Hometown Pride Makes Clean and Green Events Successful

10-4-2013 6-08-58 PM>Fall is in the air and the trees are showing signs of color. This is such a beautiful time of year in the Tennessee Valley.

It is also a time of festivals and activities right here in Athens. The Athens Grease Festival was a wonderful success, the Old Time Fiddlers Convention is underway, and the Storytelling Festival is right around the corner.

Keep Athens-Limestone Beautiful loves to work with festival organizers to help make these events as litter free and green as possible.

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KALB took responsibility for making sure all of the grease used at the Athens Grease Festival was recycled. A local farmer will turn that used cooking oil into biodiesel fuel for his farm equipment! You can recycle your own kitchen grease with a FOG collection container (Fats, Oils, and Grease). Just pick one up at the Athens Recycling Center, KALB office, Athens Utilities on Wilkinson Dr., or at the Athens Utilities payment office on Jefferson Street. Containers are located in white metal cages. Fill it up and return it to one of the above locations for recycling.

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Once again this year, an army of KALB volunteers will hand out litter bags to guests attending the Fiddler’s Convention. Thanks to Hometown Grocery for this year’s donation of grocery bags! Visitors and vendors also have access to easy recycling provided by KALB staff and volunteers. Fiddlers is one of the cleanest outdoor events I have ever attended and KALB hopes to keep it that way!

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11-2-2012-3-26-11-PM2-300x202KALB could not provide these quality Clean and Green programs without the help of our local Boy Scouts of America. We have several very active troops in Athens and Limestone County. Cub Scout Pack 24 will be helping pick up litter throughout the event, and Boy Scout Troop 24 will help with folding and stacking tables and chairs and cleaning up any litter that remains following the event. KALB is very grateful to these scouts and their leadership!

KALB staff and board members are instrumental in organizing these programs, but volunteers are the key ingredient in the program’s success.

If you’d like to know more about volunteer opportunities with KALB, please contact us and we’ll be happy to show you how to be part of the hometown pride!
By: Lynne Hart