Idea Exchange Gave Neighborhoods Lots of Resources

On Saturday, at Keep Carrollton Beautiful’s Idea Exchange, 36 neighbors came together from all over the city to brainstorm and discuss hundreds of ideas! All participants were involved, caring citizens exercising their personal power to be part of the solution in their neighborhood.

They noticed that all their neighborhoods had the same intention of being clean, beautiful and safe – just some were closer to the goal than others. There were those who were successful HOAs with bylaws and mandatory fees; others who did a lot but were voluntary neighborhood associations with not much money to work with; and still others who were deciding how to start a group or resurrect one.

All of them have in common our City ordinances and available City neighborhood assistance programs. There were ideas about how to apply for the grants and how to get more involved in the surveillance of their neighborhoods.

They found they had dozens of opportunities for help from Keep Carrollton Beautiful. Keep Carrollton Beautiful has made it possible for Hunter’s Creek HOA to award “Yard of the Month” with their own sign. A non-profit helping local teens, Team Me USA, is looking into adopting a “spot”. Because they are choosing a greenbelt to adopt, they will have more rustic signs than those seen around town for Keep Carrollton Beautiful’s Adopt-A-Spot program.

Many of the groups are planning neighborhood cleanups for Keep Carrollton Beautiful’s Great American Cleanup on April 19th. They discovered that all they have to do is come get their free supplies and bring the trash back to Keep Carrollton Beautiful’s event to avoid landfill fees.

The attendees learned about Green Business presentations, school paper recycling programs, cell phone recycling and many other programs offered by Keep Carrollton Beautiful. You can find out about all of these programs addressing environmental issues around AIR, LAND, WATER and COMMUNITY at www.KeepCarrolltonBeautiful.org.

Be sure to see the displays about Keep Carrollton Beautiful’s neighborhood programs and the Great American Cleanup at both libraries during March and April - so you too can become part of the solution.
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