most exciting part of Scout Pack is the custom patches to show off all the great work you did with Keep Texas Beautiful!
Volunteering during adolescence helps our young Texans know how to keep Texas clean and shows them how littering can affect our environment.
Earn the Keep Texas Beautiful patch by participating in a cleanup event, improvement project, or environmental activity that is sponsored by a KTB affiliate.
Earn the I Keep Texas Beautiful patch by participating or hosting any activity relating to litter prevention, beautification, waste reduction, or environmental education.
The America Recycles Day patch is designed to encourage Scouts to participate on America Recyles Day by spreading the word about the benefits of recycling and to practice recycling themselves.
The I Can Dig It patches are earned by doing a project or event that involves digging in the dirt or being a part of nature. This may include planting trees or flowers, building a garden or maintaining an existing one, spending the day in nature, and many other activities.
The Keep Texas Waterways Clean patch aims to encourage youth to participate in the restoration of local waterways.
Scout Cleanup Resources
Soil & Water Conservation Patch
Requirements for the Soil and Water Conservation badge
from Boy Scout Trail
View Guide
View Guide It’s Your Planet-Love It Journey
Requirements for It’s Your Planet-Love It Journey
from Girl Scouts of America
View Guide
View Guide Share Your Event Data
To the Texas Litter Database
Sample Volunteer Sign-In Form
Includes Liability Waiver and Photo Release
View Sample Form
View Sample Form Cleanup Event Planning Toolkit
Review this before you begin planning your Scout cleanups.
View Guide
View Guide Cleanup Report Worksheet
Use this worksheet in the field to capture data about your litter cleanup event
View the Sheet
View the Sheet Resources for Educators
Lesson plans, activities, and funding opportunities for working with youth
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation has program resources that are helpful for all age groups and relevant to the state of Texas
EcoRise
Curriculum that offers free sample lessons that are TEKS aligned, and they offer scholarships for Title 1 schools to access the curriculum for free
Deep in the Heart of Texas Film
TEKS aligned lessons for the Deep in The Heart Film release. These are free and come with slides and clips from the movies, as well as 5E science lessons which would be great for older grades, too.
Sustainable Forestry Initiative
Project Learning Tree provides free sample lesson and paid curriculum for schools
Waste Hero Education
Waste Hero Education provides free, downloadable lesson plans for K-12 and college aged students covering topics such as recycling, zero waste, and circular economies
WM
WM provides curriculum resources for K-5 students with a focus on good recycling habits
Republic Services
The Recycling Simplified Education Program contains everything you need to teach your students about recycling. You’ll find free step-by-step lesson plans and supporting materials including activities, videos, student certificates, and handouts
Take Care of Texas
Take Care of Texas has great TEKS-aligned resources for K-6 students that are updated to be currently aligned with the new standards
Junior Master Gardener
Junior Master Gardener has curriculum for Early Childhood, Elementary, and Middle/Jr. High students covering horticulture and other environmental education topics with a focus on gardening and sustainable food sources
UT Austin Planet Texas 2050
The UT Austin Environmental Science Institute has launched a Planet Texas 2050 initiative that provides free curriculum resources for elementary, middle, and high school students covering water, energy, urbanization, and ecosystem resources. The curriculum is TEKs aligned and includes links to purchase any of the optional low-cost materials to supplement the lessons.
Children’s Environmental Literacy Foundation
The Children’s Environmental Literacy Foundation provides free curriculum for grades 6-12 covering sustainability, civic science, environmental justice, and other environmental science skills.
Texas A&M AgriLife
In this free self guided 2 hour course you can learn about forest ecosystems, their management, and conservation.
