Keep Louisiana Beautiful and Louisiana Blue Partner During Love The Boot Week
Event to Educate Citizens that a Clean and Beautiful Louisiana is a Healthy Louisiana

BATON ROUGE –  During Love the Boot Week, April 5-13, 2025, Keep Louisiana Beautiful (KLB) will partner with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana (Louisiana Blue) with a goal of communicating that a clean and beautiful Louisiana is a healthy Louisiana.

"Seeing how litter negatively impacts community health and wanting to do something about it, Louisiana Blue has been a part of Love the Boot Week since its inception," said Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser. "With their support, we are putting litter in its place and making Louisiana a cleaner and greener place to call home."

"We're proud to join Keep Louisiana Beautiful in supporting Love the Boot Week because this helps communities around our state create cleaner, greener, healthier spaces," said Michael Tipton, Louisiana Blue Foundation president and head of Community Relations. "Not only does this event raise awareness of why litter cleanup and beautification efforts are so important for our overall well-being, it gives families, friends, and neighbors an opportunity to come together and make our home state better for everyone. It's just one example of how Louisianans show up for each other."

Ways litter affects our environment, and our physical and mental health include but are not limited to:

- The CDC identifies the condition of a person's environment as a social determinant of health. In other words, the condition of a person's environment is a non-medical factor that can influence health outcomes. Litter negatively impacts the condition of a person's environment.

- Litter is hazardous to our health and the health of our environment. Toxic chemicals from plastic pollute our waterways and soil. Birds and marine life become entangled in litter and ingest plastic remnants, which eventually end up in our food supply.

- In addition to being ingested by wildlife and polluting the environment, littered cigarettes can lead to life-threatening wildfires.

- Litter can clog drains, causing street flooding. This leads to the formation of mosquito breeding pools and mosquitoes can carry and transmit diseases.

- Water collected in waste tires and other illegally disposed debris also creates a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

- Large items that fall from unsecured loads on roadways can cause accidents, injuries and even death.

- Research finds well-maintained public spaces, like parks, foster social connections and a sense of belonging. A safe and clean environment supports quality of life, economic stability, and overall community health.

- Research also shows how enhanced, well-maintained green spaces can lead to improved physical and mental health. When people have the opportunity to get outside in nature, and feel safe while doing so, they have reported experiencing a healthier physical and mental state.

"When families have clean, safe spaces to enjoy the outdoors, it can improve their health," said Louisiana Blue Senior Medical Director Dr. Larry Simon. "They have a place to exercise or be physically active, get fresh air and be exposed to nature. It's also a good way to encourage children to turn off screens and play outside. By cleaning up parks and common areas, Love the Boot Week volunteers are making these health benefits possible for more Louisianans."

Susan Russell, KLB Executive Director said, "If you are a child looking across the street, instead of seeing an abandoned lot covered in litter, wouldn't you rather see a well-kept park and playground? Our children deserve to live in a clean and beautiful Louisiana. We need every person in every parish to take pride in their community and commit to a culture of cleanliness."

During Love the Boot Week, Louisiana Blue will be supporting five cleanup and beautification events in areas where their regional offices are located including Monroe, Shreveport, Lafayette, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans. Their funding will amplify community event organizers' efforts on the local level. Louisiana Blue employees and their family members will participate in these events to volunteer their time and give back to their communities.

KLB and Louisiana Blue invite everyone to participate in Love the Boot Week. Volunteer for or register an event at LoveTheBoot.org.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana, or Louisiana Blue, is committed to our mission to improve the health and lives of Louisianians. Founded in New Orleans in 1934, we are a tax-paying, not-for-profit health insurer with offices in every major region to serve our customers. We have been recognized for the past six years as an honoree of The Civic 50, named by Points of Light Foundation as one of the 50 most community-minded companies in the United States. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. We invite all Louisianians to visit our website at lablue.com or talk to us on social media @MyLouisianaBlue.