Keep Pasco Beautiful Receives Innovative Partnership Award
Keep Pasco Beautiful was thrilled to receive the Innovative Partnerships award from the Florida Chapter of the North American Hazardous Materials Management Association (NAHMMA). This award was for the collaborative efforts on the Earth Day Celebration between Keep Pasco Beautiful, Covanta Pasco and Pasco County Utilities Environmental Services.
The Innovation Partnerships Award recognized partnerships between companies, government agencies, non-profit groups and political entities that have worked together to accomplish a goal that is supportive of the NAHMMA mission. Earth Day has been celebrated in Pasco County for twenty-two years on the fourth Saturday in April at Crews Lake Park. The purpose of the Earth Day Celebration is to not only provide fun environmental activities for families, but also to educate the public on what they can do to reduce waste, prevent pollution, and conserve water.
By utilizing the varied strengths of these partners the event has continued to grow. In 2018 there was an attendance of 1,750 attendees and thirty-one vendors. As adults are learning how to properly dispose of and reduce waste, children are entertained with numerous environmentally friendly activities.
One of the key components to the event is the free remote collection. There were 6,585 lbs of electronics collected. Pasco County accepted a total of 553.40 lbs. of miscellaneous household hazardous waste, of the Household Hazardous Waste collected 337.40 lbs. (61%) was sent for disposal and 216.06 lbs. (39%) was sent for Reuse through our Smarter Sorting Program.
The future success of Earth Day is inevitable with the innovative partnerships in place that all strive for the common goal of pollution prevention in waste streams and the environment as a whole.
