SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – Volunteers prevented thousands of recyclable items from increasing landfill waste during Love the Boot Week 2025.

Keep Louisiana Beautiful partnered with Coca-Cola to spearhead the event across 27 parishes. The event diverted 16,503 bottles and cans from landfills, an increase of 23 percent from last year.

“We are grateful to Coca-Cola for continuing to support recycling during Love the Boot Week,” said Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser. “When the recycling loop is completed, cans and bottles stay out of the landfill and can be used to create new products. It’s exciting to see this recycling effort take off, and we look forward to seeing it grow each year.”

A record 26,935 individuals volunteered for 81,852 hours and 1,408 events in all 64 parishes, collecting 514 tons of litter. In addition to litter abatement volunteers, they planted 1,204 trees, 3,672 plants, and refurbished 477 gardens during Love the Boot Week community beautification efforts.

Caddo, Bossier, and DeSoto Parishes participated in the clean-up events with support from the Coca-Cola and Osprey Initiative, which facilitates recycling.

“We at Coca-Cola are proud to have been doing business and employing people in Louisiana for nearly 125 years. With over 2,300 employees from Shreveport to New Orleans, we are deeply committed to preserving our beloved Sportsman’s Paradise,” said Scott McCallister, VP of Coca-Cola UNITED’S West Region. “We are thrilled to see the strong interest and participation in the recycling efforts we support through Keep Louisiana Beautiful’s Love the Boot Week. This initiative helps us to recover packaging to then produce new bottles and cans for the beverages our consumers love.”

Recycling is not just a beautification measure, it has many community, environmental, and health benefits as well. According to the EPA, recycling also reduces waste sent to landfills and incinerators, conserves natural resources such as timber, water, and minerals. It increases economic security by tapping a domestic source of material. Prevents pollution by reducing the need to mine raw materials. Recycling conserves energy, supports American manufacturing, and conserves valuable resources. It also creates jobs in the U.S. recycling and manufacturing sectors.