Keep Irving Beautiful continued its tradition of partnering with the Irving Family YMCA for “America Recycles Day,” a nationwide program sponsored by Keep America Beautiful. KIB supplied the City of Irving blue bags along with fliers which explained what types of materials could or could not be recycled, and the seniors group supplied the energy. They began bringing in recyclable materials at the beginning of November, and KIB weighed and recorded the amounts. When all was tallied, the seniors had recycled 613 pounds of material which was diverted from the landfill. Across the country, thousands of volunteers were also participating and took a recycling pledge to continue recycling throughout the year.
KIB visited the YMCA on Friday, November 21, to thank the seniors and present a copy of the official America Recycles Day Proclamation from President Obama. The proclamation calls upon all Americans to strengthen their “reduce, reuse and recycle” efforts by learning what can be recycled, reducing their personal waste and increasing their own recycling, and encouraging at least one other person to take the recycling pledge. To date, nearly 50,000 people have taken the pledge, which is available at http://americarecyclesday.org/pledge.
KIB Board member Rachel Torrez-Moon commented on the spirit of the event. “While the official America Recycles Day is November 15, KIB encourages everyone to make recycling a part of everyday life,” he said. “The seniors here at the YMCA look forward to collecting their recyclables, and we enjoy celebrating their results. They do a great job, and deserve to be acknowledged.”
Keep Irving Beautiful is a non-profit, grassroots, leadership organization dedicated to educating our community about litter abatement, recycling, and beautification in order to help preserve the health and promote the social and economic prosperity of our city. As an award winning affiliate of Keep America Beautiful and Keep Texas Beautiful, Keep Irving Beautiful reaches out to and partners with all sectors of our city including government, business, church, cultural, educational, neighborhood and civic organizations. For more information or to find out how your group can participate in a volunteer event, please go to the KIB website, www.keepirvingbeautiful.org, or call the KIB office at 972-721-2175.