Impact Areas
Litter Prevention
At the Keep Powder Springs Beautiful, Inc., we aim to ultimately end litter in Powder Springs. It is a huge blight on our landscape, and costly to clean up. Litter impacts our quality of life, destroying our state’s natural beauty, harming or killing wildlife, and diminishing water quality. It also hinders economic development—property values decrease in littered neighborhoods, whereas clean communities attract families and businesses.
Recycling
Recycling benefits communities. By transforming products into something new and supporting the closed loop system, we prevent pollution that occurs when resources like trees and precious metals are extracted from the earth. Recycling saves energy, conserves natural resources, and avoids landfills. It also stimulates our local economy. Did you know that Georgia has the second largest infrastructure for recycling manufacturing in the country? More than 120 business rely on recycled materials for their products.
Beautification
The greening efforts of Keep Powder Springs Beautiful not only makes the city a more beautiful place to live, they create stronger, more cohesive communities and real, tangible economic benefits. Research shows that trees and vegetation lead directly to higher property values, higher revenue-yielding business districts and infrastructure savings due to reduces soil erosion and storm-water runoff. Greening efforts also have real health and safety benefits. Beautification projects bring neighborhoods together; in fact, public housing areas with trees and vegetation have shown a 50% reduction in both violent and property crimes.
Waste Reduction
Did you know the average American generates over 4 pounds of trash every day? Although recycling helps reduce the amount that goes into landfills, this still puts an enormous stress on our environment and economy.
Creating new materials also requires raw materials and large amounts of energy. By reducing and reusing, we can save natural resources, protect our environment, and save money. Want to know how you can help?
- Buy only what you need. Buy in bulk and/or economy sizes when you shop.
- Carry reusable bags to the store.
- Find a way to reuse items rather than throwing them away. Try using storage containers that you can wash and reuse.
- Give items to charity or sell in a yard sale rather than throwing them away. Sometimes, one person’s trash is another person’s treasure.
- Try composting your food scraps. Many local solid waste agencies have compost bins available for home use. It’s easy to compost and you can have your own fertilizer for your plants and landscaping when you’re done.