THE LITTER BUGSM

KEEP MARTIN BEAUTIFUL NEWSLETTER

KMB BOARD OF DIRECTORS

President:Rhonda Irons

Vice President:Pat Yancey

Treasurer:Lisa Quaglia

Secretary:Jim Dragseth

DIRECTORS:

Jen AcevedoDennis Armstrong

Mat ChurcheyJosh FerraroBill HannahMary Kindel

Gardenia LongJeff Sabin

2010 Great American Cleanup.. 1

President’s Message ................ 4

KMB Has Gone Social .............. 4

Environmental Stewardship

Awards ........................................5

Banner Lake ..............................7

ROI ............................................7

“Hey I’m Available” ....................8

Green Tip .................................. 8

In This Issue:

SUMMER 2010 VOLUME 05, ISSUE 03

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1251 SW 27th St., Suite 4 • Palm City, FL 34990 • Phone: (772) 781-1222 • Fax: (772) 781-1198

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From March 1 to May 31 each year, volunteers come together all across thecountry to be a part of the Great American Cleanup (GAC). Right here

in Martin County, more than 1,500 volunteers joined together as a partof the 2010 GAC. Conducted nationally by Keep America Beautifuland its affiliates, and coordinated locally by Keep Martin Beautiful

(KMB), the Great American Cleanup is the nation’s largest, annual community improvement program.

Record Breaking Trash Removal

This year, KMB set records in not only thenumber of participating volunteers andvolunteer hours, but in pounds of litter and trashcollected. A total of 1,323 volunteers spent4,883 hours in local parks, neighborhoods,beaches, and roadways collecting litter andmarine debris, planting flowers and treesand removing exotic vegetation.

In 2009, GAC volunteers cleaned up justover 11,700 pounds of litter from the parks,beaches and roads of Martin County. This year,that number increased by more than 690percent, setting a record-breaking 93,332pounds of litter and household hazardouswaste collected throughout the duration of thecleanup, with an additional 28,800 pounds ofvegetative waste collected!

The KMB Adopt-A-Road program benefitedduring the Great American Cleanup in the samerecord breaking way. Nearly 200 volunteerscleaned litter from 75 roads in Martin County.Spending 330 hours along approximately 100miles of road, nearly a ton of trash was removedfrom the roadways in our communities.

Community Revitalization Projects

In addition to the typical litter removal efforts,KMB also organized a series of communityrevitalization projects as part of our signatureExtreme Martin Makeover activities.

The kick-off of theExtreme Martin Makeoverbegan in East Stuart asKMB volunteers, alongwith Habitat Angel, Hooks

Construction, East Stuart Main Streetand the City of Stuart, came together tomakeover homes in the neighborhood. HooksConstruction donated time and manpower toprepare the homes that were in need of structuralrepairs prior to the cleanup and volunteers cameout to pick up litter, plant trees around thehouses and paint exterior walls.

KMB volunteers also participated in largenumbers to support the communities of BookerPark and Westbrook in Indiantown during theirGAC event. The Booker Park neighborhoodcleanup was one of the largest KMB coordi-nated GAC events in Martin County this year.Residents and volunteers removed almost 15tons, or 30,000 pounds, of litter and debris from

Keep Martin Beautiful Sets Record During

2010 Great American Cleanup

In addition to these two communityprojects, other revitalization projectsincluded exotic vegetation removal,landscaping, and litter removal at

the Rio/Jensen Beach Skate Park;landscaping and litter removal in Banner Lake in Hobe

Sound; litter and hazardous waste removal in the Golden Gatearea in Stuart; and litter removals on Jensen Beach, inHalpatiokee Park and in downtown Port Salerno.

GREAT AMERICAN CLEAN UP

2010 GREAT AMERICAN CLEAN UP(continued from page 1)

roadways, vacant lots and canals.In addition, the Martin County HouseholdHazardous Waste Collection Vehicle(HazMobile) collected nearly 50 gallonsof paint, 62 pounds of batteries and 15 poundsof miscellaneous hazardous chemicals. WasteManagement provided litter pickup, dumpsters and evenprepared lunch provided by Martin County’s CommunityDevelopment Department for the hardworking volunteers!

Keep Martin Beautiful would like to thank all of the sponsors of the Great American Cleanup and the Extreme Martin Makeover, including:

Another thank you goes to Keep Martin Beautiful’s Community Partners who helped make the 2010 Great American Cleanup a success:

Boy Scout Troup #825

Boy Scout Troup #832

The City of Stuart CRA

East Stuart Main Street

Habitat Angel

Habitat for Humanity

South Florida WaterManagement District

The Firefly Group

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Great American Cleanup Photos On Page 3

�Become a Member of KMB –give your community a high ROI

These days it can be hard to find an investment that will provide a high rate of return. However, bybecoming a member of Keep Martin Beautiful, you will be providing a great return on your investment

(ROI) for your community. Research shows that every dollar donated to Keep Martin Beautifultranslates to 25 dollars worth of services for the community. Supporting Keep Martin Beautiful helpsus sustain programs such as the Great American Cleanup, International Coastal Cleanup,Adopt-A-Road and more…and it allows us to reach out to more people, businesses and community

groups throughout Martin County - expanding and adding new programs that provide benefits for allof us. To learn more about becoming a member of KMB, visit www.keepmartinbeautiful.org. �

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GREAT AMERICAN CLEAN UP

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1 | Volunteers come together for the Extreme Martin Makeover East Stuart Edition.

2 | Dave Holzinger and Steve Hooks of Hooks Construction volunteered their time and manpower to make the Extreme Martin Makeover a success for the Great American Cleanup.

3 | The Martin County Household Hazardous Waste Collection Vehicle (HazMobile) was on site to collect household hazardous waste items from residents in East Stuart.

4 | Members of Boy Scout Troop #825 came out to participate in the Neighborhood Cleanup of Golden Gate.

5 | KMB volunteers removed 13.6 tons of trash from Golden Gate.

6 | Volunteers of all ages made it out to Jensen Beach to help clean up Martin County.

7 | More than 80 volunteers came out to Jensen Beach to pick up litter from the beach and parking lot.

8 | The Halpatiokee Park cleanup was a success thanks to volunteers who came out to help in the litter removal efforts.

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As we look back over the last year,Keep Martin Beautiful (KMB) has agreat deal to celebrate—in a time ofeconomic uncertainty our nonprofit

organization was able to not only maintain the level ofservice that we provide to the community but also to expandour programs. We expanded the Great American Cleanupto include an Extreme Martin Makeover of four locationsin our community, thereby broadening the event to include ourmission of revitalization and beautification. The InternationalCoastal Cleanup drew more volunteers than ever before.We have a record number of Adopt-A-Roads and also workedwith the City of Stuart to launch the Adopt-A-Streetprogram and revived the Monofilament Recycling program.We learned how to do more with less, and we owe a big partof that to our supporters and volunteers who continue to rallybehind our mission to Keep Martin Beautiful.

We kicked off our first event of 2010, the EnvironmentalStewardship Awards (ESA), at Piper’s Landing Yacht andCountry Club on February 3. As our only fundraiser of theyear – we transformed ESA into an upscale event thatsurpassed 2009’s achievements. We again received a recordnumber of nominations; we packed the house with a diversecrowd—from boy scouts and students to elected officials tobusiness people. We recognized those in the community whoare doing exceptional things; and we raised much neededfunds and generated an increased profit for the organization.Photos and a list of winners from the event are included inthe newsletter. I encourage you to learn more about ESA andstart planning your nominations for next year!

On the heels of ESA was our second event, Think Green inBanner Lake on February 13. This community improvementprogram, made possible through a grant funded by Waste

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KMB PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

A glance at the past,a focus on the future

Rhonda Irons, KMB President

Management, inspired more than 100 volunteers to brave thechilly weather to improve the neighborhood of Banner Lake.Volunteers removed litter, painted a colorful mural at BannerLake Park, spruced up a nearby cemetery and dedicated a treeto former Jupiter Island Town Manager Joe Connolly. Acelebration with refreshments and children’s activities alsowas conducted after the cleanup at the park.

And as the saying goes, “the third time is a charm!” Our thirdmajor activity of the year, the Great American Cleanupcommunity improvement events and the county-wide cleanupon May 1 was outstanding. We broke records in every wayimaginable and have left ourselves some very large shoes tofill next year. We would like to thank all of our volunteers,sponsors and community partners who took communityactivism into their own hands by participating in our eventsand helping to make them successful.

If you haven’t yet volunteered for any of our programs, Iencourage you to take the leap. The beauty of our volunteerprograms is that we have activities that everyone can do,regardless of age or ability. Even the littlest hands can helpremove litter from our community—and what a great way toinstill values in our children and raise the next generation ofearth advocates! If you want to further your relationship withKeep Martin Beautiful, consider becoming a member. Yoursmall investment in a membership helps us continue toprovide our services to the community. Visit our website atwww.keepmartinbeautiful.org to learn more about ourorganization and to see where you can fit in.

Sincerely,Rhonda Irons

Keep Martin Beautiful has gone �Social�Social Media that is!ARE YOU ON FACEBOOK? TWITTER? WE WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU!

We are dedicated to litter prevention, waste reduction, beautification and community improvement, andenvironmental stewardship education, and we want to get the word out on all of these topics whereverand however we can. Using Facebook and Twitter, KMB shares tips on recycling, little known facts on litterprevention and waste reduction, community events and great resources for everything in between. Follow ustoday at www.twitter.com/KMBmartin or “like” us on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/KeepMartinBeautiful

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ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP AWARDS

In honor of the annual Environmental Stewardship Awardshosted by Keep Martin Beautiful (KMB), more than 180people gathered at Piper’s Landing Yacht and Country Clubon Wednesday, February 3, 2010, to recognize and rewardnotable efforts within the community to improve the qualityof life in Martin County.

This year KMB received a record number of nominations -60 submissions - honoring individuals, families, businesses,civic and youth groups, schools and government agenciesthat are helping promote environmental stewardship througheducation and action.

A diverse cross-section of the community was represented at theevent, and Martin County Commissioner Patrick Hayes wasamong those in attendance at this year’s awards ceremony.“The thing that sets Martin County apart is ourunique environment and our dedicatedcitizens—environmental stewardship joins theseattributes together. I always leave theEnvironmental Stewardship Awards eventinspired and energized,” Hayes commented.

It’s never an easy job to choose among all of thegreat nominees, and due to the overwhelmingnumber of entries, the judging committee wasexpanded to nine members this year. Keep MartinBeautiful would like to give a big Thank You to ourjudges for their hard work.

� Patrick Hayes, Martin County Commissioner � Mary Hutchinson, City of Stuart Commissioner� Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch, Town of

Sewall’s Point Commissioner� Boyd Gunsalus, Lead Environmental

Scientist, South Florida Water Management District� Melissa Meeker, President, Hesperides Group� Dr. Eric Haenni, Senior Scientist,

Crossroads Environmental Consultants� Tom Teter, News Director, WSTU 1450 AM� Rhonda Irons, President, Keep Martin Beautiful� Stella Boland, International Baccalaureate

Faculty, South Fork High School

While all of the nominees contributed generously toimproving the environment in a variety of ways throughoutMartin County, one business in particular was honored forreversing the typical mantra of “think globally, act locally” andexpanded its reach on an international level.

The winner of the 2010 Innovation Award was Sol, Inc.for their generous contributions of energy efficient LED

lighting to local charities and their involvement inrelief efforts in Haiti. Sol Inc. was recognized forproviding more than $300,000 worth of solar lightingsystems for relief efforts in Haiti, effectively

doubling the amount of available time that doctorsand rescuers can work, when previously they had to stop

all efforts at dusk. As she presented the award to Rick Schuettof Sol, Inc., Stacy Ranieri of The Firefly Group told theaudience that “Sol Inc.’s solar systems are now literallyserving as beacons of light throughout Haiti” to whichthe crowd responded with a standing ovation.

Rhonda Irons, President of Keep Martin Beautiful, presentedthe organization’s President’s Choice award to East Stuart’sBoy Scout Troop 825 for their enthusiastic, positive,“can-do” attitude and participation in numerous roadcleanups, renovation of the Gertrude Walden ChildcareCenter and a historic home in Golden Gate, invasive exoticvegetation removal, installation of a flag pole for the Boys& Girls Clubs and more. “Troop 825 rises to the call when-ever there is a need and we are all fortunate to have such agroup of fine young boys in our community,” said Irons.“We commend all of our nominees for their efforts,”added Irons. “Their tremendous and tangible contributionsare what set Martin County apart from other communities.”

And the winners were…

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Winners truly at 2010 Environmental Stewardship Awards

Winners and sponsors of the 2010 Environmental Stewardship Awards.�

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ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP AWARDS

Business/Professional AwardMariner Sands Country Club for its commitment to everydepartment making ecologically impactful changes.

Government Agency AwardCity of Stuart for offering free collection services for yardtrash, bulk items, hazardous waste and electronic waste.

NonProfit/Civic Groups AwardFlorida Oceanographic Society for its oyster gardening andrestoration efforts in the St. Lucie Estuary.

Youth/School Award (tie)Kathy LaMartina for her work with the Indian River LagoonEnvirothon, a hands-on event that taught over 185 studentsfrom six counties about their environment by conductingin-depth studies of aquatics, forestry, soil, wildlife and more.

Youth/School Award (tie)Troop 832 Eagle Scouts for spearheading a completeoverhaul of the Indiantown Community Outreach Center.

Unsung Hero AwardDoris Daniel for helping increase the number of recyclingbins at a local park.

2010 ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP AWARDS - WINNERS(continued from page 5)

Think Green Awardpresented by Waste Management (tie)Boys & Girls Clubs of Martin County for the large-scalebeautification effort at three Club branches in Hobe Sound,Palm City and East Stuart that taught children to care fortheir communities and the Earth.

Think Green Awardpresented by Waste Management (tie)The Recycle Girls for developing a recycling program atJock Leighton Park.

Innovation AwardSol, Inc for its donation and installation of solar lightingpanels to local charities.

KMB President’s AwardBoy Scout Troup 825 for helping to renovate the GertrudeWalden Childcare Center and a historic home in GoldenGate.

2010 Raleigh “Riley” Jackson AwardKathy FitzPatrick, Coastal Engineer for Martin County,for helping to secure nearly $50 million in grant funding forvarious coastal projects. The Riley Jackson Award recognizesa government agency or employee that goes beyond therequired duties and shows dedication and commitment tothe community.

Bryan Garner, WPTV Treasure Coast BureauChief and ESA Master of Ceremonies; and Mary Hutchinson, City ofStuart Commissioner andESA Judge.

Ed Ciampi, Martin County Commissioner; StacyRanieri, The Firefly Group (and KMB’s originalExecutive Director); Susan Valliere, MartinCounty Commissioner; John Hennessee, PortSalerno Community Promotions, Inc.; andJacqui Thurlow-Lippisch, Town of Sewall’s PointCommissioner and ESA Judge.

Ken Pruitt, Former State SenatePresident; and Patrick Hayes,Martin County Commissioner.

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�Winners and Sponsors receiveenvironmentally friendly awardsmade from recycled glass bottles,made by local glass blower, LotusDesign Group.

�Nancy McCarthy of the FireflyGroup (and KMB CommunityOutreach Coordinator), displaysreusable tote bags that wereavailable to guests for purchaseduring the event.

Banner Lake gets a facelift thanks to local volunteersOn Saturday, February 13, more than 100 volunteers inBanner Lake packed recycling bins with discarded bottles,collected over 10 tons of litter, painted a colorful mural, tidiedup a neglected cemetery and dedicated a tree to former JupiterIsland Town Manager Joe Connolly. A celebration withrefreshments and children’s activities also was conductedafter the cleanup. Volunteers from groups including HabitatAngel, Boy Scout Troop 825, Girl Scout Troop 30494, theMartin County Sheriff’s Office, local residents and MartinCounty Commissioner Patrick Hayes braved the chillyweather to help make a difference to the community ofBanner Lake. The community improvement project wasorganized through Keep Martin Beautiful as part of a $10,000grant sponsored by Waste Management that encourages localsolutions that improve community environments.

In addition to support from Waste Management, JenkinsLandscape assisted the project by enhancing the landscapeat the two main gateways into Banner Lake (on US 1 and onBridge Road) and beautifying the cemetery with trees andshrubs.

“It was inspiring to see so many diverse groups workingtogether to help their neighbors,” said Keep Martin BeautifulPresident Rhonda Irons. “We are proud that this projecthelped foster community activism in Banner Lake.”

Volunteers painted a mural at Banner LakeCommunity Park.

Martin County Commissioner PatrickHayes, KMB PresidentRhonda Irons, Town ofJupiter Island MayorCharles Falcone, KMB Logistics Coordinator RobRanieri and Waste Management GovernmentAffairs Director Jeff Sabincommemorated the treededication to Joe Connolly.

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KEEP MARTIN BEAUTIFUL

Around for more than a decade, the Adopt-A-Road program issomething near and dear to the hearts of many in MartinCounty. KMB’s Adopt-A-Road program offers businesses,civic groups, school groups, places of worship, families andindividuals the opportunity to adopt a minimum one milesection of county-maintained roadside for the purpose oflitter reduction. Volunteers in the Keep Martin BeautifulAdopt-A-Road program work to keep roads and streets litter-free and make our county a better place to live.

Keep Martin Beautiful, in partnership with the City of Stuart,also launched the Adopt-A-Street program in 2009. Thisprogram empowers volunteer groups in the City of Stuartto keep their neighborhoods litter-free, one street at a time.Adopt-A-Street volunteers are also providing a valuableservice that reduces the amount of taxpayer money that needsto be spent on road litter removal.

“We’ve seen a great amount of success already with theAdopt-A-Street program,” KMB Logistics Coordinator RobRanieri said. “It’s great to see groups taking advantage of thisopportunity to make an impact on the community around them.”

There are many roads throughout Martin County available foradoption. Some groups adopt a road close to their neighborhoodor home. Others are more strategic in the road they adopt,choosing a well-traveled, but sometimes dirtier roadway inexchange for the extra visibility their recognition signage willreceive from the thousands of cars a day that travel along amajor transportation corridor.

Although we are fond of our “Hey, I’m Available” signs, wewould be delighted to take them down and replace them withthe name of your business, civic group or family.For more info about the Adopt-A-Road programcontact us at 781-1222 or info@keepmartinbeautiful.org.

Leave your mark - not your litter - on the roads of Martin County

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1251 SW 27th St., Suite 4,

Palm City, FL 34990

772-781-1222 Phone

772-781-1198 Fax

�Be a Steward of the Land and SeaBy Becoming a Member of KMB!!�Go to www.keepmartinbeautiful.org

JOIN US! BECOME A KMB MEMBER!

Save The Date

InternationalCoastal Cleanup

Saturday

September 25, 2010

Newsletter content and coordination by The Firefly Group.