31st Annual Statewide Trash Poster Contest

Several thousand students enter the annual Statewide Trash Poster Contest (TPC), making poster judging very competitive and interesting! In addition to other prizes, 12 selected winning posters will be featured in 35,000 printed calendars this year. One additional winning poster is selected as the TPC “Promotional Poster of the Year” and can be downloaded by clicking here. The “Promotional Poster of the Year” and an entry form, showing an additionally selected poster, are included in each printed calendar. Contest entry forms can be downloaded by clicking or tapping here.

TPC Contest information is first distributed to principals and superintendents in Oklahoma’s public, private, parochial, charter and tribal schools, known home schools, and correctional center facilities. Any Oklahoma school student from Kindergarten through 12th grade can enter this contest. Contest Calendars are then distributed to Oklahoma federal, state, city and county agencies, as well as libraries, municipalities, businesses, organizations, groups, and individuals statewide. A limited number of TPC Calendars are available for free to the public within the Continental United States only. To request copies while quantities last, you can email the ODOT Beautification Office at beautification@odot.org or call 1-405-521-2557.

The Trash Poster Contest is organized by State Beautification Coordinator Melody Johnson – Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT), and is coordinated in partnership with the following representatives from their respective agency or organization: Sara Ivey – Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ), Rhonda Powell – Oklahoma Turnpike Authority (OTA), Patrice Williams - Oklahoma Turnpike Authority (OTA), Jeff Everett – OG&E (OG&E), Blake Parks – Oklahoma’s Credit Union (OKCU), Emily Hale – Oklahoma Tourism & Recreation Department – State Parks (OTRD-SP), Jeanette Nance – Keep Oklahoma Beautiful (KOB), Julie Maher - Ardmore Beautification Council (ABC), Lisa Synar – Oklahoma City Beautiful (OKCB), Elizabeth Maughan – Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE), Lindsey Farris – Oklahoma Department of Public Safety/Oklahoma Highway Patrol (DPS/OHP), and Cody McDonell – Oklahoma Highway Safety Office (OHSO).

Here’s a chance to show artistic, imaginative, and creative talent with a “ORIGINAL AND POSITIVE” poster / slogan design about solutions for Oklahoma’s litter problems. Win CASH and help Oklahoma “KEEP OUR LAND GRAND!”

Complete the “entire” Entry Form herewith (may be photocopied). All poster entries must be submitted by the Contest Deadline, January 31, 2022, to “your local County” Dept. of Environmental Quality Office (see address list included with this Entry Form).  A spreadsheet of Oklahoma DEQ offices can be downloaded by clicking / tapping here.

County winners placing 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in February receive certificates and those posters are submitted in to state judging. State winners will be notified in March* and honored at a mid-April* Awards Event in Oklahoma City. State winners each receive a cash prize, poster design T-shirt, recognition at the State Capitol* by the Oklahoma House of Representatives, and a Legislative Award Citation. (*Award Events and Dates are subject to change according to current COVID-19 requirements and recommendations.) State winning posters will build the upcoming  "2023" Trash Poster Calendar.

Entry forms in two different layouts are available for download: the entry form with contest rules and DEQ offices listed, and the entry form with contest rules. The annual Trash Poster Contest begins in December each year. Only one poster entry per student will be accepted. Please do not submit poster entries prior to the month of December.

Entry Form information must be filled out completely, legibly and in detail, and attached in the upper right corner on the back of each poster. Entries must be delivered or mailed (postmarked) to your local county Department of Environmental Quality Office (DEQ) by the last day of January each year. Late entries or entries sent to the wrong county DEQ office will NOT be judged.

All Oklahoma students attending school in grades K - 2, 3 - 5, 6 - 8, 9 - 12

Local County Prizes: County judging by each county’s designated DEQ Office is completed during February. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place county winners will receive a certificate from DEQ and these posters will be submitted for state judging. Some local sponsors may also present other prizes, but those vary by county.

State Prizes: State judging is completed in early March. In mid-April, the 14 state winners are announced and honored at an Awards Event, and each will receive a substantial cash award for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places in each grade division, and for the “Promotional Poster of the Year”, and for the Entry Form Poster. State winners will also will receive a State Contest Certificate, a t-shirt bearing their poster design, along with a mounted posterboard copy, and a laminated placemat. Teachers of the 14 state winners receive vouchers for a two-night stay at an Oklahoma State Park and contest vouchers to purchase classroom school art supplies. In addition, winning students and teachers will receive contest/sponsor promotional items at the April Awards Event.

State winners and teachers are honored at a mid-April Awards Event at the ODOT Building in Oklahoma City. The winning students are also introduced to the Oklahoma State House of Representatives at the State Capitol that same day. All state winners and their teachers receive proper notification prior to the awards event. (Award Events & Dates subject to COVID-19 requirements.)

• Oklahoma Department of Transportation
• Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality
• Oklahoma Turnpike Authority
• Oklahoma's Credit Union
• OG&E
• Oklahoma Tourism & Recreation Department – Oklahoma State Parks
• Ardmore Beautification Council
  
• Keep Oklahoma Beautiful
• Oklahoma Rural Water Association
• Solid Waste Institute of Northeast Oklahoma
• Oklahoma City Beautiful
• State Department of Education
• Department of Public Safety / Oklahoma Highway Patrol
• Oklahoma Highway Safety Office

"The mission of the Oklahoma Trash Poster Contest is to provide creative tools by bringing knowledge of pollution issues and promote litter awareness within Oklahoma’s schools and communities."