Beautification program provides essential
equipment
El Paso residents are sweeping, trimming, and cleaning up
with an array of loaner yard and gardening tools.
Residents in El Paso are sprucing up the place—thanks to
the easy accessibility of yard and garden tools that are no farther
away than the nearest fire station.
A novel idea hatched by Keep El Paso Beautiful has grown into a
citywide program that offers equipment and supplies—at no
cost—to anyone wanting to plant a tree, clean up an alley, or
just do basic lawn care.
By visiting a community toolshed at a local fire station,
residents can borrow rakes, shovels, hoes, cultivators, brooms,
push mowers, and trash bags.
Borrowers must be 18 or older and show a valid ID to check out
the equipment as long as five days. A firefighter records where the
equipment will be used and how many volunteers will
participate.
"We consider this to be a lending library of beautification
supplies," explains Katherine Gunter Palafox, executive director of
Keep El Paso Beautiful. "It empowers individuals to enhance their
own homes and neighborhoods."
The El Paso Fire Department agreed to be a partner with the
nonprofit because "it allows them to get to know the neighborhoods
they're located in," she added.
The notion of supplying yard tools arose in 2004 while the
beautification group was planning a large-scale cleanup.
Afterwards, scores of newly purchased rakes, brooms, and gloves
ended up in Palafox's garage. At each succeeding event, she had to
haul the implements to another cleanup site.
Deciding that "this was not an efficient way for the community
to get access to the supplies purchased for their use," Palafox
raised funds to establish the first eight community toolsheds,
which were placed at fire stations. The program proved so popular
that additional grants and commercial sponsorships allowed it to
expand until fully stocked toolsheds reached all 28 fire stations
in the city.
"After the 2006 floods, the community toolsheds were really in
demand, even by people from surrounding communities," she recalls.
"The Red Cross also used our equipment."
It was during the storm recovery that Palafox realized
wheelbarrows and wet/dry vacs were also necessary, and soon those
pieces of equipment had been added to every toolshed.
Palafox says Keep El Paso Beautiful emphasizes not only litter
prevention and beautification but also pollution prevention. In
presentations to schools, health fairs, and civic groups,
representatives distribute literature on the proper disposal of
hazardous materials.
The lending program has been especially effective in reaching
low-income residents, as well as the elderly, the disabled, and
apartment dwellers. "The community has really embraced this program
and taken more responsibility for the environment," she says.
Meanwhile, the number of cleanups has grown from an average of
45 a year to more than 300. The city helps by providing free debris
removal at cleanups involving more than 20 volunteers.
Keep El Paso Beautiful estimates that for every community
toolshed in operation, 10 tons of trash and illegally dumped debris
is removed each year. The organization estimates that buying one
toolshed and the related supplies runs about $4,000.
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