Beautification and Clean up
Keep Houston Beautiful Day Keep 5 Alive Adopt-A-Block Clean Neighborhoods Mural Projects Heritage Gardens & Esplanades Liberty Gardens Earth Quilts

Keep Houston Beautiful Day, April 5, 2008

Keep Houston Beautiful Day is Houston 's signature event of the Great American Cleanup™, the largest one day neighborhood cleanup in Houston .

Additional activities:

FIRESTONE TIRE AND SERVICE CENTERS WILL ACCEPT THE FOLLOWING ITEMS FOR PROPER RECYCLING:

· Residential used engine oil;

· Residential automotive oil;

· Residential passenger and light truck scrap tires (Limit 8 per individual).

Firestone Stores:  

HOUSTON SCHOOLS: We will provide you with "litter literature" for the classroom and trash bags if you choose to de-litter your school grounds and clean your classrooms.

GROUPS AND ORGANIZATIONS: Your group can select to clean city streets, parks, or remove graffiti in any area on any day you choose during the 8-week cleanup campaign. We will provide GLAD® ForceFlex™ Trash bags for your cleanup activity to registered volunteer groups.

Underwritten by:

Republic Services Inc., First Community Credit Union, Silver Eagle Distributers and Astros

Supported by:

Allied Waste Services · Mayor Bill White and Houston City Council · Mayor's Citizens' Assistance Office · City of Houston Solid Waste Management · Houston Pepsi Cola Bottling · Neighborhood Protection Corps · Parks and Recreation Department · Houston Independent School District · Waste Management

We Beautify
For more than 25 years, Keep Houston Beautiful has been making our city shine. From helping neighborhoods organize cleanups to our nationally recognized Clean Neighborhoods program that is the foundation of neighborhood oriented government, we are always at the forefront of beautification and urban transformation.

There are a number of ways that we can work with you, your neighbors, your civic organization, your community association, your church or any other group. The first step is training on how to organize and conduct a cleanup. We have step-by-step procedures for you to follow and forms to guide you along. You can download these forms. CLICK HERE.

We also maintain a warehouse filled with the kinds of tools you'll need for a cleanup. There is a form you can download with all the instructions about how to reserve tools and supplies, when and where to pick them up and where to return them. Please remember that there is not an unlimited supply, and the sooner you arrive to pick up your items, the greater the chance there will still be some. Download the warehouse forms. CLICK HERE.

Donations of plants, flowers, trees, mulch, and other beautification items are graciously accepted.  Click here to donate.

Keep 5 Alive

Keep 5 Alive began in 1992 when Keep Houston Beautiful and Conoco formed the first Houston Beautiful Business Partnership to bring together community based organizations in order to discuss ways in which all of the organizations could work to clean and environmentally reclaim the Fifth Ward neighborhood. This model partnership for community renewal through on-going beautification and litter removal has grown to more than 40 organizations who through an all volunteer effort have disposed of more than 1,800,000 pounds of trash using recycling when possible. In addition, with nearly no budget whatsoever, more than 5,000 rose bushes and plants have been used to beautify Fifth Ward.

Initial efforts targeted general clean-up activities to beautify the area. The Steering Committee recruited volunteers and coordinated activities for weekend clean-ups. A number of City of Houston Departments participate and are coordinated by Keep Houston Beautiful. Conoco focuses its energies in local parks and on the homes of numerous elderly residents in need of painting and lawn work which is performed by thousands of employee volunteers.

Each year, Fifth Ward steadily improves and in recent years, new housing and redevelopment of existing housing has begun in the area, due in part to the efforts of Keep Five Alive to reclaim the area.

Adopt-A-Block Keep Houston Beautiful's Adopt-A-Block program is an easy yet valuable way that any size group can participate in making Houston the cleanest city in America. All it takes is for a group to agree to adopt a minimum of 500 yards of an incorporated City of Houston street and to pick up litter from that street at least four times a year for a two-year period. In return, Keep Houston Beautiful and the City of Houston will provide safety meetings, equipment, and trash bags.  The benefits are numerous: a litter-free and more attractive community, recognition for your group, and knowing that the individuals involved are making a difference in their community. Please download the attached application including the sign policy, sample letters of Intent between Keep Houston Beautiful, the City of Houston, and the adopting group, and an application form. Adopt-A-Block Application If you would like some additional information please e-mail us cnp@houstonbeautiful.org

Proudly Display Your Name on This Sign. Get your office, church, bridge club, or whatever group you're a part of to make a commitment and Adop-A-Block.

Heritage Gardens & Esplanades Heritage Gardens are a way a school group or a community can learn about and celebrate each other's cultures and traditions. Keep Houston Beautiful has worked on a number of heritage garden projects and would be happy to help you get started on one for your community. Please email us for assistance. info@houstonbeautiful.org

Earth Quilts

Do you remember Jack and those mighty beans that grew really wild overnight into an awesome beanstalk? Jacks magic beanstalk was the easiest, most rewarding planting project ever! There was no cultivating, no watering, no fertilizing - just a handful of beans tossed on the ground.

Earth Quilts 101 contains no magic beans - just simple and fun gardening activities for children an adults to share. Even little kids can learn to plant and care for their own gardens. They will need a small space, some big, quick-growing seeds, and an adult loaded with patience and persistence. Most experts agree that age four is the perfect time to begin gardening and the younger the child, the smaller the garden should be. They suggest beginning with two square feet and expanding a foot each year.

Earth Quilts 101 is a nine-session gardening activity guide featuring The Earth Quilt Crew: Sage, The Wise Old Earth Quilter; Honey, The Busiest Bee; Rosemary, The Flighty Lady Bug; and Basil, The Most Proper Praying Mantis.

The first session is a Sewing Bee.  The following eight sessions are Sowing Bees.  'Bee Keepers' are the adults who organize and lead the children gathered for a 'Bee.'

When kids complete a 'Bee,' they may color a corresponding patch on their Earth Quilts 101 certificate.  (Please make as many copies of the Certificate  as you wish.)  When all nine patches are colored, the certificate designates the child as an official 'Keep Houston Beautiful Earth Quilter.'

Click here for Master Garden Plan

Click here for Procedures and Materials

More advanced Earth Quilting is offered in the Adult Guide to Earth Quilt Gardens.

You can also take on the beautification of an esplanade near your community, your church or school. There is a very specific procedure for taking on such a project. The ideas for making a difference are limitless. You can download the information you need to get started. Click Here

We Clean

Clean Neighborhoods
Clean Neighborhoods is a comprehensive, neighborhood oriented government strategy to combat existing litter, graffiti, and illegal dumping in selected neighborhoods and heavily traveled transportation corridors. To prevent the recurrence of these blights, the program focuses on enforcement, education and community improvement and beautification projects utilizing the valuable input and participation of area residents, businesses and civic groups.

The Clean Neighborhoods Program relies on Keep Houston Beautiful's effective system for organizing communities and helping residents to work with city government to control environmental blight in their neighborhoods. Seven key elements are essential to the effort: community organization, training of community leaders, assessment of litter/solid waste problem, community improvement projects such as cleanups and beautification efforts, anti-litter/illegal dumping enforcement programs, communications, and access to the City's Task Force so that residents have a "one-stop" coordinated response by several City departments.

One highly effective technique used by residents in Clean Neighborhoods areas is citizen patrols for graffiti and illegal dumping. Teams of citizens are organized and trained to spot such activities, monitor them, and collect necessary information for the police during regular patrols of their target neighborhood.

The target areas of the Clean Neighborhoods program are: the Old Spanish Trail area, the East End, Northeast Houston, Near North Side, the Houston Gardens neighborhood, and the Gulfton area. The areas are chosen by the City's Solid Waste Department and Keep Houston Beautiful based upon continuing problems such as illegal dumping and graffiti and community support for the program.

If you would like to learn more about the Good Neighborhoods program, email us. info@houstonbeautiful.org
For additional information and registration forms CLICK HERE .

Mural Projects Targets of graffiti are being transformed into community enhancing public art and educational initiatives by harnessing the creative energy and talent of neighborhood youth through the Graffiti Hurts Mural Project. In collaboration with the Cultural Arts Council of Houston/Harris County's (CACHH) Civic Art and Design Program, the Keep Houston Beautiful's Clean Neighborhoods Program is sponsoring the creation of murals by youth groups under the guidance of a professional artist.

KEEP HOUSTON BEAUTIFUL
MURAL INFORMATION GRID

Privacy Policy                                                           Top of Page