Released: March 07, 2007

Community Clean-ups Offer Benefits – New Guide Available from Extension

STOCKTON, Kan. – Before planning its 2004 community cleanup, local PRIDE volunteers (in Stockton, Kan.) surveyed neighborhood alleys to count used tires that fill with water and serve as breeding grounds for mosquitoes, said Harry Purdum, chair of Stockton’s PRIDE Committee.

After counting more than 300 tires in Stockton, which has a population of 1,400, the committee decided to dedicate the annual community clean-up campaign to disposing of the tires, Purdum said.

To make it happen, organizers located a tire recycler willing to pick up the tires, identified a convenient drop-off site, and designated a clean-up week during which residents could either drop off tires or arrange for free-pick up without having to pay a disposal fee.

“By the end of clean-up week, we’d collected more than 2,000 used tires,” Purdum said.

The Kansas PRIDE program is a volunteer, grassroots effort to improve the quality of life in local communities. It is co-administered by Kansas State University Research and Extension and the Kansas Department of Commerce.

The city of Stockton funded the recycling charges, with a little help from a couple of local businesses, one of which contributed more than 50 used truck tires to the recycling effort.

The tires detracted from the community’s overall appearance and posed a health risk from West Nile Virus, Purdum said.

This year, Stockton has designated April 25 as its community clean-up day and is working with the Stockton High School Student Council to involve high school students in the effort, he said.

Taking part in the community clean-up brings the community together and is a source of hometown pride, Purdum said.

While each of the 60 communities enrolled in Kansas’ PRIDE Program are being encouraged to organize a spring clean-up during the week of April 21-28, such a cleanup can benefit any community, said Connie Hoch, Kansas State University Research and Extension associate speaking for the PRIDE program.

Something as simple as touching up the signs that greet visitors and keeping the areas around them mowed can improve a community’s first impression, she said. Offering a service that may not otherwise be provided also can be a plus.

This year, Haysville, pop. 10,000, is offering its sixth annual trash pick-up service for items that are ineligible for regular trash collection, said Tom Gibson, coordinator of the effort.

“We picked up about 120 tons of trash during the campaign last year,” he said. “We can’t take tires, concrete, asphalt, railroad ties coated with creosote or refrigerators, but do take building materials, appliances, furniture, sheet metal, etc.”

We try to recycle as much as we can, said Gibson, who recalls hauling away an entire garage that had been dismantled.

This year, volunteers working with a trash hauler are planning to make pick-ups on two weekends to cover the community. There is a charge for the service, he said. PRIDE organizers sell trash tickets (for $10) to cover expenses, with any surplus earmarked for the Community Library and a contribution to city employees’ holiday party.

A community’s needs will vary, said Hoch, who referenced a newly updated K-State Research and Extension publication: “Conducting a Community Clean-up Fix-Up Campaign.” The new clean-up guide is available at local K-State Research and Extension offices and can be downloaded from the Extension Web site. Go to http://www.oznet.ksu.edu  and click on “Publications” in the lower left hand margin. When the search box appears, type in MF-931.

The clean-up guide offers planning and organizational tips, a step-by-step to-do list, and 20 questions to help organizers identify potential projects such as repairing playground equipment, washing windows in downtown areas, or helping older homeowners clean up yard debris.

For more information on the PRIDE Program, which has been helping Kansas communities improve for 37 years, contact Hoch at 785-532-5840 or visit a county or district K-State Research and Extension office.

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K-State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well-being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county Extension offices, experiment fields, area Extension offices and regional research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K-State campus, Manhattan.

Story by:
Nancy Peterson
nancyp@oznet.ksu.edu
K-State Research& Extension News