Thank you to everyone who came out to this year's Garden Tour. We had a great time, despite some inclimate weather. Keep posted for pictures!

KACB hosted the First Annual Gardens of Gainesville Tour on October 30, 2010.

Recycling:

Keep Alachua County Beautiful has an ongoing commitment to educating the community about the importance of recycling.

The recycling goal for Alachua County is a 75% reduction in solid waste by the year 2020.  Keep Alachua County is the recipient of Keep America Beautiful's Nestle Waters Award for top PET (plastic bottle) recycling during the 2011 Great American Cleanup.

Litter Prevention and Abatement:

Motorists generate 52.2 percent of litter and pedestrians 17.5 percent. Motorists not properly securing truck or cargo loads and collection vehicles represent 20.7 percent of roadway litter that is four inches or greater. Tobacco products represent roughly 38 percent of all U.S. roadway litter (Keep America Beautiful, Inc.). Keep Alachua County Beautiful is committed to addressing the problem of litter as a health and safety concern as well as an aesthetic blight. Our Cigarette Litter Prevention Program began in June of 2010, and has been a huge success. Through a concentrated education effort, the Cigarette Litter Prevention Program reduced cigarette litter from 3,462 butts collected at the first scan to 2,169 at the final scan.

Children and Youth: 

Our programs to foster environmental awareness are key in working with the younger residents of Alachua County.  We conduct programs on recycling and litter and some of our students have established a "pen pal" relationship with Evie, a litter abatement golden retriever from Evansville, Indiana www.keb.com.  Our One Room School House partners along with Kohl's department store employees, have been working with us in a program designed by Cornell University. This fall we have been laying the foundations for two programs we plan to introduce in the Spring, a new Graffiti Hurts / El Grafiti Causa Dano segment and Nature Explore, a collaborative effort of KAB, The Arbor Day Foundation and Dimensions Educational Research Foundation.

We collaborate with The Hippodrome Theatre's Education Department in their community action workshops for social change and are active participants in GPD's Black on Black Crime Task Force.

Graffiti Abatement:

KACB has a long history of graffiti abatement. We encourage Alachua county residents and visitors to report graffiti to us at our website or at 352.371.9444.  Through our program, sites are identified, owners' permission is sought and the vandalism is repaired.  We are beginning steps to increase our cooperative efforts with GPD, ASO, and Code Enforcement as we continue to rely on our Graffiti Abatement Technician, student volunteers and Teen Court community service workers to decrease the incidence of this potentially hazardous blight.

Community Cleanups:

Several years ago, we began a project to decrease neighborhood dependence on government resources.  Our neighborhood committee, under the leadership of Gainesville Police Department's Officer Ernest Graham, enjoys the participation of Gainesville and Alachua County neighborhood leaders as well as representatives of the Gainesville Police Department and the Alachua County Sheriff's Office.  We have successfully eliminated Level One cleanups and have reduced the number of Level Two cleanups. Through KACB's assistance, residents assume a significant role in arranging and coordinating these cleanups.  KACB continues to provide volunteers and the numbers of resident volunteers continues to climb!

Community Gardens:

KACB has long been a supporter of community gardens.  We were active participants in the Grove Street Neighborhood' "Dreamers Garden" and initiated the Woodland Park Boys and Girls Club Children's Garden "Cultivating Kids." Keep America Beautiful has recognized our Woodland Park project by awarding us first place nationally.

Now, we are in conversation with the Community Redevelopment Agency, Florida Organic Growers and Edible Landscapers about expanding our interests into the greater Gainesville area.

The Great American Cleanup:

Volunteers for the 2013 Great American Cleanup started to arrive at Albert "Ray" Massey Westside Park well before the 8 a.m. registration time. Eager to make a difference in Alachua County, volunteers of all ages, sizes and affiliations came to Westside Park on Saturday, April 6. to collect supplies, fuel up with breakfast, and make their way to the streets of Alachua County for a day of service and hard work. Returning to Westside with looks of exhaustion, over 200 volunteers brought back 188 bags of trash, 59 bags of recycables, and 10 yards of furniture and other miscellaneous items. Residents of Alachua County came to the event and filled a 20-yard container with used tires and the bed of a full-sized pick-up truck with hazardous waste. Stopping for just a moment, volunteers were able to capture the day through photographs taken from their cell phones. Please refer to our photo gallery for a full list of photographs. 

The 2012 Great American Cleanup has finished and we are very pleased with the results.

Thank you to all of our volunteers, partners, and sponsors who helped make this year's event another success!