Amada Baldovinos 
MCALLEN- Keep McAllen Beautiful is an organization that has initiated multiple projects to help maintain the city clean while informing citizens of litter awareness, recycling, and volunteering opportunities.
Some of the projects in the works for the organization are the ‘Irrigation Pipe Project’ which showcases art from local artists in the valley while beautifying the city.
“We are putting public art on them, and it’s a great way to expose people to the arts in our city,” said Chris Lash, program manager for Keep Mcallen Beautiful.
Another project in the works for the organization is ‘The American Great Cleanup’ an annual event created to help remove litter and trash, with this project they have been able to decrease the amount of trash throughout various neighborhoods in the city.
“We provide dumpsters into neighborhoods so that people can do their own cleanup and so once a year these big, huge dumpsters come to the neighborhood and they can throw couches, mattresses, broken furniture,” said Lash.
Lash also explained why it’s essential to keep the community informed about the importance of recycling.
“These environmental issues impact all of us. They don’t just impact one city, one town, and so when you negatively impact the environment through litter, through pollution, through chemical waste, all these hazards impact us all,” said Lash.
For more information on how you can sign up to volunteer, visit keepmcallenbeautiful.org.
