In this episode of Do Beautiful Things, Jenny Lawson is joined by Kathleen Gibi of Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful and Michael McCall from the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). Together, they discuss the power of collaboration in building sustainable, healthy communities, the importance of preserving America’s river systems, and their commitment to the Greatest American Cleanup—the largest cleanup and beautification effort in history. Tune in to learn how collaboration and volunteer engagement are making a meaningful impact on our environment and communities.

QUOTES:

• Creating Sustainable Impact through Partnerships: "We should be following a model where we can engage others and partner with others to do this, because I think that is the only real way that you can actually get sustainable impact is if you get other people involved through partnerships to get out and do action." - Michael McCall, VP of Environment and Sustainability, and Chief Sustainability Officer at the Tennessee Valley Authority
• The Importance of River Cleanup: "80% of the plastic in our oceans is said to come from rivers. Cleaning up the ocean in a lot of ways without cleaning up the rivers is much like...cleaning up blood on the floor without stopping the bleeding on the patient on the table. So that's why the work we get to do with our partners and volunteers is so crucial." - Kathleen Gibi, Executive Director of Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful

Show Notes:

00:00 Greatest American Cleanup beautifying 25,000 communities.

06:13 TVA: Unique regional energy-water economic integration.

08:52 TVA supports Tennessee River cleanup since 2018.

13:02 Engage others through partnerships for sustainable impact.

13:56 Campaign fosters pride, action, and shared values.

19:44 Consistent focus needed to preserve Tennessee River.

22:31 TVA concerned about storm, river system effective.

24:07 Clearing red tape for quicker community recovery.

27:38 Local affiliates tirelessly support community environmental efforts.

30:53 Get involved with kab.org and support.

Show Links:

• Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful: https://www.keeptnriverbeautiful.org/
• Tennessee Valley Authority: https://www.tva.com/
• Keep America Beautiful: https://kab.org/
• Greatest America Cleanup: https://kab.org/greatest-american-cleanup/