Keep Miami Gardens Beautiful Receives $10,000 Grant Award as part of Nationwide Competition to “Think Green”
MIAMI GARDENS – Making it easier to recycle when they’re away from home will help make Miami Gardens residents even more likely to “think green.” That’s why the city has been chosen to receive a $10,000 cash grant from the national nonprofit Keep America Beautiful (KAB), as part of a nationwide effort sponsored by Waste Management that encourages environmental solutions on the community level.
The check will be presented to Keep Miami Gardens Beautiful on Wednesday, October 28th at the Miami Gardens City Council meeting. The meeting, at 1515 NW 167th Street – Building 5, begins at 7 p.m.
The city’s award-winning proposal – one of just 15 winners nationwide – outlines an aggressive plan of education and opportunity in Miami Gardens. The $10,000 will be used to purchase bottle shaped receptacles, whose unique shape will easily convey their intended use for recyclables, for installation at public venues. The effort will be supported by a school outreach program as well as a public service campaign.
“We’ve learned that recycling participation increases when we make it easier for people to recycle at home and out in the community,” said Jason Neal, Government Affairs Director for Waste Management. “Many of us recycle because we recognize the environmental value; many more would recycle if it were easier to do. The bottle shaped receptacles this grant will help purchase will make it easier for those using the public venues in Miami Gardens to recycle their plastic bottles and aluminum cans.”
To ensure project success, Keep Miami Gardens Beautiful will be partnering with several organizations and venues that host the city’s popular annual events, including Land Shark Stadium. Results will be monitored by the City of Miami Garden’s Teen Leadership Academy as part of their environment and science education track.
“The Think Green grants provide us with a great avenue to demonstrate how Waste Management and Keep America Beautiful think green every day,” said Barry Caldwell, Waste Management Senior Vice President of Public Affairs and Communications and Chairman of the KAB board. “After all, supporting communities – making them cleaner safer and helping improve their quality of life – is what our company – and KAB – is all about. Each of the affiliates has a project that will make its community cleaner and more beautiful.”
The wide ranges of winning programs are creative and reflect the diverse interests and needs of the communities involved. These programs encourage recycling and reuse, provide hands-on environmental education, convey the importance of stewardship to the public through a variety of means such as public service announcements, videos and booklets, and enhance neighborhoods through community beautifications. Support of these initiatives marks Waste Management’s continuing commitment to local community quality of life and to also building awareness about sustainable resources for effective management of waste.
Waste Management also partners with Keep America Beautiful on different programs, including additional community beautification grants and as a national sponsor for Keep America Beautiful’s Great American Cleanup™, the nation’s largest community involvement program.
