PROFILE:
Bill Sanders: Moving Mountains

Keep Pinellas Beautiful Executi bones operation in the early 1990s has grown into an organization with three full-time employees that annually recruits upwards of 5,000 volunteers and removes more than 100 tons of trash. Sanders not only directs the local KPB affiliate, he’s also vice president of the state organization, Keep America Beautiful Affiliates of Florida.

In addition to marshalling support for dozens of cleanups each year, KPB also coordinates Adopt-a-Shore and Adopt-a-Road programs. But it’s Sanders’ dedication and boundless creativity in reaching out to diverse audiences that distinguishes him from the pack, say colleagues.

“What strikes me most about Bill is his passion for what he does,” says Nanette O’Hara, public outreach coordinator for the Tampa Bay Estuary Program. “He keeps coming up with new ideas and new approaches to educate people and bring them into the fold.”

Sanders recently floated an idea for a “Snatch and Bag” program at Pinellas marinas, a program started in Citrus County. Boaters could snatch a trash bag from dockside dispensers and use them to collect litter encountered afloat, then dispose of it when they return.

When he’s not out in the field coordinating clean-ups or rustling up partners, you might find him behind the wheel of the “litter getter” – the colorful pickup truck that’s a rolling advertisement for the cause. “What sets Bill apart is his willingness to go out and tackle what seems to be an insurmountable task,” says Betti Johnson, a principal planner for the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council and former KPB board member.

At age 75, Sanders shows no signs of slowing down.

While Sanders has seen some reduction in trash over the years, stormwater runoff is an ongoing challenge. After heavy rains, aging storm drains flush litter and pollutants off roads and yards into the nearest waterway. “It’s a never-ending battle,” he says.

“We’ve got to teach young people (and adults) not to litter,” says Sanders, who credits a nearly 30-year career in the Air Force and Air Force Reserves with giving him the tools to rally the troops.

Sanders first got involved in cleanup efforts in 1993, on a post-military assignment working for an oil refinery on the St. Mark’s River. “It was pretty bad,” recalls Sanders, of the crab traps, fishing line and city trash choking the river. He found a pontoon boat and recruited local volunteers to help with the cleanup. That led to an appointment as a director of Keep Wakulla County Beautiful; a year later, he was elected president. But Clearwater, Sanders’ home since the 1980s, beckoned. In 1997, he became executive director of Keep Pinellas Beautiful.

Since then, his efforts have earned him numerous accolades. For the past four years, Keep America Beautiful has awarded Sanders and KPB its President’s Circle Award. Sanders also won the prestigious Cypress Award from the Florida Chapter of the Sierra Club. “When you care about your community, for me it’s natural to want to do something to make it better,” Sanders says. But nothing’s more worthwhile than seeing the message hit home, he says. After one especially exhausting cleanup, Sanders overheard a young father and son sitting on the shoreline discussing what they had picked up and why.

“I was so inspired.”