Keep Irving Beautiful (KIB) celebrated another successful year in 2017, as they marked their 25th anniversary of educating and engaging the community in litter abatement, beautification, and recycling. Here are some highlights:
Litter abatement: There were 12 cleanups, where 878 volunteers gave 2,643 hours and collected more than 9,600 pounds of trash and recyclables. These included the two big events, the Don’t Mess with Texas Trash-Off in April, and the Trash Bash in September, as well as smaller-scale cleanups with neighborhood associations, school, faith, and corporate groups. Adopt-a-Spot volunteers contributed another 5,6,86 hours and more than 3,500 bags of trash and recyclables.
Community beautification and greening: Beautification included revitalizing parks and rec centers with eight paint projects, including service days with corporate groups (Vizient, Acosta Marketing), schools (Cistercian, Cristo Rey, and North Lake) and faith groups (Calvary and Latter-day Saints). There were several tree planting projects, thanks to a $5,000 UPS grant which funded 41 trees planted on the north Campion trails, and a $3,000 Verizon donation which funded 28 native trees at Wyche Park. The 2014 Governor’s Community Achievement project (a $310,000 landscaping grant from TxDOT) was completed, with 303 large trees and irrigation installed along Irving Boulevard.
Recycling: KIB participated in 16 “Green Events,” where recycling stations encouraged attendees to think about the “Three Rs” – reduce, reuse, recycle. These included a Texas AirHogs baseball game fundraiser, and community events like the YMCA Fall Festival and America Recycles Day.
Awards and recognition: KIB was honored with the State of Texas Alliance for Recycling North Texas Award for Outstanding Environmental Education and Public Outreach, and the Keep Texas Beautiful Gold Star and Sustained Excellence Awards. Nationally, they received the Keep America Beautiful President’s Circle and Sustained Excellence Awards, one of only six affiliates nationwide to achieve this designation.
Keep Irving Beautiful is a non-profit, grassroots, leadership organization dedicated to educating our community about litter abatement, recycling, and beautification 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 all sectors of our city including government, business, church, cultural, educational, neighborhood and civic organizations. If you are interested in volunteering with KIB, or making your activity a “green event,” please go to Keep Irving Beautiful, or call (972) 721-2175.