Public Education & Outreach

Public Education In order to support the mission and vision of Keep Allen Beautiful, several community events are held throughout the year including the Great American Cleanup, Allen Recycles Day and an Arbor Day Celebration. Individual education programs are also available upon request (see the guide below).

2009 Education & Outreach Guide

Watch an interview with Mayor Terrell concerning this Guide!

Allen Recycles Day-Nov. 7, 2009

Recycles Day is an annual event held the first Saturday in November. Keep Allen Beautiful sponsors a coloring contest for grades K through 4, a poster contest for grades 5 through 6, and a recycled art competition for the Middle Schools and High School during this event. Winners are awarded prizes at a City Council meeting.

Middle School and High School students are encouraged to receive volunteer hours by helping with landscaping projects in the yards of Allen residents and conducting cleanups around town.

Allen Recycles Day 2008 drew a record-breaking 700 cars to City Hall! All materials collected during the event were destined for recycling or reuse.

Allen Recycles Day

Saturday, Nov. 7

8:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Allen City Hall

305 Century Parkway, Allen, TX 75013

Click here to view the Allen Recycles Day Flier and a list of acceptable donations.

Click here to view the Allen Recycles Day map.

Click here to sign up as a volunteer for Allen Recycles Day.

For security reasons, we recommend that any memory storage device is removed, wiped clean or destroyed before dropping off electronics for recycling at any recycling event!

Recycle Art Contest:

Your Allen ISD school submissions are due to Allen City Hall by Thursday, October 29th! AISD Educators may print the following contest documents:

School contest notification

Acceptable recycling material

Coloring page

Entry registration form

For additional assistance please contact Kathy Keller-Mielke at 214.509.4552 or email her at kmielke@cityofallen.org .

Annually, Keep Allen Beautiful sponsors the Arbor Day National Poster Contest for 5th graders. This year's theme is Trees are Terrific...and Energy Wise! This is a fun, hands-on activity that brings real-life learning opportunities to students about the energy cycle and how properly selected and planted trees can have a beneficial impact on energy use. Your school's top three entries are due by November 20! Download your FREE Arbor Day Poster Contest Guide and view the TEKS Correlation now! Please attach this entry registration form with each entry, and contact Kathy Keller-Mielke for more details or if you have any questions at kmielke@cityofallen.org or 214.509.4552.

Educator Expo

Every September, the City of Allen and Keep Allen Beautiful roll out the red carpet to showcase all the FREE educational programs through the City of Allen and other county agencies. Program representatives are available at the event to provide additional information. A color copy of the 2009 Education and Outreach Guide is now available.

Thank you to all the organizations that participated, Keep Allen Beautiful Board members, City of Allen Staff and volunteers that worked hard in making 2009 Educator Expo event a huge success!

For a list of 2009 participating organizations, click here.

Adopt a Highway

Keep Allen Beautiful has sponsored an Adopt a Highway program in Allen for over 12 years. Roadway signs let motorists know that someone is caring for that particular street, and this sense of ownership is shown to reduce litter. Volunteers get involved in the stewardship of their piece of Texas. This is an extraordinary private-public partnership that benefits all citizens by cleaning and beautifying roadways. It significantly reduces litter cleanup costs, thereby saving taxpayers' money. The City of Allen currently has about 50 adopted or adoptable roadways.

Are you or your organization interested in adopting a roadway in Allen? We require you adopt a one mile stretch of roadway, which must be cleaned a minimum of four times per year, including the two city-wide cleanup events in April and November. For more information, call 214-509-4554.

Adopt a Waterway

Litter isn't found only on the side of the road--it's in our waterways, too! Creeks, rivers, and lakes provide recreation, water for our homes, crop irrigation, and beautification. Litter and debris in our waterways can harm aquatic life, block storm drains which could lead to flooding, harbor disease carrying insects, and pollute our water source.

Are you or your organization interested in adopting a waterway in Allen? The City of Allen currently has 4 adopted waterways, but many more are available. We require you adopt a one mile stretch of waterway, which must be cleaned a minimum of four times per year, including the two city-wide cleanup events in April and November. For more information, call 214-509-4553 or 214-509-4554.

Adopt a Spot

Many neighborhood parks are in need of litter-care and beautification. Just like litter found along roads and waterways, litter in parks is not only an eye-sore, it can lead to more serious effects. Keep Allen Beautiful is pleased to present a new Adopt a Spot program, allowing interested organizations to adopt a "spot" in Allen. A park is typically selected to perform litter cleanups and possibly plant and upkeep of a Smartscape garden. The spot must be cleaned a minimum of four times per year, including the two city-wide cleanup events in April and November. For more information, call 214-509-4554.

Trees for Allen

Keep Allen Beautiful in a cooperative effort with the Allen Parks and Recreation Department has developed the “Trees for Allen” beautification and reforestation program. During the month of January, Allen residents may order shade trees at a low cost.

The Parks and Recreation Department delivers the trees ordered to the desired residential location. The trees should be planted in open access areas, which include residential front yards. Neighborhood Associations, churches, schools, Parent Teacher Associations, non-profit organizations and individuals are encouraged to buy the trees to help beautify every part of Allen. Donations of trees are also accepted for the City to plant in open areas such as local parks and greenbelts.

Trees benefit the environment by removing carbon dioxide and other harmful pollutants from the air while generating oxygen. Trees improve the quality of life over generations by providing shade, reducing energy costs, improving the environment, and providing wildlife habitat.

Click here to view a tree identification guide.

Arbor Day Celebration

Spring is the time for the annual Arbor Day Celebration, a City of Allen Parks and Recreation Department event sponsored in part by Keep Allen Beautiful. The Arbor Day Celebration is held in a new location every year, but always features tree plantings, kid crafts, and guaranteed fun.

The 2010 Arbor Day Celebration will be held on March 6, 2010 from 9-11 a.m. at Story Park located at 1540 Edelweiss, Allen, TX 75013.

A statewide National Arbor Day Poster contest is held every year for 5th grade students. Local posters for the Arbor Day Contest are judged and winning entries are sent off to state level competition. Allen winners are presented prizes and certificates by Keep Allen Beautiful at the Arbor Day Celebration and honored at City Council.

Click here to view the 2009 winning posters

For more information on Arbor Day contact Urban Forestry at 214-509-4833 or Parks and Recreation at 214-509-4704.

Great American Cleanup

Join Allen in the largest cleanup and cleanout event in Collin County! The Great American Cleanup is a community event held nation-wide every April encouraging residents to clean-up and clean-out.

Trash of all kinds is accepted and metals, computers, household goods, brush, cardboard and shoes are recycled and kept out of the landfill. Household goods, cell phones, and eyeglasses will be accepted for reuse. Paper shredding services are also available. Participants must show current City of Allen water utility bill and driver’s license. City and Community Waste Disposal employees are on hand to help unload residents' items. Junior High and High School students needing volunteer hours are encouraged to volunteer in many capacities. For more information call 214-509-4551.

Way to go, Allen! Over 1000 cars participated in the 2009 event to donate items for reuse, recycling, or disposal.

For security reasons, we recommend that any memory storage device is removed, wiped clean or destroyed before dropping off at any recycling event!

Texas Smartscape

Improve your gardening smarts with Texas Smartscape. Smartscaping creates a lush and colorful oasis for your family and for Texas native flora and fauna. It uses Native vegetation and plants that have been adapted to our climate to create a landscape that needs less water, pesticides and fertilizers. These plants also attract the hummingbirds and butterflies that call North Central Texas their home, making your yard a wildlife masterpiece for you and your family to enjoy.

Whether you're designing a garden for your new home or just adding a few plants to your yard, Smartscaping can help. It gives you the tools you need to plan your garden, select the right plants, and care for them in a manner that saves you time and money while at the same time protecting our streams and rivers, and ultimately conserving our water resources. During warm weather, 40-60 percent of your water bill is a result of outdoor water use. Smartscape landscaping requires less water and can reduce your water bill.

Smartscape requires less fertilizer and pesticides. Fertilizer is most often applied in the spring and fall when we receive significant rainfall. As a result, a high percentage of fertilizer never reaches the targeted plants, but instead becomes storm water runoff that washes down our storm water drains and eventually enters our waterways. Pesticides often follow a similar path. Significant quantities of fertilizers and pesticides in our rivers and lakes can make them unsuitable for recreation and wildlife, as well as polluting our drinking water source. It is less expensive to prevent storm water runoff pollution than to remove it.

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