2007 Highlights
Litter Prevention & Cleanup
- Under the 2008 Great
American Cleanup, over 870 volunteers participated in 21
litter cleanups around the Blackstone Valley, picking up
50,530 pounds of litter and pulling 5 cars from the river.
- Under the 2007 Great
American Cleanup, over 1,000 volunteers participated in 9
litter cleanups around the Blackstone Valley, picking up
over 115 tons of litter.
Waste prevention &
recycling
- 653 pounds of aluminum and
steel, mostly in the form of old shopping carts, were
collected for recycling under the 2008 Great American
Cleanup.
- The 2008 Blackstone Valley
Tire Round Up along with Firestone Complete Auto Care in
Pawtucket, Bill’s Auto Parts and the Town of Smithfield
collected 3,212 tires for recycling.
- To date, the 2008 E-waste
recycling drives in collaboration with Cumberland-based
Green-Tech Assets have collected over 62,500 pounds of
electronics for recycling, more than tripling the amount
collected last year.
- Under the 2008 Return the
Warmth program, 5 area schools collected 1,053 pounds of
plastic bottles (PET) for recycling. The program was
sponsored nationally by Sam’s Club and Aquafina.
- The 2006-2008 Keep Blackstone Valley
Beautiful coordinator and AmeriCorps*VISTA member, Kristin
Zawistowski, became a certified Master Composter & Recycler
through the University of Rhode Island.
- The 2007 Return the Warmth
recycling program gave the Blackstone Valley 2,000 fleece
jackets, produced from recycled PET plastic bottles, to all
9 Blackstone Valley communities due to the PET bottle
collection efforts of the students of St. Brendan School in
East Providence. The program was sponsored nationally by
Sam’s Club and Aquafina.
- Students for Recycling,
the 2006 version of “Return the Warmth,” helped to implement
a plastic bottle recycling program at Shea High School and
Blackstone Academy Charter School with the help of the City
of Pawtucket.
- The 2007 Blackstone Valley Tire
Round Up along with Firestone Complete Auto Care in
Pawtucket, Bill’s Auto Parts, Rhode Island Service Alliance
and AmeriCorps Week collected over 1,000 tires for
recycling.
- The 2007 E-waste recycling
collections collected 21,000 pounds of electronic waste,
preventing harmful chemicals from getting into our
environment.
Beautification
- Under the 2008 Great
American Cleanup, volunteers created 5 new gardens and green
spaces, planted over 550 flowers, and restored or improved 7
playgrounds in collaboration with The Pawtucket Foundation,
The Pawtucket Citizens Development Corporation,
Neighborworks BRV and The Smithfield Conservation Committee.
- Keep Blackstone Valley
Beautiful sat on the 2007 Earth Day Host Committee, working with
the City of Pawtucket, Pawtucket Citizens Development
Corporation, The Pawtucket Foundation, City Year RI &
National & Global Youth Service Day, Pawtucket Weed & Seed
and the Boys and Girls Club to beautify sites in the Barton
Street Neighborhood, including the Community Garden.
- Keep Blackstone Valley
Beautiful participated in Pawtucket Proud Day 2007, The
Pawtucket’s Foundation’s beautification event to involve the
business community. Projects included the demolition of the
Varieur Playground, painting the YWCA, painting and removing
graffiti from the Roosevelt Ave. bus stop, improving and
mulching Hodson Park & the Slater Mill, planting trees and
staining benches at Perez Park and mulching, painting and
planting downtown gateways
- Keep Blackstone Valley
Beautiful completed the YWCA project with Leadership Rhode
Island in August 2007.
- Work continued in the
Barton Street Neighborhood Association’s Community Garden to
set up and maintain a compost bin.
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