EcoEKY: Green News from Eastern Kentucky

from the Corbin Times Tribune:

Cumberland Falls Clean-up is May 17

Special to the Times-Tribune

Published: May 12, 2008 09:05 am

Cumberland Falls State Resort Park is looking for volunteers to help clean up around one of Kentucky’s most scenic areas on Saturday, May 17.

Spring floods bring large amounts of trash down the Cumberland River and that garbage collects around Cumberland Falls. The park is asking volunteers to wear boots and bring work gloves to help clean up this area.

Registration will be at 9 a.m. at the gift shop near the falls. Trash bags will be distributed and areas will be designated for volunteer work. All participants will be able to take part in a cookout at noon. All volunteers will get a free T-shirt at 1 p.m.

For more information, contact Bret Smitley at 1-800-325-0063 or at bret.smitley@ky.gov

from the Clay County News:

Bishop will lead local PRIDE Spring Cleanup for Clay Co.

Manchester, Ky. — Judge-Executive Carl Sizemore reminds everyone that Michael Bishop is serving as the Clay County PRIDE Coordinator. In this voluntary position, he will plan local cleanup efforts and helps the community take advantage of PRIDE programs.

Spring Cleanup April 5-19

Mr. Bishop will lead the local PRIDE Spring Cleanup, April 5 through April 19. He is looking for volunteers for cleanup events across the community. PRIDE will supply T-shirts, trash bags, and safety vests for the volunteers.

PRIDE Coordinators are volunteers who play a vital role in building PRIDE in their communities. The coordinators organize cleanup activities, recruit volunteers and track cleanup results. They assist local officials with the PRIDE programs, including applications for grants. They also serve on the PRIDE Board of Directors.

PRIDE promotes “Personal Responsibility in a Desirable Environment” in 38 counties of southern and eastern Kentucky. PRIDE links citizens with the resources of local, state and federal agencies to clean up the region’s waterways, end illegal trash dumps and promote environmental education. PRIDE was started in 1997 by Congressman Hal Rogers and the late James Bickford, former Secretary of the Kentucky Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Cabinet.

For more information about PRIDE in your community or volunteering during the PRIDE Spring Cleanup, call Michael Bishop today at 606/391-3063, or visit www.kypride.org.

from the Clay County News:

Mathis will lead local PRIDE Spring Cleanup for the City of Manchester

Manchester, Ky. — Mayor Carmen Lewis reminds everyone that Pam Mathis is serving as the City of Manchester’s PRIDE Coordinator. In this voluntary position, she will plan local cleanup efforts and helps the community take advantage of PRIDE programs.

Ms. Mathis works at City Hall as the PRIDE Coordinator, Deputy Clerk and Grant Writer. She has lived in Clay County for 35 years and currently resides in the Burning Springs community with her family.

“I look forward to serving as PRIDE Coordinator because volunteering to help make a city and county a cleaner place to live is very enjoyable,” she said. “PRIDE is making a difference in the City of Manchester while giving us a chance to show our pride in clean roads and streets as well as our waterways and streams. “

Ms. Mathis added, “We encourage everyone to recycle and help save our environment and decrease our landfills.”

Spring Cleanup April 5-19

Ms. Mathis will lead the local PRIDE Spring Cleanup, April 5 through April 19. She is looking for volunteers for cleanup events across the community. PRIDE will supply T-shirts, trash bags, and safety vests for the volunteers.

“I invite you to lend a hand during the Spring Cleanup because your help will help us make our city and county clean and help provide for a safe environment. Join us for the month of April from the 5th until the 30th,”she said.

PRIDE Coordinators are volunteers who play a vital role in building PRIDE in their communities. The coordinators organize cleanup activities, recruit volunteers and track cleanup results. They assist local officials with the PRIDE programs, including applications for grants. They also serve on the PRIDE Board of Directors.

PRIDE promotes “Personal Responsibility in a Desirable Environment” in 38 counties of southern and eastern Kentucky. PRIDE links citizens with the resources of local, state and federal agencies to clean up the region’s waterways, end illegal trash dumps and promote environmental education. PRIDE was started in 1997 by Congressman Hal Rogers and the late James Bickford, former Secretary of the Kentucky Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Cabinet.

For more information about PRIDE in your community or volunteering during the PRIDE Spring Cleanup, call Pam Mathis today at 606/598-3456, or visit www.kypride.org.

from the Corbin Times-Tribune:

Laurel Lake Cleanup scheduled for April 19

Published: April 03, 2008 09:54 am

Staff Report

The beach at Laurel River Dam will serve, yet again, as the staging area for this year’s annual Laurel Lake Cleanup.

This year’s event will be Saturday, April 19 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

In recent years the cleanup has drawn more than 500 volunteers and organizers are optimistic that even more people will turn out this year to show their concern for one of southeast Kentucky’s most important resources.

“It has been rewarding to watch the way this event has grown over the years,” said John Strojan of the USDA Forest Service, one of the sponsoring organizations. “This is a great opportunity for lake users to give something back to the resource, and we hope they will come out again this year.”

Residents of Laurel and Whitley Counties will again be competing for the coveted “Cleanup Cup”, which is awarded to the county with the most volunteers. Last year’s competition was won for the sixth year in a row by Laurel County. Prior to Laurel County’s winning streak, Whitley won the cup for two consecutive years.

The Cleanup is not all work and no play. Volunteers receive a free lunch, T-shirt and a chance to win donated door prizes. They can also enter an item for consideration as the “Catch-of-the-Day.” This prize goes to the volunteer who locates the most unusual piece of trash.

Volunteers will register at the beach on the day of the event, but they are encouraged to pre-register ahead of time in order to give organizers an idea of how many participants to plan for. Pre-registration forms are available from Holly Bay and Grove Marinas, as well as the U.S. Forest Service London District Office. You can also pre-register by calling the Forest Service at (606) 864-4163.

Boat owners are encouraged to come and support the effort. Volunteers who do not have a boat of their own can hitch a ride on one of several boats that will be shuttling participants out to sections of shoreline where trash is located. There will also be vans available to help move volunteers to some of the lake access roads that will need cleaning.

The Laurel Lake Cleanup is organized by the Friends of Laurel River Lake, a group formed to promote efforts to keep the lake a clean, and healthy natural resource. This group includes the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Laurel and Whitley County Governments, PRIDE, Senture, London-Laurel County Tourism Commission and others, including concerned citizens and businesses in the Whitley and Laurel County area.

Businesses and organizations wishing to make donations to the event can contact the London-Laurel County Tourism Commission at (606) 878-6900.

from the Harlan Daily Enterprise:

Harlan Countians urged to pitch in during spring cleanup

Over 300 volunteers participated in 2007

By JOHN MIDDLETON
Staff Writer

Published: Tuesday, April 1, 2008 11:03 PM CDT

The 2008 Harlan County PRIDE Spring Cleanup has been scheduled for April 5-19, and Harlan County Solid Waste Coordinator Lakis Mavinidis said he would like to encourage all citizens to get involved and help keep their community clean.

“We would like to ask everyone to start by cleaning up their own homes,” he said. “It’s important for everyone to work together to clean up our communities.”

“We would like to get everyone involved,” added Harlan County Judge-Executive Joe Grieshop. “Cleaning up the environment improves our quality of life.”

The PRIDE Spring Cleanup is a two-week period designated for environmental cleaning throughout southeastern Kentucky. During this time, coordinators organize cleanup events in their communities and clean illegal dumps, roadsides and waterways.

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Mavinidis said that 8,500 bags of litter and 300 tons of waste from illegal dumps were cleaned by over 300 volunteers in 2007. He said that he expects this year’s cleanup to continue the success of previous events, and added that the PRIDE Spring Cleanup is an opportunity for residents to build on this momentum and demonstrate personal responsibility by volunteering to pick up trash in their communities and taking advantage of free trash disposal services.

“We have had great participation in the past, and I think that will continue this year. We have always had good turnouts,” Mavinidis said. “We want to have another good spring cleaning season this year.”

He added that the amount of litter collected in Harlan County has steadily decreased, but more work is required before the problem is solved.

“We have been involved in the PRIDE program since 1997, and we have seen an increase in support since then. It is important that we continue what we started and, hopefully, bring the litter problem to a close,” Mavinidis said.

“The amount of litter around the county has been reduced considerably, but it is still a problem,” Grieshop said.

Anyone interested in conducting a cleanup project during the spring cleanup may call Grieshop’s office at 573-2600 or the Harlan County Recycling Center at 573-9423.