Let’s talk trash--the trash from winter that is due for a spring cleaning. And let’s talk about how you can participate to keep our county’s natural beauty.
During March through May, about 300,000 Americans will participate in the cleaning of public areas in their communities--parks, schools, roadways and river banks. It takes organization and cooperation to locate the supplies needed, to collect and dispose of trash and to recycle what can be reused. With a little coordination it can be done.
Local governments, businesses, and nonprofits collaborate in this effort. On the national level, it’s Keep America Beautiful; at the state level, Keep Texas Beautiful; locally, Keep Bandera Beautiful/ Don’t Make Waste Bandera (DMWB.net). These nonprofit entities are affiliated to provide supplies and guide local government, businesses, or anyone who wants to organize volunteers. To make it even easier, DMWB will put you in touch with the local resources and contacts you will need to get involved.
First, drive around and do a windshield scan of your community. If you find a roadway, a park, a stretch of river that needs attention, send an email to dontmakewastebandera@ gmail.com. Describe the problem and suggest how you can help organize neighbors to solve it.
Litter on Roads and Public Areas Take stock of the resources that are available to help you get the job done:
• For state roadways-such as SH16 or SH37, FM1283--the TxDOT Adopt-a-Highway program provides a tool kit of trash bags, gloves, bug spray, sunscreen, and safety vests. More than twenty-five two-mile segments of state roads have been adopted in Bandera County under the TxDOT program. Join one of them or adopt your own segment: https://www.txdot. gov/content/forms/af/txdot- gov/adopt-a-highway/ adopt-a-highway-application. html.
• For county roadways, the same supplies plus trash pickers are available: email John Andrade, Bandera County Roads Superintendent: jandrade@banderacounty. org, or call: 830-460-1426. County road adoptions began formally in 2024. Three groups of Bridlegate Ranch residents and a group of Madrona Ridge residents have adopted two-mile road segments.
• For any other public areas, such as parks, schools or other community cleanups, contact the local Keep Texas Beautiful (KTB) affiliate by email: [email protected] If the layers of bureaucracy and internet gobbledygook are too confusing, feel free to contact DMWB for navigation by email dontmakewastebandera@ gmail.com or by phone: 210-413-7264.
Private Yards and Abandoned Lots
One of the original goals of Don’t Make Waste Bandera was to help people with the daunting task of clearing trash and unwanted junk in their yards and homes. This was accomplished with the cooperation of twenty-one elderly and/ or disabled residents and the work of more than a dozen neighbors of the Wharton’s Dock area in December 2023 and January 2024. With Lake Medina Shores Owners Association, eleven tons of trash and recyclables were removed by volunteers in the neighborhood.
Volunteers pose after completing a Medina River cleanup in 2019. A scan of the riverbed in Bandera County will be conducted this month to determine if a cleanup should be conducted on the dry river bed. Courtesy Photo
A partnership of DMWB, Silver Sage, and Bandera Fire Marshall’s office is working on a plan in at least two neighborhoods and any number of homes of elderly and/or disabled residents in 2025. To join this project, send an email to dontmakewastebandera@ gmail.com.
County Returns to Recycling
This month thirty new and veteran volunteers were trained on sorting and baling recycled items at the solid waste drop off sites. The sites in Bandera (next to Mansfield Park) and Lakehills (105 Ohio) receive flattened corrugated cardboard, clean #1 plastic bottles and aluminum cans on Saturday. The Mansfield site is open from 9 am-3pm; Lakehills from 9 -12 and 1-4 pm. To volunteer for recycling or baling on Saturday or just baling on Tuesday, send an email to [email protected] .
An anonymous grant of $5,000 and an additional $5,000 matching challenge has been offered by a county resident to help all DMWB programs. Donations can be made by check to Don’t Make Waste Bandera, PO Box 1182, Bandera, TX 78003 or online through their website: www.DMWB.net
Will there be a Medina River Cleanup?
The most beautiful natural resource in Bandera County is the Medina River. It emerges from springs in the northwest corner and empties 50 miles downstream into Medina Lake at the southeast corner of the county. Since 2001 an annual river cleanup organized by the Medina River Protection Fund drew an average of 200 volunteers from throughout the state. The Covid pandemic and the worst drought since the mid-1950s caused the annual Medina River Cleanup to be canceled for the past five years. A scan of the riverbed in Bandera County will be conducted this month to determine if a cleanup should be conducted on the dry river bed. Stay tuned for the results on their new website www.MedinaRiver.org.
Volunteers pose after completing a Medina River cleanup in 2019. A scan of the riverbed in Bandera County will be conducted this month to determine if a cleanup should be conducted on the dry river bed. Courtesy Photo
