Since December over a thousand video gamers have been playing,“Take It to the Basket,” a fun and fast online game created to increase public awareness and inspire anti-litter practices.

The video game strategy is simple. Dunk trash into a moving trashcan. The only equipment needed is a computer and internet access. Players have 1 minute and 40 seconds to clean up the street of fast food wrappers which is, next to cigarette butts, the single most common item littered on streets in the USA.
Thanks to an AT&T sponsorship, participants can earn fabulous prizes given out each month until the contest ends in March. The player with the highest score each month wins the Grand Prize, while other participants are drawn at random to win $25 gift cerficiates to local stores. The first month's winner, Alan Stewart, won a basketball goal courtesy of Hoops! The second winner Sara Rasche, won an iPod Touch. The next winner will be selected on February 16 to win a Vizio 26” LCD HDTV courtesy of AT&T. The fourth and final game's grand prize is the elusive Nintendo Wii!

“We are very excited to have AT&T as a sponsor to help us promote our Trashketball game," said Cynthia Knapek, Brightside’s Director. "While playing games online doesn’t remove litter on our streets, building awareness does, and with AT&T's help we can continue to reach more people in our community.”

Game participants can go to www.brightsidegame.com or to Brightside’s web site www.brightsideinc.org to start playing the game now!

Since Mayor Jerry Abramson created Brightside in 1986, nearly $8 million in private funding has been raised and invested in community beautification initiatives. Over 2 million flowers have been planted and thousands of volunteers have partnered to keep Louisville clean, green and environmentally aware.

Brightside organizes community-wide and neighborhood cleanups and encourages environmental stewardship through several programs. Give Louisville an assist! Pitch your trash and TAKE IT TO THE BASKET! Contact Brightside to volunteer!

Citizens are encouraged to join upcoming clean ups:

• Brightside Community-Wide Cleanup, Saturday, March 29, 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.
• Brightside Chase Pre-Derby Cleanup, Wednesday, April 23, 2 to 4 p.m. (rain date, April 24), downtown Louisville
• Use Brightside’s Report-A-Litterer program focused on motorists. Contact MetroCall 311 or (502) 574-5000. Or visit www.louisvilleky.gov/metrocall. People reporting littering must provide the license plate number of the vehicle.

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