Greenstar and Keep Houston Beautiful clean up

On April 2, 2011, Greenstar Recycling and Keep Houston Beautiful helped clean and landscape a neglected area in Acres Homes, a neighborhood just north of downtown Houston. This project is part of the national “Adopt a Ditch” program. The overall scope of this nationally acclaimed project is to raise the quality of life by keeping ditches free of litter and debris while improving the storm water and transforming the area into a cleaner, more environmentally pleasant place.

“We are proud to support the beautification of Houston,” said Matt Delnick, Greenstar CEO. “Our Greenstar volunteers worked alongside 100-150 other members of the local community to clean up an area that was used as an illegal dumping ground in the past. We’re working together to transform this polluted ditch into a place of pride for local residents.”

One of Greenstar’s newest partners, the Houston Dynamo, also raised their hands to support the initiative. The backing from both Greenstar and the Dynamo together gave strength for Keep Houston Beautiful to move forward with the project as an additional site for the annual Keep Houston Beautiful Day.

The City of Houston’s Department of Public Works and Engineering Right-of-Way and Fleet Maintenance Division are also behind this effort in landscaping two ditch sections, which include tree planting along the edge, installation of yellow flag irises in the ditch, and installation of bollards to help prevent illegal dumping and parking. Volunteers cleaning the ditches placed all recyclables in Greenstar’s purple recycling carts.

Professional landscape architect Keiji Asakura of Asakura Robinson Company LLC, provided direction and guidance to ensure the program’s success. Drought tolerant plants native to Texas temperatures were used, reducing the need for frequent watering. Trees donated by Home Depot and irises from TreeSearch Farms were also planted.

Keep Houston Beautiful has held an annual cleanup day in partnership with the Mayor of Houston and City Council for 30 consecutive years. Adopt-A-Ditch is an expansion of the successful Adopt-A-Block program that is a partnership between the City of Houston, Keep Houston Beautiful, local merchants, volunteers, and residents.