Pride in Your Neighborhood
Helping Dallas residents come together as a community to

improve the appearance and livability
of their neighborhoods.

Read more...

Suggestions for Homes:

• Avoiding fast food whenever possible, you'll help reduce this needless waste. Most fast food is overpackaged and most fast-food companies are responsible for producing mountains of trash. 
• Riding your bike instead of riding in a car saves energy and reduces pollution, of course.  But it is also fun!  That makes it a double benefit.
• Buy products made of recycled paper. How can you tell if a package is recycled?  Look right on the package.  Many have specific claims, such as "made of 100 percent recycled material."
• By replacing a standard bulb with a compact fluorescent one you will get more light for less money and save a lot of energy.
• Get your family and friends together and find a stream or park that needs some tender loving care.
• Close the refrigerator door. By leaving it open for just a few extra seconds, you waste a lot of energy.  Decide what you want before you open the refrigerator door.  Then get it and close the door right away.
• Find a corner of the yard that's out of the way.  Carefully throw food wastes (leftovers, eggshells, coffee grounds, spoiled vegetables, etc.) into a pile and mix with dirt.  Every week or so, turn the pile over with a shovel to give it more air.  In a few weeks, it will turn into a rich, nutrition soil that will help plants grow.
• Collect aluminum cans and sell them to a local aluminum recycler.
• When you get tired of or grow out of your games and toys and other things, don't throw them away.  Even if they are broken, they may be fixed and used by other kids less fortunate than you.  You'll also be keeping these things out of the trash.
• Try to grow your garden using as few pesticides and chemical fertilizers as possible. A garden provides flowers, vegetables, and environmental benefits.  It can help to reduce soil erosion and may help to reduce some kinds of air pollution.
• You've learned by now that automobiles are one of the single biggest sources of pollution.  Most driving trips are under five miles, and you'd be surprised how many are under one mile.  Try walking, biking, skateboarding, roller-skating, or taking the bus.
• When you use a piece of paper on only one side, don't throw it away when you are done with it.  Instead, put it in a pile with all of the blank sides surfacing up.  When you get a big pile, you can turn the paper into scratch pads.
• Plant a tree. There are organizations in most communities that have set up tree-planting campaigns.
• Quit throwing away used batteries. Unfortunately, batteries contain many hazardous materials, which leak into landfills when batteries are thrown away.  Many of these dangerous chemicals get into our water supply.  There are two ways you can avoid throwing away batteries.  One is by using batteries that can be recharged over and over.  You should also find out if there are companies in your area that recycle batteries.  If you must throw batteries away, do so at a hazardous-waste collection site, if there is one in your area.
• Organize a Stop-the-Leak Day on which everyone in your family tightens, insulates, replaces, caulks, and does whatever else is necessary to make your home as "tight" as possible. Your local water, gas, or electric utility company may be able to provide help, or even instructions and supplies.

Suggestions for Business:

• Announce a commitment to buy recycled-content products for your workplace (for example, recycled copy paper, toner cartridges, or compost for landscaping). Call the TCEQ at (512) 239-3100 for assistance.
• Conduct a waste audit of a business office. Check out www.kab.org for Waste in the Workplace.
• Join Keep Texas Beautiful’s Lone Star Council by calling 1-800-CLEAN-TX.
• Have employees bring in clothing and eyeglasses they no longer need and donate the items to charities.
• Invite schools to tour your facility to learn about your environmental programs.
• Ask your suppliers to reduce the amount of packaging they use.
• Sponsor a lake, river, creek, highway, or other cleanup near your facility. Call Keep Texas Beautiful at 1-800-CLEAN-TX or (512) 478-8813.
• Buy reusable mugs with your company logo for employees to use instead of disposable cups.
• Sponsor drawings with a mulching lawn mower, compost bin, or a gift bag of items made from recycled materials.
• Have a paperless office day. Encourage staff to use e-mail and edit documents on-line.
• Start a compost program for your cafeteria, or hold a training session for employees on composting.
• Apply for membership in CLEAN TEXAS, a voluntary program that strives to make a more livable Texas through promoting sustainable practices. Call (512) 239-3100 for assistance.
• Join the Texas Department of Transportation’s Partner program for businesses and help make a positive difference. For more information, please contact Steve Roberts at (512) 476-4368, ext. 304.

Suggestions for School Districts & Schools

• Institute a coordinated approach to recycling in district schools.
• Enhance your district's existing recycling programs by adding permanent recycling containers, collecting new recyclables, or launching a recycling awareness campaign.
• Implement "Don't Bag It" programs for district yard trimmings.
• Coordinate field trips for district schools to a local recycling center, a recyclable materials processing operation, a recycling mill or plant, a local company, university, or military base with a well-established recycling program.
• Have speakers representing recycling-related businesses or facilities come to district schools to tell students about recycling.
• Promote through local newspapers and other media what your district is doing for Texas Recycles Day.
• Integrate information that is related to recycling into all subjects, such as math, chemistry, biology, and speech. (Example: Calculate the number of sheets of paper that equals one ton.)
• Have a district-wide Texas Recycles Day Poster Contest.
• Conduct a district-wide student/faculty/staff contest on the best new idea(s) on ways to reduce waste in your school.
• Encourage and coordinate school-supply exchanges in district schools for items such as rulers, pencils, notebooks, and paper.
• Organize a district swap day for CDs, games, toys, and books.
• Have a district-wide clothing collection day at district schools for donations of good, clean apparel from students/community for Goodwill, the Salvation Army, a local church, or a civic organization.
• Set up recycling bins for aluminum cans and/or plastic bottles at football stadiums, and make arrangements for a designated group to recycle them.
• Organize a waste-free lunch or party, with students, faculty, and staff bringing silverware, washable napkins, and reusable bags.
• Organize a campaign to write letters to local newspapers or government officials to encourage recycling.
• Arrange for older students to teach younger students about recycling and solid waste, or allow a school group to give a presentation on that topic.
• Conduct a Waste in Place curriculum training for grades K-8. The curriculum features hands-on activities on solid waste management.

Suggestions for Colleges & Universities

• Begin buying recycled-content products or supplies, such as recycled copier paper, toilet paper, or refilled toner cartridges for laser printers, or add more to those you are already buying.
• Institute a coordinated approach to recycling on campus.
• Enhance your existing recycling programs by adding permanent recycling containers, collecting new recyclables, or launching a recycling awareness campaign.
• Implement "Don't Bag It" programs for campus yard trimmings.
• Have a campus-wide clothing collection day for donations of good, clean apparel from students/community for Goodwill, the Salvation Army, or a local church or civic organization.
• Set up recycling bins for plastic bottles and/or aluminum cans at football stadiums or other athletic facilities, and make arrangements for a designated group to recycle them.
• Promote your Texas Recycles Day activities to school and local newspapers and other media.
• Send a campus-wide e-mail encouraging students, faculty, and staff to recycle and check the Texas Recycles Day website at www.TexasRecyclesDay.org.
• Join the Don’t Mess with Texas University Partners and set up an on-going student environmental team.
• Organize a conference with speakers representing recycling-related businesses or facilities.
• Invite KTB representatives to attend classes or campus events to promote reuse and recycling.
• Sponsor a Waste in Place workshop for environmental classes or clubs.

Suggestions for Associations & Civic Organizations

• Buy recycled paper and other products for your organizations.
• Promote workplace recycling to members of your organization.
• Publish a story in your newsletter about Texas Recycles Day.
• When possible, fold mail instead of using envelopes.
• Print membership solicitations on both sides of the paper.
• Adopt a school or youth group for a Texas Recycles Day event or activity.
• Volunteer at a recycling drop-off/collection center.
• Order reusable mugs with your organization's logo. Distribute them to your members instead of using disposable cups.
• Print a Texas Recycles Day advertisement in your organization's newsletter.
• Encourage members to recycle for Texas Recycles Day and to visit www.TexasRecyclesDay.org.
• Have speakers representing recycling-related businesses or facilities come to your meeting to tell members about recycling.
• Sponsor a reuse essay contest for youth in the community.
• Hold a "can smash" for members and their families.
• Coordinate a reuse or garage sale as a fundraiser for your organization.