ATLANTA -- This year's Sweep the Hooch event is expected to be the biggest one yet.

The annual Chattahoochee River clean-up to slated to attract nearly 600 volunteers at a number of locations along the water.

Last year, Sweep the Hooch participants gathered up nearly four tons of trash.

"This is the kind of hands-on work that Chattahoochee Riverkeeper and our partners do that reaffirms our commitment to keeping our river clean," Chattahoochee Riverkeeper executive director Sally Bethea said in a statement. "We'll have volunteers paddling the river, wading in the water and combing the shoreline for trash."

Clean-up locations along the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area run from Buford Dam to Paces Mill.

Sweep the Hooch will be Saturday, Apr. 13 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. To sign up as an individual or with a group, visit sweepthehooch.org.

ATLANTA -- Douglasville and Milton have joined Kennesaw and Gwinnett County as Georgia jurisdictions what have earned Green Communities certification.

According to the Atlanta Regional Commission, the communities were certified based on their leadership in implementing policies and practices that contribute to efficient and sustainable use of resources in metro Atlanta.

The certification was presented in a board meeting on Wednesday, the ARC reported. Since the program began four years ago, 18 jurisdictions have been certified.

ATLANTA -- Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG), the world’s leading retail real estate company, recently announced two awards recognizing its commitment to sustainability issues.

Atlanta-area Simon properties include Lenox Square, Mall of Georgia, Northlake Mall, Phipps Plaza and Town Center at Cobb.

For the second consecutive year, SPG has been recognized by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) with inclusion in its select Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index (CDLI). Yet again in 2012, SPG was the only real estate company to be awarded the CDLI distinction.