Keep Stamford Beautiful, Inc.

Ongoing Programs

ADOPT-A-SPOT PROGRAM

Keep Stamford Beautiful manages the Adopt-A-Spot program in the City. The program targets neglected parcels of public property for beautification, enhancing the environment and lessening the load on the City of Stamford Parks Department. Sponsors underwrite the costs of beautification and maintenance while KSB oversees the program. Both the sponsor and KSB are featured on bright wooden signs. In 2007 KSB created 11 new adopted spots. Keep Stamford Beautiful now manages 40 adopted spots throughout the city .

The Great American Cleanup for 2008 Sponsored by GE, UST and UBS is on Saturday, May 31!

Over 900 volunteers representing nine neighborhoods planted over 10,000 annuals in planters and beds throughout the city.
The neighborhood volunteers were assisted by students from A.I.T.E. and the Boy Scouts.

Keep Stamford Beautiful Stamford joins cities from coast to coast to participate in the nation's largest organized community cleanup program, sponsored by Keep America Beautiful.. In 2007, the Great American Cleanup involved 2.5 million people volunteering more than 8 million hours to clean, beautify and improve 16,000 communities during 30,000 events in all 50 states.

KSB organized neighborhood cleanups in the South End, West Side, East Side, Cove, Hubbard Heights , Waterside, Belltown, Springdale and Glenbrook. 300 volunteers collected more than 12 tons of litter and debris from these neighborhoods. Three new neighborhoods participated in 2006; Cove, Hubbard Heights and the West Side.

In 2006, KSB incorporated our annual Beautification Day with the Great American Cleanup. More than 6000 annual plants were purchased by KSB and installed by 250 volunteers in over 150 planters and beds throughout the city. Consolidation of these programs enables neighborhood associations to recruit volunteers for only one weekend, rather than two, and provides more flexibility in offering volunteers a choice of tasks to suit their interests.

Cove Island Park
The entrance to Cove Island Park has over 70 traffic islands, which, until now, were bare gravel.

Before

Keep Stamford Beautiful has been working with the Parks Department, David Winston, Master Gardener, and many generous corporations to plant these islands with native perennial

After

species that will require little or no maintenance and continue to bloom year after year, creating a colorful and welcoming entrance to the park and beach.

GE, Philips, Coca- Cola, Deloitte, and UBS have all collectively pitched in over

Before

3,500 volunteer hours and over $50,000.

After

Uconn
On May 5, 2007, KSB partnered with the Honors Citizenship Class of UConn and with the Take Back Carwin Park committee, and helped reclaim the park for the children. Special thanks to CYTEC, and to Jack Condlin, president of the Stamford Chamber of Commerce, who teaches the Honors Citizenship Class at UConn.

UBS
On September 6, 2007, over 200 UBS employees from around the globe came to Fort Stamford spending 1,000 hours painting the log building and planting over $8,000 in flowers.

On July 20, 2007, over 50 UBS senior executives volunteered their time at Cove Island Park to contribute to the spectacular island plantings. Leading the charge was Teresa Ressel, Chief Executive Officer, UBS Securities, and Carol Huff, Executive Director, Public Affairs.

In addition, over 100 young employees from UBS volunteered to clean up and weed Washington Boulevard.

Over 50 volunteers from UBS gave Cubeta Stadium a new look with a fresh coat of blue paint.

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During

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Deloitte Impact Day

On June 8, 2007, 150 volunteers spent over 1,000 hours on the much needed repainting of the picnic pavillion and
picnic tables at Cove Island Park, in addition to planting islands of beautiful native perennials.

GE - On August 9, a group of volunteers from GE painted the
Quigley Pavilion and planted beautiful perrenials at Cove Island Park.

Westhill High School Conquers
Cummings Park
On September 29, 2007, the Interact Club of Westhill High School worked to rid the hills of Cummings Park of thousands of pounds of trash and debris.

Thank You to all of our Volunteers!
• KSB partnered with the Happy Club for Teens to plant a
beautiful and lasting memorial garden around the majestic flag
pole at Fort Stamford.
• Middle school volunteers from the Jewish Community Center spent the day at Scalzi Park clearing litter and debris from the banks of the Mill River.
• KSB supervised over 7,000 hours of volunteer labor by residents of Liberation House and individuals assigned to community service by the Superior Court. They participated in litter abatement and landscaping projects around the city.
• Neighborhood volunteers planted over 10,000 bulbs throughout the city on Make A Difference Day. This year, we added crocuses to the traditional daffodil plantings.
• KSB, in partnership with the Parks Department, planted over 200 flowering trees in locations throughout the city, from Shippan to Springdale.

• Vineyard Vines joined the Waterside Coalition on November 7 to clean, plant crocuses, and install birdhouses at Rosa Hartman Park.• KSB crews relandscaped the front of Stamford High School to add a fresh look in time for their stadium dedication.
• On October 7, 2007, families from Temple Agudath Shalom planted hundreds of colorful crocuses throughout Cove Island Park.
• W&M Properies volunteered again to plant the gardens at Lathon Wider Community Center.
• KSB arranged the clearing of a huge, infested and illegal dump site of several hundred discarded mattresses and sofas from Main Street behind the Government Center.

CORPORATE TEAM BUILDING PROJECTS
KSB organizes and supervises team building projects for corporate employee volunteer groups, encouraging volunteerism and corporate community investment.

In 2007, events included:

Citi’s Second Annual “Global Community Day”
Volunteers from CitiGroup did some heavy lifting at Scalzi Park.

With the help of City of Stamford carpenters, some of the volunteers worked to replace wood boards at the park’s roller hockey rink.

While at the Mill River, volunteers joined forces with the city’s workers, using bulldozers and cranes to remove 70,000 pounds of debris from the river

– including motorcycles, shopping carts, bicycles and televisions. Some volunteers brought waders just so they could go in the river and “get it done” by cleaning out debris that couldn’t be reached from shore.

Deloitte Impact Day – 150 volunteers painted the Pavilion and benches at Cummings Park , cleaned Cummings and West Beaches and planted 1,000 bulbs at Cummings Park. Deloitte group.

XL Capital - 40 volunteers completely cleaned and re-landscaped Jackie Robinson Park.

W&M Properties – 60 volunteers cleaned and planted Lathon Wider Community Center.

Coca-Cola at Cove Island Park

On October 12, 2007 a team of volunteers from Coca-Cola planted gorgeous flowers and shrubs at Cove Island Park.

COMMUNITY SERVICE TEAM BUILDING PROJECTS
KSB organizes and supervises ongoing community service projects for school, religious and community youth groups, encouraging youth volunteerism and environmental stewardship.

In 2006, events included:

Junior Achievement/UBS - high school students participating in a UBS sponsored Junior Achievement company cleaned and planted the Cedar Street Playground, the Lathon Wider Community Center playground and the streets of the South End.

Jewish Community Center – 50 students cleared over a ton of litter from Scalzi Park.

ASHA for Education – volunteers cleaned and planted Carwin Park in honor of Gandhi.

Stamford Academy – Students volunteered for a series of focus groups on youth littering habits.

Trinity Catholic High School – student volunteers created and operate a school wide recycling program, collecting and sorting paper for weekly city pick-up.

TechCycle – student volunteers from Wright Tech and AITE participated in Electronics Recycling Days, collecting and dropping off truckloads of computer parts from TechCycle.

Boy Scouts of America - Glenbrook/Springdale troops cleaned and planted RR. Stations.

Litter Leads to Bad Things
Spornsored by HEYMAN PROPERTIES

Litter Leads to…Bad Things is a multi media, integrated public awareness campaign that talks to teenagers through bus board, train platform, and movie theatre advertising, posters, book covers, clothing and web based educational materials. Our focus groups have shown that this group of teens to young adults is responsible for creating a disproportionate amount of the litter on our streets, yet is a difficult group to reach with a traditional advertising message. The task was to create a message that would tie respect for ones physical environment to self-respect, empowering young people with the knowledge that they can change their surroundings by the choices they make. By clearly illustrating the domino effect, teens see how taking the very small step of throwing that wrapper into a trash bin will ultimately contribute to a better life.

Keep Stamford Beautiful
We began by conducting focus groups with a much disenfranchised group of young people and, not surprisingly, heard that littering wasn't seen by them as a problem. The idea of litter leading to more serious behaviors seemed ridiculous to them. So, we set out to show in a very modern way exactly how the dominoes might fall.

Keep Stamford Beautiful garnered North Castle , the nations leading teen advertising agency, to create this innovative campaign pro bono. It was designed by Kai and Sunny, the popular London- based design team, known for their work for Nike, Levis and Honda.

The campaign brings to life George Kelling's respected “Broken Windows” theory in an approach that resonates with teens and gets them thinking about the consequences of littering in their own lives. Broken Windows theory received national attention when it was tested by former Mayor Rudy Giuliani in New York City . When Mayor Giuliani began cracking down on petty crimes, such as littering, there followed a significant drop in violent crimes throughout the City of New York.

Although litter may seem to teens like a small problem, the fact is, it leads to bigger and more serious issues. Once litter falls on a street or block, other dangerous dominos fall in quick succession.

This is known as the "Broken Windows" theory. The "Broken Windows" theory suggests that a neighborhood's physical condition sends out messages about the kinds of behavior that are permitted. A neglected and disorderly physical environment signals to residents that behaviors that are usually prohibited are tolerated. In other words, litter leads to graffiti, which leads to neglected buildings, which lead to crime, which leads to fear and on and on.

Since it is nearly impossible to solve serious social problems such as drugs and gang violence once they have taken root in a neighborhood, we hope that we can begin preventing some of these behaviors by sowing the seeds of positive choice in teen minds with small, easily made choices, such as not littering.

According to Keep America Beautiful, who has been researching this issue for more than fifty years with over 650 affiliates worldwide, Broken Windows Theory is; the most widely held and respected work on urban crime reduction. But, they had never seen Broken Windows presented as a public awareness message, nor directed at youth. Although Broken Windows theory has tested tried and true in cities all over the world, the message has, until now, remained delivered to a largely academic audience. They were so impressed, that they partially funded our campaign, with plans to incorporate it into their educational curriculum. The program also has the full support of Dr. Kelling and his department at the Manhattan Institute.

In 2006 the campaign made its debut on bus tails in Stamford and will soon appear on Metro-North train platforms and bill boards. We will also be producing posters, book jackets and educational materials for distribution in the schools. We hope to teach Broken Widows Theory to Middle and Upper school students as part of a of '21st Century Citizenship' curriculum and to Lower school students as classroom lessons, where children can create their own versions of Litter Leads to......Bad Things

HAZMAT, ELECTRONICS AND TIRE RECYCLING DAYS

In 2007 Keep Stamford Beautiful arranged, at no cost to the city, two major recycling events at Scalzi Park and participated in a third, in partnership with the City of Stamford . Hazardous Materials Recycling Day, Hewlett-Packard Computer Electronics Recycling Day and CRRA Electronic Recycling Day, which accepted such items as microwave ovens. Together we sent over 200,000 of hazardous materials and 225,000 pounds of electronics responsibly back to the commodities market, reducing the volume of our landfills and preventing dangerous chemicals from leeching into our soil and water supply.

Events scheduled for 2008 are HazMat, CRRA Recycling Day and Tire Recycling Day.

Citywide Cleanup

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After

MAKE A DIFFERENCE DAY

A national day of helping others, this event was created by USA Weekend magazine in partnership with the Points of Light foundation. Locally, KSB organizes cleanups and daffodil planting in the South End, West Side, East Side, Waterside, Belltown, Springdale , Glenbrook, Cove and Hubbard Heights . In 2007, 150 volunteers collected 4 tons of litter and debris from these neighborhoods, and planted 10,000 daffodil bulbs and crocus, purchased by KSB

Christmas Tree Recycling
Keep Stamford Beautiful is proud to welcome Bartlett Tree Experts as the sponsor for our Christmas Tree Recycling Program. To date KSB has purchased and distributed over 12,000 seedling trees

Tree Planting

Stamford is a haven of beautiful trees. The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection and the National Arbor Day Foundation designated Stamford as a Tree City USA., indicating that our community has an exemplary tree care program and a strong commitment to urban trees and to the improvement in the quality of life that trees bring.

Keep Stamford Beautiful solicited generous donations from two local nurseries and, in partnership with the Department of Operations, planted over 270 flowering trees throughout the city in 2007. The trees line Broad St, Hubbard Ave, West Hill Rd, Palmer Hill Rd, Yerwood Center, Cummings Park and Dolan, Toquam, Rogers and Rippowam Schools. These trees will provide decades of lasting beauty and neighborhood enhancement.

GRAFFITI REMOVAL
Whenever we spot graffiti on public property or have it reported to us, we quickly go to work cleaning or repainting the area. We encourage the public to call us when they see a site in need.

Electronics Recycling Day
Sponsored by CRRA

Electronics Recycling Day was held on June 30 at Scalzi Park. Over 120,000 pounds of electronics were responsibly recycled, kept from reaching our landfills, and saving the city over $50,000.

STAMFORD RESIDENTIAL RECYCLING PROGRAM
Through the partnership of Keep Stamford Beautiful, Inc., Stamford 's Office of Operations and Pitney Bowes , we created a recycling brochure for the City. This brochure gives residents a complete guide on how and where to recycle in the City of Stamford . Brochures are available through the Customer Service Bureau at the Government Center , or by mail through Keep Stamford Beautiful, Inc. The brochure was completely updated in 2006.

Superior Cour Program
In partnership with The Volunteer Center's Superior Court Program, KSB supervises individuals who have been remanded by the court to perform community service hours. In 2006 we began using this active labor pool to perform litter abatement and landscaping services throughout the city, also providing them with much needed job training. Many of these individuals continue to volunteer their time after their hours are completed. In 2006, 30 individuals performed 3,000 hours of community service.

COMMUNITY SERVICE PARTNERSHIP WITH LIBERATION HOUSE
KSB has undertaken an ongoing city wide clean-up and revitalization program, in collaboration with Liberation House, a residential substance abuse treatment program, operated by Liberation Programs, Inc. Our goal is three fold. We will decrease the accumulation of littering, graffiti and dumped garbage by supplementing the City's regular pick-ups. We will restore a sense of pride to the neighborhoods, setting an example to reduce future littering In addition, we will provide much needed job training to clients of Liberation House who, as a therapeutic part of their recovery plan, must work. This job will prepare them to enter or re-enter the workforce and regain their financial independence, while providing an essential community service . In 2006, Liberation House men performed 1,400 hours of community service through KSB.

POLE PATROL
This program was created by Keep Stamford Beautiful to address the proliferation of illegally posted signs on utility poles and on public right-of-ways. In a partnership with the Volunteer Center 's Superior Court Program, individuals performing community service hours remove these signs. All residents and neighborhood groups are also encouraged to remove these signs from poles when they observe them.

ENVIRONMENTAL AND RECYCLING EDUCATION PROGRAMS
Our schools play a major role in cultivating the capacity of students to work individually as well as cooperatively to improve environmental conditions locally. Keep Stamford Beautiful assists schools in developing elementary, middle and high school community action projects to facilitate environmental awareness and stewardship in students. Students volunteer their time and receive community service credit. For example, Keep Stamford Beautiful partnered with Trinity Catholic School to create a new Environmental and Recycling Club, where students are operating a school wide weekly recycling program.

WELCOME TO STAMFORD SIGN PROJECT
KSB maintains all existing welcome signage, with additional signs planned in 2007. Funding is solicited from local corporations and merchants, whose names appear on the sign. In 2006 we completely refurbished two of the existing signs.

N.I.C.E. (Neighbors Involved in a Cleaner Environment)

Keep Stamford Beautiful designed this program to help small groups or individual residents who want to cleanup their streets, vacant lots and neighborhoods. KSB evaluates and coordinates the cleanups, and provides supplies and support for the activity. KSB acts as a liaison with the City of Stamford , arranging for the delivery of dumpsters or the assistance of city personnel or equipment if needed. NICE is an ongoing program offered city wide.

(full brochure)

LOADING DOCK HEALTH & SAFETY CHECKLIST
This checklist was designed in response to the problem of accumulations of litter at loading docks that surfaced during the Litter Index Test that was conducted in 1998. This informational checklist is distributed to small companies and corporations that have loading dock facilities.

KEEP YOUR BUSINESS BEAUTIFUL
full brochure-English
full brochure-Spanish
Litter, discarded cigarette butts, gum, dirty sidewalks, dirty windows, graffiti and empty, dark storefronts send an uninviting message to customers and visitors. KSB created an informational brochure to guide business owners on how to make a difference by keeping their property clean and beautiful.
The brochure is available in English and Spanish.

RESPONSIBLE RETAILER'S PROGRAM

A combination of in-store activities to reduce retail theft of potential graffiti tools, and to stop the sale of spray paint to customers under the age of 18. KSB offers this program to merchants who market and sell spray paint.

MARINE LITTER PREVENTION
This program is coordinated through the City of Stamford's Customer Relations Bureau. The program consists of a boater informational brochure and litter bag that are disbursed with boat slip permits issued by the City.

(full brochure)

INTERNATIONAL COASTAL CLEANUP

Keep Stamford Beautiful partners with SoundWaters and local businesses to sponsor a coastal cleanup of City of Stamford beaches and marinas.

The KSB WEBSITE keepstamfordbeautiful.org: A resource connecting residents, schools and businesses to KSB programs with links to Keep America Beautiful and other ways to practice environmental stewardship.