Recycling push, cleanup projects grow with new funding

Keep Macon-Bibb Beautiful will use a $25,000 private grant to educate students in Bibb County Schools about the importance of recycling.

Asha Ellen, executive director of the beautification nonprofit, announced the grant from Georgia Beverage Co. Sept. 18. The grant will work hand in hand with $30,000 of allotted county funds, which are used for cleanup efforts at Southwest High School, Ballard-Hudson Middle, Hartley Elementary, Southfield Elementary and Ingram Pye Elementary.

Around 30 attendees, including Superintendent Dan Sims and Bibb County Sheriff David Davis, gathered inside the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame to hear the announcement.

Ellen said data from the county’s waste collector, Ryland Environmental, showed that southern Bibb County both recycled the least out of all areas in the county and often did so improperly.

The $25,000 from Georgia Beverage will go toward teaching proper recycling habits in schools and encouraging families and neighborhoods to sign up for the county’s recycling program. Two elementary schools, Bruce and Southfield, will receive educational resources related to recycling “starting immediately,” Ellen said.

Bruce Elementary Principal Kizzie Lott said the initiative will help this generation of students understand trash and their ability to recycle.

“Transformation happens when we take ownership,” Lott said.

The $30,000 from Macon-Bibb County comes from its public safety fund and is designated for litter reduction in District 8, which encompasses parts of Eisenhower Parkway and Rocky Creek Road.

Keep Macon-Bibb Beautiful has previously organized cleanup efforts in Greenwood Bottom and Unionville, and its Walking School Bus initiative has cleared paths for students going to school at Bruce Elementary and around Fort Hill and east Macon. 

The public funds will help hire contractors for larger debris and vegetation removal projects as well as allow Keep Macon-Bibb Beautiful to organize future cleanups.

Ellen said litter can “foster a sense of neglect” and “discourage clean habits” in the areas it is most prevalent in.

“We do more than just pick up litter,” Ellen said. “We are picking up an entire community.”