Bashing Trash in Carrollton

Saturday was an amazingly beautiful day in Carrollton, with cool breezes and brilliant sunshine – a perfect day to bash some trash. Keep Carrollton Beautiful was at it again, making sure that their almost 250 volunteers knew they weren’t just working in their community, but also in the American community. Trinity River Trash Bash was held in conjunction with Nation Public Lands Day and Service Nation, this year, tying their accomplishments to thousands of projects happening all over the United States. Since it’s also a regional event, they were cleaning the Trinity River with many other communities in North Texas.

Partnering with Dallas Down River, the Carrollton Evening Lions Club, Scouts of all ages and genders, and many high school service organizations, Keep Carrollton Beautiful is able to provide a lot of service to the community. In-kind donors including Trinity River Expedition, High Trails Canoe Rental, Albertsons, Cadbury Schweppes, Kroger, and Frito-Lay made it possible to accommodate so many volunteers. The City of Carrollton’s Athletes Dept. also disposed of the almost 3,300 pounds of trash they collected in the Elm Fork of the Trinity River and throughout McInnish Sports Complex.

Dallas Down River had a really difficult time getting enough canoes this year due to many liveries going out of business. They came through as usual with canoes and plenty of cold watermelon for dessert. And they made it possible for Girl Scout Troop 227 to get their canoeing badges. Be sure and come to their race on October 11th.

The Carrollton Evening Lions Club has been partnering with Keep Carrollton Beautiful since 2005, cooking all the hot dogs for their volunteers. “Orchestrating these events would not be possible without the kind, ever faithful presence and energy of the Carrollton Evening Lions Club. They not only do our events, but make it possible to have free eye clinics all over the area - giving low-income children opportunities to get their sight tested and receive free glasses,” said Sharon Goddard.

Keep Carrollton Beautiful’s Board of Directors members Diane Taheri with husband Mehdi and Cathy Henesey and Boy Scout Troop 787 really saved the day by showing up early to set up the base camp and staying to pack everything up again. An event this large requires a lot of hands and they pitched right in wherever anything needed to be done. They are perfect examples of the kind of people we all can be in our communities.

Gushy, yucky trash floating along the river or stuck in the muddy banks starts out on the street, playing field or golf course - making its way in stormwater down to the river. Since the Trinity is our drinking water, everyone in the watershed needs to be conscious of what they throw down and even what they put on their yards. All the trash eventually makes its way into our rivers and of course then the ocean - if it’s not collected by groups like Keep Carrollton Beautiful.

“I believe we are part of a bigger solution, where all citizens will do their part to be the best of America”, said Sharon Goddard, Keep Carrollton Beautiful.

Don’t forget to clean out your back room, storage shed and/or garage and bring all the recyclables to Texas Recycles Day on Saturday, November 15th. For information about what will be recycled, please go to www.KeepCarrolltonBeautiful.org. You can also register as one of their high school volunteers for this event.
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Keep Carrollton Beautiful is a catalyst and community liaison making Carrollton a cleaner and more beautiful place. Keep Carrollton Beautiful is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, dedicated to engage Carrollton to enhance our community environment.
Since 2004, we have held 49 public events utilizing 5,400 volunteers. Our programs funnel energy and money into community improvement in partnership with Carrollton’s public, private and civic groups. Our leadership is a volunteer Board who work in all aspects of the community.

Sharon is a third generation Carrolltonite who has spent the last five years creating community in Carrollton. She believes: “America is in a crisis. We're in a very Un-American jam. We are doing a very poor job educating all our children; the drop-out rate is very high -- with the weather changing in much of the world to flood and/or drought; the devastation of global warming is getting clearer -- the unemployment rate is raising the numbers of "working poor". All the change we need is in the average citizens' hands. Historically, citizen leadership is the only way anything in America has ever changed. Everyone needs to do their part at home and at work. It's up to all of us to be the best of America.”