Trash Talk:

Resolve to Make Bandera Beautiful in 2025

January is a good time to reflect on the accomplishments in the past year and resolve to make the new year better. But who wants to reflect on trash? Ignore it all together and it’s likely to build up and bury you. So, let’s talk trash.

Recycling

Just as sales indicate how well a business is doing, the number of visits to the recycling center may be a measure of how well county residents are investing in the idea of recycling. The chart below is a month-by-month accounting of the number of visits to the recycling center by county residents. It shows a gradual increase of interest in the first year Commissioner Jody Rutherford reopened the recycling center next to Mansfield Park in October 2022.

(Chart here) By November, the volunteers had organized into a nonprofit corporation, “Don’t Mess with Bandera!” They operated under that moniker for over a year until the Texas Department of Transportation claimed it was too similar to the Tx-DOT trademark (“Don’t Mess with Texas”) and needed to be changed. To avoid any court costs, the volunteers incorporated under a new name, “Don’t Make Waste Bandera,” a public charity with the same initials, DMWB.

Prior to shutting down recycling during the pandemic in 2020, the county would bring jail inmates to handle the baling of recyclables collected at its solid waste sites. After re-opening in 2023, baling was not done on a regular basis and three of the four machines needed repair. By the end of 2023, cardboard was collected faster than the county could manage to bundle it and keep it from getting wet. County personnel trained five DMWB volunteers to do baling.

The first shipment of 48 bales of cardboard (21.6 tons) went out in January 2024, collecting $2,267.

DMWB halted collection of recyclables during the month of February 2024, obtained a grant from Keep Texas Recycling (KTR) to repair the balers, and trained additional volunteers to do the baling.

In March aluminum cans (2.7 tons) and #1 plastic bottles (5.5 tons) were shipped, collecting $4,303. The visits chart shows a dramatic increase in July 2024. H-E-B made a grant through DMWB’s affiliation with Keep Texas Beautiful (KTB). DMWB designed a unique trailer to expand recycling to other solid waste sites in the county. In cooperation with commissioner Greg Grothues, the “RecycleMobile” was placed at the Lakehills solid waste collection site. Total recycling visits countywide almost doubled. With the increase in recyclables collected, more volunteers are needed.

In December 2024, 43 bales of cardboard were shipped.

Make this resolution for 2025: I will volunteer to screen recyclables once a month on a Saturday morning or afternoon or to bale on a Tuesday morning once a month.

The next training for all new and veteran volunteers will be February 1st, 3-4pm, for Mansfield site volunteers and February 8th, Noon-1pm, for volunteers at the Lakehills site. (For more information, send an email to: dontmakewastebandera@ gmail.com).

Roads

The original inspiration for organizing the nonprofit Don’t Mess with Bandera was sparked by a road cleanup crew from the Bridlegate Ranch subdivision, led by Mike Stiborik in early 2022. His idea was to have the county sponsor an Adopta- County-Road program modeled after TxDOT’s Adopt-a-Highway. Stiborik joined the board of DMWB and worked with the county to initiate the program. Sadly, in August 2024, Mike passed away. By then, four 2-mile segments of county roads had been adopted by Bridlegate and Madrona Ridge Residents.

Make this resolution for 2025: I will volunteer once a quarter in a road cleanup effort organized by one of the groups that sponsor a county road segment.

There is a Wharton’s Dock Road trash pick-up scheduled for Saturday, February 1, starting at 9 AM. Text Dan Wethor at 830688-1008 and meet at the entrance to Madrona Ridge Subdivision on Wharton’s Dock Road, near the cell tower.

Yards

Volunteering for a Meals on Wheels route has revealed the need to help elderly and disabled residents clear out trash and unwanted junk from their homes and yards. This led to a third project for DMWB in conjunction with Silver Sage Senior Center.

During December 2023, DMWB and Silver Sage worked with Wharton Dock residents and the cooperation of Lake Medina Shores Owners Association to conduct a cleanup at 21 homes in the Wharton’s Dock area. More than 10 tons of trash was collected or recycled.

Funding by Silver Sage for this project was exhausted and DMWB has initiated a fundraising effort to support yard cleanups in the homes and yards of elderly and disabled residents.

Make this resolution for 2025: I will volunteer to participate in one or more cleanup efforts with the cooperation of elderly or disabled residents.

Volunteer for any of the DMWB projects by sending an email to: dontmakewastebandera@ gmail.com

The fundraising effort is now underway to support all DMWB projects. A $5,000 challenge grant has been offered as a dollar- for-dollar match for any new donations. Contributions may be made either through the website (DMWB.NET) on PayPal or sending the check to DONT MAKE WASTE BANDERA, PO Box 1181, Bandera TX 78003.

Make this resolution for 2025: I will make a one-time or monthly tax-deductible donation to DONT MAKE WASTE BANDERA.