KEEP KEY WEST BEAUTIFUL

Volunteers on June 11 met at the Douglass Gym for a Bahama Village community cleanup. They collected 216 pounds of trash, 47 pounds of recycling, 1 gallon of cigarette butts and one pickup truck full of larger items left on the city streets.

One hour a week makes a huge difference, and volunteers are always welcome every Friday and some Saturday mornings, from 8 to 9 a.m., when teams clean up a designated area of the island.

A troubling number of cigarette butts and plastic bags have been included in recent hauls. Please remember your reusable bags when shopping so we can keep the plastic off the streets, parking lots and, most importantly, out of the water. And dispose of cigarette butts in any receptacle rather than the street or sidewalk, as from there, they easily end up in the ocean.

The city of Key West and its residents ask everyone to do their part to help keep Key West beautiful. With simple steps like making sure you bag your trash before putting it in your Waste Management trash cans or Dumpsters, and making sure the lids on Dumpsters are closed, will keep a lot of trash from blowing into the streets. Call Waste Management at 305-296-8297 for any furniture items left on the city right of way.

Please pick up around your home or apartment complex. Every piece of trash picked up is one less that may end up in the ocean that surrounds and sustains our island community. It is not just the large items you can see easily when you are walking, but the smaller items such as bottle caps and cigarette butts that are collected by the volunteers that make the biggest difference. 

All are invited to join the Friday morning cleanups from 8 to 9 a.m. Parking is provided and all volunteers receive a parking pass when needed for metered or residential parking spots. See the calendar here for Friday cleanup locations. Call Dorian Patton at City Hall with any questions at 305-809-3782.

Here are the remaining June cleanups; all events are 8 to 9 a.m.:

Friday, June 17: Flagler and George streets.

Friday, June 24: Duval and Eaton streets.

— Dorian Patton, city of Key West