June 9, 2008 (Midland) — Annual cleanups, Adopt a Spot groups, inmate cleanups, MHMR cleanups, the “Pick Up Some Trash to Pick Up Some Cash” program, better public awareness and participation and an increase in recycling are all factors given for Midland receiving another favorable Litter Index score. Volunteer scorers divided Midland in to four quadrants and toured each area recently, scoring various streets on a scale of 1 through 4 on visible litter. After all scores were returned and calculated, the overall score for Midland is 1.8. Scorers gave the areas with virtually no litter a 1, a 2 if a small amount of litter was obvious, a 3 when litter was readily visible and would likely require an organized effort for removal and a 4 if a continuous amount of litter was seen requiring extra manpower for removal. This survey is done annually by Keep Midland Beautiful and is a tool developed by Keep American Beautiful (KAB) to indicate litter trends.

This year Keep Midland Beautiful was part of a KAB pilot program that was a Community Appearance Index. In addition to the litter evaluation, areas with abandoned/junk vehicles, illegal signs, illegal dumps/open storage, and graffiti were scored also.

Visually assessing the community is an essential part of the education planning process. Involving community representatives from neighborhoods, businesses and government in the process is important to achieve partnership solutions and to promote individual responsibility, ownership and pride in results. The data gathered by conducting the Index helps determine the litter prevention and community improvement programs to implement locally and assists Keep Midland Beautiful in identifying trends related to community appearance.

Even with recent high winds, the efforts of picking up litter by thousands of Midland volunteers proved fruitful again this year. On April 5thalone, The Great American Cleanup/Don’t Mess with Texas Trash Off resulted in over 3000 (our most ever!) participants collecting over 30 tons of trash, recyclables, furniture, debris, etc. 105 groups gathered for this cleanup to show their pride in Midland – all of them deserving a big “Congratulations” for being responsible for being part of taking pride in their community and keeping Midland beautiful.

Keep Midland Beautiful educates and engages Midlanders in litter prevention, beautification and waste management. For more information on our projects, programs and membership, call 687-7400.