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Statewide
Keep Texas Beautiful Organization,
Community Affiliates, Local Projects, & Volunteer Leaders
Make Clean Sweep in National Environmental Awards
Keep
America Beautiful Honors Texas with Six First Place Awards,
Five Special National Awards, Three Second Place Awards
and Four Distinguished Service Citations
(Austin, Texas)-Texans have proven once again that the popular saying
"Don't Mess with Texas" means we are committed to having the most beautiful
and clean state in the nation. At the Keep America Beautiful (KAB) Convention
in Washington, D.C. last week, Texas took the lead in capturing national
recognition for its litter prevention, beautification and recycling efforts.KAB
honored Keep Texas Beautiful, several community affiliate organizations,
local projects and volunteers winning a total of 18 awards: six first
place awards, five special national awards, three second place awards,
and four distinguished service citations.
At the forefront was Keep Texas Beautiful (KTB), which won first place
for best state programs. Keep Texas Beautiful (KTB), the statewide nonprofit
organization who's mission is to ensure that every Texan has the opportunity
to take individual responsibility for making Texas the cleanest, most
beautiful state in the nation, received its award during ceremonies in
Washington on December 9, 2000.
On the road to winning this honor, Texans picked up litter on more than
400,000 miles of highways, streets, lakeshores, beaches, and creeks. In
addition, KTB dedicated volunteers cleared 524,000 acres of trash, continued
to increase its recycling efforts and initiated beautification projects
for their communities.
"This was an extraordinary year for not only Keep Texas Beautiful,
but for the 270 community affiliate organizations of KTB," said Debbie
Moody, president of Keep Texas Beautiful. "Keep Texas Beautiful may have
been the recipient of the award, but the entire state wins due to the
efforts of our volunteers."
"It's an honor to know our state was recognized for its outstanding programs
to educate the public about litter prevention, recycling initiatives,
community beautification programs, and protecting our environment," Moody
continued.
In addition to the community affiliate organizations, KTB has longstanding
partnerships with state agencies that assist its efforts. KTB serves as
the grassroots arm for Texas Department of Transportation's "Don't Mess
with Texas" campaign and heads up Texas Natural Resource Conservation
Commission's Lake and River Cleanup Program.
"From our distinguished list of national community, project and volunteer
winners, it is obvious that Texans are making a positive difference in
the state's environment," said Deborah Swift, KTB executive director.
"KTB affiliate communities throughout the state have taken an aggressive,
yet creative approach, to help change the behavior of individuals about
littering and the importance of reduce, reuse and recycling programs."
During the past year nearly 15,000 clean up events took place in the
state with a total of 1.5 million volunteer hours dedicated to environmental
projects. Volunteers cleaned up illegal dumps, removed graffiti, planted
seedlings and trees, gave a fresh new look to aging neighborhoods, collected
clothes, provided recycling programs for plastic, glass, aluminum and
paper, provided safe sights for the disposal of household hazardous materials,
and taught young people in the classroom how to make their planet a better
place to live.
Leaders in Community Improvement Awards
First Place--State Program
Keep Texas Beautiful Beautiful
First Place--(Population Category: Over 500,000)
Keep Austin Beautiful
Keep Austin Beautiful supports 33,544 volunteers returning 129,121 volunteer
hours and $3.5 million in services to Austin community. On February 17th
2,200 University of Texas students cleaned 57 alleys, 22 vacant lots,
60 elderly or disable residents' homes and yards, and painted out all
graffiti. Every April as part of KAB's signature program Clean Sweep,
thousands of volunteers clean Town Lake, neighborhoods, parks and schools.
Over the past three years, Austin has increased recycling by 20 percent
with 71 percent participation and a 30 percent diversion rate. Working
with a local soda cup provider to design a plastic cup that was not only
recyclable, but took less energy to create, the University of Texas sports
program has been able to recycle 7,500 pounds of plastic at each home
football game. Supporting about 400 neighborhood, city and civic organization
cleanups, KAB created the "KAB Cleanup Kit," which contains litter bags,
gloves, tally sheets, a camera, a "Come Join Us" banner and guidelines
for a successful clean up.
First Place--(Population Category: Up to 30,000)
Keep Lake Jackson Beautiful
Keep Lake Jackson Beautiful is dedicated to providing leadership in Lake
Jackson's efforts to reduce litter, reuse sources and recycle ideas to
keep their parcel of Texas beautiful. Through programs like the Great
American Cleanupä, adopt-a-theme activities, and the annual fall cleanup
870 volunteers working more than 2,000 hours collected 166 bags of trash
and 83 bags of recyclables. In addition, 1,400 acres of parks and parkway
as well as 13 miles of shoreline have been adopted. The city of Lake Jackson
has enjoyed being named a Tree City USA for the past 18 years. KLJB planted
281 trees, 430 shrubs and 40 pounds of wildflower seedlings as part of
Arbor Day. With an aggressive recycling education program 8,400 households
have been exposed to co-mingled "blue-bag" recycling and education.
Special National Recognition Awards
Iron Eyes Cody Award (Lifetime Achievement)
Mr. Stan Weik, Angleton, Texas
This award was named in honor of Keep America Beautiful's landmark public
awareness campaign of the 1970's, which is credited with awakening the
environmental consciousness of an entire generation. The award is given
to an outstanding leader in promoting Keep America Beautiful's mission.
Weik was honored for 17 years of service with such organizations as Keep
America Beautiful, Keep Texas Beautiful, and Keep San Antonio Beautiful
as well as with many Brazoria County environmental organizations such
as Keep Angleton Beautiful, Keep Lake Jackson Beautiful, the Clute Improvement
Commission, Freeport Beautification, Keep Pearland Beautiful, and the
town of Quintana. In 1984 in San Antonio, Weik created the "Captain Waste"
character that allowed him to creatively educate students and adults on
recycling and solid waste issues. Weik has won numerous awards over the
years that have included the Sadie Ray Graff and Individual Leadership
Award from Keep Texas Beautiful, the Environmental Protection Agency's
Award of Excellence, and JCPenney's Golden Rule Award.
The William Nash Award
Keep Rowlett Beautiful, Rowlett, Texas
This award recognizes a new Keep America Beautiful for outstanding achievement
in implementing the KAB system. Keep Rowlett Beautiful (KRB)has met those
stringent guidelines and has gone above and beyond the call of duty. All
the major roads, parks and lakeshore sites have been adopted for regularly
scheduled cleanup, nearly 600 volunteers recovered more than eight tons
of trash during this past year's Don't Mess with Texas Trash-Off, and
is creating a unique environmental outreach program entitled Keep Rowlett
Beautiful Junior Alliance that will include members from the 8th through
12th grade. Dan Roberts, President and one of the founders of KRB was
in attendance to receive the honor.
Professional Leadership Award
Diane Craig, Brazos, Beautiful, Inc., Bryan, Texas
The Keep America Beautiful Professional Leadership Award is the highest
professional honor given by the organization. This year, KAB had three
winners including Diane Craig of Bryan, Texas. With more than 13 years
as executive director, she has established a model program that other
communities across the nation emulate even today. She established the
"Green Card" program whereby local merchants offered discounts to the
purchasers of these credit cards that were all environmentally related.
Under her direction, Brazos Beautiful has been the recipient of numerous
Keep Texas Beautiful and Keep America Beautiful awards. Ms. Craig also
served as a KAB national representative and on the original KAB Coordinator's
Council.
Additional Texas KAB winners are listed on the following page. For further
information about Keep Texas Beautiful, the affiliate communities or programs,
please contact 1-800-CLEAN-TX.
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TEXAS WINS KEEP AMERICA BEAUTIFUL AWARDS
Since 1953, Keep America Beautiful's National Awards Program has recognized
outstanding individuals and organizations who by their actions instill
a sense of individual responsibility in others for the care and well-being
of their communities.
Leaders in Community Improvement
Presented for the third year, these grants and awards program recognize
outstanding state and local KAB affiliates. Their successful initiatives
educate the public about litter prevention and encourage grassroots volunteer
efforts to clean and beautify communities.
First Place - Best State Program
Keep Texas Beautiful
First Place - Population Category Over 500,000
Keep Austin Beautiful
First Place - Population Category up to 30,000
Keep Lake Jackson Beautiful (In addition, KLJB was a recipient of a $4,000
grant from the Phillip Morris Companies, Inc.)
Second Place - Population Category: 30,001 to 75,000
Keep Pearland Beautiful (In addition, KPB was a recipient of a $4,000
grant from the Phillip Morris Companies, Inc.)
Distinguished Service Citation - Population Category: Over 500,000
Keep San Antonio Beautiful
Distinguished Service Citation - Population Category: 150,001 to
500,000
Keep Plano Beautiful
Special KAB National Recognition Iron Eyes Cody Award
(Lifetime Achievement)
Named in honor of the KAB public awareness campaign that
helped awaken the environmental consciousness of an entire general of
Americans, this award is given to a man who is an outstanding leader in
promoting KAB's mission.
Mr. Stan Weik, Angleton, Texas
The William Nash Award
Named in honor of a man who helped build the KAB affiliate
network, this award recognizes a new KAB affiliate (certified in the last
three years) for outstanding achievement in implementing the KAB system.
Keep Rowlett Beautiful, Rowlett, Texas
Professional Leadership Award
The highest professional honor given by KAB, this award
is presented annually to KAB affiliate directors who have built and sustained
a local or state program with exceptional success.
Diane Craig, Brazos, Beautiful, Inc., Bryan, Texas
Keep America Beautiful Federal Highway Administration Award
Recognizing State Departments of Transportation for outstanding litter
prevention, beautification and environmental initiatives.
Distinguished Service Citation Texas Department of Transportation
Outstanding Beautification and Community Improvement Award
Recognizing outstanding programs that promote beautification and community
improvement.
First Place Award Category: Civic Organization University of Texas,
Volunteer Project 2000, Austin, Texas
Distinguished Service Citation (Category: Youth/School Group)
Apollo Junior High School, Richardson, Texas
Second Place Award (Category: Business/Professional Organization)
Allegiance Healthcare Corporation, El Paso, Texas
Outstanding Waste Minimization Program Award
Recognizing outstanding programs that promote waste minimization.
First Place Category: Business/Professional Organization
BASF Corporation, Freeport, Texas
Second Place Category: Business/Professional Organization
Dell Computer Corporation, Austin, Texas
Outstanding Litter Prevention Program
Recognizing outstanding programs that promote litter prevention.
First Place Award - Government Agencies Category
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Rivers 2000
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