KMB's Tree Keepers Partners with Casa De Amigos on Beautification Project

Tree Keepers of Keep Midland Beautiful invites anyone with an interest in beautification to participate in beautifying one of the entrances to Casa De Amigos. This Saturday, July 24th beginning at 8 am, volunteers from Tree Keepers and Casa De Amigos will join efforts to "rework" a landscape by taking out and replacing shrubs and trees.  Participants will learn about the proper way to plant and maintain shrubs and trees for your home or your business along with information on mulching. This will be a “hands on” ongoing project partnership.  Join us at Casa De Amigos off Lamesa and Garden this Saturday at 8 am.  Call Keep Midland Beautiful at 687-7400 for more information.

Tree Keepers is a special program of Keep Midland Beautiful, for the maintenance of trees, and conservation and restoration of our natural environment and urban forest. Visit the Tree Keepers web page for more information.

Downtown Midland Location Gets Recycling Container for Paper

One can only imagine how much paper is used by businesses in downtown Midland, and how much of it ends up in the landfill.  But not anymore!  Businesses now have the capability to recycle paper from their offices downtown by taking it to the parking lot of Michigan and Colorado.  Thanks to Midland County Judge Mike Bradford, and the Solid Waste Division of the City of Midland, this recycling container for paper will be available at this parking lot till further notice.  Recycling in Midland is growing, and Keep Midland Beautiful has had many calls from businesses in the downtown area wanting to recycle.  So this large blue container at Michigan and Colorado for recycling paper has been added to the "fleet" of public containers already available to Midlanders.  It is all part of the "Recycle Red, White and Blue - it's the right thing to do" program. 

Here’s what red, white and blue means to you when you recycle.  Red is where you put your aluminum cans, White is where cardboard is left to be recycled, and blue is for paper.  Plastics that have a neck smaller than the base are collected in the containers painted red, white and blue.  It’s easy to identify what item goes where – and it’s the right thing to do. 

Other locations for recycling containers in Midland are: 

• Off Midkiff and Wadley you will find recycling containers for plastic, cardboard and plastic bags. 
• The location off North Midland Drive and Loop 250 has recycling containers for aluminum, cardboard, paper and plastics.  
• All four types of recycling are collected at recycling containers off Rankin Highway and I-20 and off Cuthbert and Andrews Highway. 
• And Midland College Chaparral Center parking lot has all four containers. 
• Off Big Spring and Scharbauer Draw you will find a cardboard recycling container. 
• The recycling containers at the MISD Elementary schools remain in place. 

For more information call us at 687-7400.   Brought to you by PBRBPC, TCEQ, City of Midland and Keep Midland Beautiful.

Free Computer Recycling for Texans!

Texans now have a free and easy way to recycle unwanted personal computers. Thanks to a 2008 state law, computer manufacturers are responsible for recycling the following:

• desktop and laptop computers;
  
  
• monitors (display devices without a tuner);
  
  
• the accompanying keyboard and mouse made by the same manufacturer.

Note: This program applies to personal and home-business computer equipment only. Manufacturers are responsible for recycling only their own brands.

Please visit TexasRecyclesComputers.org for more details, and email recycle@tceq.state.tx.us if you have questions.

PHONE BOOKS COLLECTED BY MIDLAND STUDENTS MAKE THREE MIDLAND SCHOOLS BIG WINNERS!

Residents of Midland can thank 15 area elementary schools for keeping 18.24 TONS of old phone book directories out of the city landfill.   During the annual Permian Basin Area Wide Phone Book Recycling Contest, held November 30th through December 4th, participating schools collected 36,480 pounds of phones books and competed for cash prizes.  Permian Basin Area Wide Phone Book, The City of Midland, Butts Recycling and Keep Midland Beautiful encouraged students from Bush, Bowie, Burnett, DeZavala, Greathouse, Fannin, Henderson, Sam Houston, Jones, Parker, Pease, Rusk, South, Trinity and St. Ann's School to collect as many old phone books as each school could and the top three schools would win a cash prize.

The school collecting the most pounds of old phone books was Trinity School, winning $500.  Second place went to Henderson Elementary ($300) and third place to Greathouse Elementary ($200) – all courtesy of Permian Basin Area Wide Phone Book. CONGRATULATIONS FOR A JOB WELL DONE!

This hands-on activity dramatically improves Midland by saving room in our landfill and reducing waste by recycling.  Many products are made from recycled paper, like paper towels, animal bedding, cereal boxes, roofing shingles and compost.  The 15 participating schools worked together to create a healthier, cleaner and safer environment across the Permian Basin.

For more information call KMB at 687-7400 or visit us online at keepmidlandbeautiful.org.  Or call Kay Mackey at Area Wide Phone Book at 687-1756.

Reminder: Recycling Left Outside of Containers can become Litter

Residents of Midland are enthusiastic about recycling! But some are taking it a bit too far. Items for recycling are being left OUTSIDE of the containers at some public recycling areas – and that can be considered littering. More...

KMB teams up to provide a free public drop-off site for household toxins

Keep Midland Beautiful and West-Tex Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) recently teamed with Midland’s Eco-logical Environmental Services, Inc. to provide a free public drop-off site for household toxins that shouldn’t be thrown in the trash.

For a limited time, Midlanders seeking to dispose of their household hazardous waste in a free, legal, and evironmentally friendly way can drop off the following types of products:

• Cleaning solutions
• Herbicides
• Insecticides
• Solvents
• Acids
• Small amounts of oil and grease
• Clean (triple-rinsed) chemical containers

To dispose of these houshold products, take them to:

Eco-Logical Environment Services
2200 Market (off Industrial, near the Loop)
Monday-Friday, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Phone 432.520.7535
Open to the public –No commercial disposal

The following items are absolutely prohibited:

• Bio-hazardous waste
• Radioactive waste
• Medication for humans or animals
• Unlabeled chemical products

Funding for this drop-off project is being provided by a grant from RC&D, the money for which comes from fines leveled by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality imposed on violators of environmental regulations in Midland County. The drop-off will continue until these funds are exhausted.

For more information, call Eco-Logical Environment Services (432.520.7535) or KMB (432.687.7400).

Corporate Sponsors Page

Keep Midland Beautiful is fortunate to have some wonderful corporate sponsors, and their generous assistance is greatly appreciated. Please visit our Sponsors webpage for links to those sponsors.

Recycling Locations (Updated 7/21/10)

• At Midland College in the parking lot of the Chaparral Center - has container for cardboard, container for plastics where the neck is smaller than the base, container for aluminum and container for paper.
  
  
• Off Wadley and Midkiff - has container for cardboard, container for all plastics where the neck is smaller than the base, and special red container for plastic bags
  
  
• Off Midland Drive and Loop 250 - has recycling containers for aluminum, cardboard, paper and all plastics where the neck is smaller than the base.
  
  
• Off Rankin Highway and I-20 - has recycling containers for cardboard and paper, and a container for all plastics where the neck is smaller than the base.
  
  
• Off Cuthbert and Andrews Highway - has container for cardboard, container for paper, container for plastics where neck is smaller than the base and container for aluminum.
  
  
• Off Scharbauer Drive and Big Spring - has a cardboard recycling container.
  
  
• The recycling containers at the MISD Elementary schools remain in place.
  
  
• ALL recyclables can be taken to Butts Recycling Monday thru Saturday. They are located at 26 West Industrial Loop.
  
  
• Downtown, at Michigan and Colorado - has a recycling container for paper.

"Pick Up Some Trash To Pick Up Some Cash"

Now all non-profit organizations, churches and schools in Midland have a new fundraising project that will be sure to spark their interest! It's an easy way to make money for your group and take pride in your community!

Keep Midland Beautiful is all about keeping Midland a litter free community. Here is your chance to participate in a great project that will not only keep Midland litter free but will also help you reach your fundraising goals.

Here's how it works - the amount you can earn will be calculated by the number of people from your group participating in the cleanup and by the number of hours each participant works during the cleanup.

For instance, if 10 people clean for 3 hours each at $5.00 per hour that would equal $150. If 20 people clean for 4 hours each at $5.00 per hour that would equal $400.

Other details your group should know:

• Maximum amount of money to be earned per cleanup is $500.
• Each group is limited to 3 cleanups a year.
• Each group may only do 1 cleanup per month.

The areas to be cleaned will be chosen by Keep Midland Beautiful. Tax-exempt
non-profit Adopt-A-Spot groups are eligible to clean a different spot for these funds under this new program.

Each clean-up group will be provided with trash bags, gloves, vests and a camera for documentation.

Each group will be asked to take a picture that identifies the area that you are cleaning (a sign, etc.), take before and after pictures of your area, take pictures of your group cleaning and take pictures of bags piled up after your cleanup.

When you finish cleaning, all you have to do is notify KMB at 687-7400 with the location of the bags to be picked up, the number of people who cleaned the area and how many hours you cleaned. Please report this to Catarina at KMB so she can get the cash you're owed for your fundraiser right away!

To participate, call Catarina at Keep Midland Beautiful at 687-7400. Taking registrations now!!!

Adopt-A-Spot Program

Keep Midland Beautiful's Adopt-A-Spot program is a great way for your group to be involved in our community. Through participation in this program, your tax dollars are saved and Midland is kept clean and beautiful for our citizens and visitors.

Here's how it works. Organize a group of willing volunteers to clean an area of Midland at least two times each year (most groups do this during KMB's annual cleanups). Pick a public location close to your home, office, or meeting place, or ask KMB to help you pick a spot. A sign with your group name will be placed in your area. Then, designate a "leader," someone who is responsible for announcing cleanup dates, organizing volunteers, and getting the trash bags and gloves (supplied by KMB). Finally, get together to clean your area. You can remove litter and debris, plant trees and flowers, paint, etc.

Call Keep Midland Beautiful at 687.7400 to sign up or for more information.