Let’s talk trash.
It’s unwanted, but every resident — owners and renters, young and old — must deal with it every day. How they deal with it will define the quality of the neighborhood and county they live in.
During the pandemic, Bandera County government stopped recycling at their solid waste sites, leaving residents wondering what they should do with all the bottles, containers, cardboard and metal building up on their property. It would all go into the landfill since not one commercial trash company in the county was recycling. And more trash was also deposited on the roads.
In February of 2002 concerned residents from Bridlegate Ranch approached the commissioners court to request an adopt-a-county-road program similar to the one on state highways by the Texas Department of Transpiration. Two months later, 36 concerned residents discussed recycling and trash buildup with county commissioners Jody Rutherford and Bobby Harris at the Lakehills Civic Center.
After months of planning and coordination with the county, the concerned residents started a nonprofit corporation under the name DONT MESS WITH BANDERA (DMWB). Recycling was reinstated with the help of Rutherford, who offered space next to the Bandera solid waste site adjacent Mansfield Park.
Each month this column will review the progress of neighborhood and community groups in their efforts to remove trash from the county landscape. Here’s a summary of what’s been accomplished:
Recycling
In the last month of 2022, Janus Olive led an effort of DMWB volunteers to kickstart countywide recycling on Saturdays 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Bandera recycling center next to Mansfield Park, accepting flattened cardboard, aluminum cans and #1 clear plastic bottles at no charge. Since then, there have been more than 3,700 visits to the recycling center.
Some 42 volunteers were trained to screen and bale the recycled materials. After the first year, 48 bales of cardboard, 25 bales of aluminum cans and 15 bales of plastic bottles were bundled for sale to recycling processing centers, working with Keep Texas Recycling, a nonprofit rural recycling co-op, to find the best prices for rural counties. The profits come back to Bandera County to help pay for maintenance of baling machines and equipment at the recycling center.
Volunteers are always needed in three-hour shifts on Saturdays at to supervise the collection of recycled items. Notify Janus: [email protected]. Follow our Facebook page: Bandera Recycles.
Road Cleanups
There are numerous groups — like those at the Lakehills Communty Center — who have contracted with TxDOT to adopt two-mile segments of state highways in Bandera County.
Mike Stiborik of Bridlegate Ranch and Dan Wethor of Madrona Ridge began organizing right-ofway pickups along county roads near their subdivisions, working with the county’s Roads & Bridges Department in the Adopt-a-County-Road program. Wethor has organized 45 residents of Madrona Ridge, Bridlegate and Walker Ranch to clean up 6.5 miles, collecting 172 bags along Wharton’s Dock Road during the past year. Stiborik of Bridlegate Ranch reports that just this year his neighbors have mobilized 71 volunteers to clean 24 miles along English Crossing/Bottle Springs Road, SH 173 and Rodeo Road.
They plan to work with any group wanting to organize road cleanups and help recruit volunteers, provide supplies, and dispose of trash. Contact Mike Stiborik: mike@recoverypartner911. com or [email protected].
Yard Cleanups
Finally, there are the yards teeming with trash that some residents cannot manage or afford to clear. DMWB approached Art Crawford of the Silver Sage to sponsor yard cleanups of disabled and elderly residents in the Wharton’s Dock area.
Guadalupe Cole coordinated the Whartons Dock neighborhood cleanup during the entire month of December, mobilizing 20 neighbors to clear 10.6 tons of trash from 17 homes of elderly and disabled residents. The Lake Medina Shores Owners Association contributed their front-end loader operator and a space for the dumpsters that were rented by Silver Sage.
The plan for yard cleanups in 2024 is to raise funds to rent more dumpsters and equipment for other neighborhood cleanups in the county. Anyone interested in organizing a neighborhood yard cleanup should contact Lupita Cole at [email protected].
Clearly the effort is ambitious. But unless residents step in to volunteer, Bandera County will continue to make waste.
To report trash on the roads or in the yards and to request a slide presentation on how your group can get involved in cleanup efforts, contact Bob Brischetto at [email protected]. For more information, visit our website: www.DMWB.net
