Volunteers worked in the Monte Casino neighborhood, among others, during the first Great American Cleanup weekend in April.
Businesses also urged to do their part, clean their ‘front yards’
COVINGTON, Ky. – Volunteers will again spread out around Covington on Saturday to pick up litter and/or spread mulch and plant flowers.
The beautification event – or, technically speaking, eight separate but related events – is Weekend 2 of 4 in the 2021 version of the nationwide Great American Cleanup.
“We had quite a few people show up at the first series of events in April, and we’re hoping for a similar turnout this Saturday,” said Shannon Ratterman, executive director of Keep Covington Beautiful (KCB).
Eight groups registered their beautification events with KCB. Except where noted, all events happen from 9 a.m.-noon. Volunteers should meet at the location in parenthesis:
- Redden Gardens Green Alley Planting (909 Scott Blvd.).
- Main Street & Surrounding Area Cleanup (the Marathon station at Pike and Main).
- Ritte's Corner (Latonia) Cleanup (The Roost at 3616 Decoursey).
- Wallace Woods Neighborhood Cleanup (Greenup and Wallace).
- Madison Avenue Cleanup (521 Madison).
- Lincoln Grant Scholar House & Randolph Park Cleanup (Lincoln Grant residents only).
- Orchard Park & Surrounding Area Cleanup (Orchard Park).
- Eastside Neighborhood Cleanup at 10 a.m. (10 a.m. at K&J Market at 13th and Wheeler)
KCB will provide snacks, gloves, and tools. Each volunteer will receive a $5 gift certificate to a local business.
As part of COVID-19 precautions, volunteers will be encouraged to work a safe distance from each other and will be provided hand sanitizer and masks to use where appropriate.
Business involvement
Meanwhile, the City is taking steps to encourage greater involvement from its business community in ongoing efforts to keep Covington “clean.”
Whereas many businesses take great care to keep sidewalks or parking areas around their buildings free of litter and debris, others seem to think the maintenance is someone else’s responsibility.
So the Neighborhood Services’ Solid Waste & Recycling Division teamed with Rumpke Waste & Recycling and Keep Covington Beautiful to mail a brochure to businesses this week explaining ways they can and should act to “keep Covington clean, green & beautiful.”
“It’s just good business sense,” said Sheila Fields, Covington’s Solid Waste and Recycling coordinator. “The aesthetic appeal of an area is an important part of what is considered by potential investors and prospective clients, customers, and “talent” when they make choices about where they’re going to shop, visit, or move. If every business treated the sidewalk area outside its door as its front yard, we could greatly increase Covington’s ‘curb appeal.’ ”
For example, the brochure encourages businesses to:
- Coordinate their own cleanup event on Saturday or schedule periodic volunteer outings for their employees. (Employees at City Hall, for example, will clean the tree wells and other areas around Pike & Madison on Friday.)
- Sweep the sidewalk, gutter, and parking areas around their business on a daily basis, and keep tree wells free of litter.
- Install a cigarette urn and trash receptacle near their front doors.
- Work with Rumpke to set up a recycling program for their employees (see HERE for details and to learn about third-party recycling options).
- Stop sweeping or blowing trash into the street, where it can wash into sewer drains and clog them.
About the GAC
The Great American Cleanup in “normal” years is the largest annual volunteer event in Covington, attracting 700-800 people to corner parks, wooded areas, medians, alleys, and “problem spots” in Covington on a single weekend in April.
But this year, as a way to create social distance amid the pandemic, organizers have set aside four dates for neighborhoods to register cleanup events.
If you want to organize a cleanup event on one of the last two dates, Sept. 18 and Oct. 23, you can do so
HERE. After registering your event, you can apply for a $250 grant
HERE.
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