KBVB newsletter - Earth Day in Blackstone Valley

Thank you to KBVB's 2018 sponsor:

May 2018

EARTH DAY

in the Blackstone Valley

KBVB visits

"The Rhode Show"

Sharing the message we can all do our part to make our communities a cleaner, greener & more beautiful place to live.

WATCH SEGMENT

Great American Cleanup

1460 Volunteers collecting over 23 TONS

Many towns organized litter cleanups that took place and celebrated Earth Day here in our Blackstone Valley communities.

Once again Smithfield hosted an event that began in Deerfield Park, Burrillville Lions Club & the Town of Burrillville participated, North Smitfhfield held their Clean & Green Day for the 16th year in a row, the City of Pawtucket hosted a multi-location event, and the City of Woonsocket had cleanup groups from the Senior Center Trash Mob, Eagle Scouts, High School students and the Downtown Collaborative.

With all these events, Blackstone Valley made a huge impact removing unsightly litter from our parks, waters, and roadways. Cleanups are an important first step in ending litter. As research shows, littered areas attract more litter.

Now we are lucky to have beautiful clean areas that will send the message --- please do not litter.

Don't Litter Poster & Video Contest

T o bring awareness to litter in our communities, Keep Blackstone Valley Beautiful and the Pawtucket Red Sox held a Don’t Litter poster/video contest.

Students were asked to explain why they feel litter is harmful and how we can stop litter in our towns. The winning messages are very powerful.

One student encouraged us to make a change saying, “The time is now. We have to make a difference if we want to live a thousand years. Be a fruit loop in a Cheerio box”. Another drew a basket of kittens with the caption, “The only litter that should exist”.

Winning themes also included “Hey Kids. Don’t Litter. It’s bad for the environment"; "There is NO plan B. So don't trash this one", and another drawing showed a bird with a six pack ring around its neck said “Please recycle and throw out trash". O ne second grade student made a wonderful video that you can view on our KBVB website .

Our winning posters:

Amelie A - Grade 6

Lincoln Middle School

Brooke S - Grade 2

Varieur Elementary Pawtucket

Nicholas T - Grade 4

William Windsor School

Smithfield

Will F - Grade 6

Lincoln Middle School

Gabriel B - Grade 3

Nathanael Greene Elementary Pawtucket

Businesses Host

Clean Ups Too

Lo cal businesses also joined in to help tackle litter.

This year KBVB worked with Windmoeller & Hoelscher in Lincoln, Kohl's in North Smithfield, Pinnacle Property Managment in Cumberland and The Mercurio Real Estate Group in Pawtucket.

These business played a big part cleaning areas that are more challenging, on busier roadways, or are in commercial areas that can get overlooked.

A special thank you to these businesses for taking time out of their busy work day and giving back to our environment and community.

Earth Day @ McCoy Stadium

The Pawtucket Red Sox gave our KBVB contest winners a day at McCoy Stadium. Winners and their families were able to go out on the field and be recognized with Paws & Sox.

To celebrate Earth Day and how everyone can be good to our environment, the Paw Sox help share our message of how important it is to never litter to their fans.

Pawtucket YMCA

Learns about Litter

The local YMCA discussed litter and the harm it causes on our environment.

This information prompted the children to get creative and design a beautiful poster asking us all to "Please Do Not Litter".

Stop by the YMCA to see this work of art.

# RI Million Pieces

KBVB asked all RI residents to get involved by collecting one piece of litter. Then take a photo and share on social media with #RIMillionPieces. Take a look and see photos from our Rhode Islanders who participated.

Haven't had a chance to take part yet? Your not too late. Litter clean ups are something we can do anytime of year. Let's keep this hashtag going by continuing to share any photos or stories.

Together we will Keep Blackstone Valley Beautiful!

KBVB Thanks our Volunteers & Supporters

Keep Blackstone Valley Beautiful sends a special thank you to all our volunteers and supporters who helped during the 2018 Great American Cleanup. We could not do this without your help.

Support from Narragansett Bay Commission , Delin Design , Lowe's Home Improvement , Windmoeller & Hoelscher and Keep America Beautiful allowed KBVB to assist these events with much needed support and supplies to collect the trash and keep our volunteers safe.