Keep Durham Beautiful, Inc

Thank you so much to everyone who came out this past Saturday to participate in the second annual Durham Pumpkin Drop! ?? A total of 103 pumpkins were collected to be turned into nutrient rich compost, that were also prevented from being sent to the landfill and contributing to global warming! ?? Pumpkin Count ?? Bethesda Park - 2 Rock Quarry Park - 4 Herndon Park - 60 Campus Hill Park - 12 Southern Boundaries Park - 20 Valley Spring Park - 5 If you missed the event on Saturday, never fear! You can continue to drop off your pumpkins and Jack o’lanterns at no cost at the City of Durham Waste Disposal and Recycling Center at 2115 E. Club Blvd until December 7th, during normal operation hours. Solid Waste staff will also be present at the parks above every Saturday until December 7th from 8am-12pm. Special thanks to the 14 volunteers who came out to help staff the drop locations, and to City Solid Waste staff for coordinating the event and driving the collection trunks. Thank YOU for helping to make a difference in our community!

We participated in an amazing weekend of community-led and community-focused events this past Saturday and Sunday. ?? On Saturday we joined members of the Trinity Park Neighborhood for a community workday in honor of Scott Schuett, a dedicated volunteer who we lost to cancer earlier this year. Volunteers pruned street trees, picked up trash, and cleared storm drains - all tasks that Scott regularly took on himself. We miss you, Scott! On Sunday, we helped a community member not too far from Trinity Park deconstruct her garden and redistribute the plants at her request. We’re so grateful to the volunteers from Duke and other local community gardens who came out to dig, prune, and pot up plants. While the circumstances were unfortunate, we are glad we were able to offer this resident some support. If you have a community project in need of support, let us know! We can offer tools and volunteer power. Together we can #keepdurhambeautiful. ????

?? Do you #leavetheleaves? Keep Durham Beautiful and other Bee City USA affiliates are asking you to keep leaf litter in your garden or yard to help save the birds, butterflies, and bees! #beecityusa #KeepDurhamBeautiful

This November, give your pumpkins a second life! Drop off your whole or carved (but unpainted) pumpkins and squash every Saturday, starting November 2, at designated locations. ???? Your pumpkins will be composted by the City’s composting contractor, helping us keep them out of the landfill! ???? Let's work together for a greener community! Volunteers are also needed to help the public unload their pumpkins. Learn more and sign up here: https://lnkd.in/dCJ3Z4dr

This Summer we lost one of our long-time Tree Keeper volunteers, Scott Schuett. Scott was an always positive presence, with a keen appreciation of the outdoors and a passion for Durham's trees. Since becoming a Tree Keeper in 2019, Scott put in nearly 200 hours helping to plant trees around Durham and caring for the street trees in Trinity Park, specifically along Gregson, Watts, Buchanan, Markham, and the 900 block of Minerva. Scott worked tirelessly alongside KDB and Durham Urban Forestry staff to ensure that the public understood and appreciated the vast benefits of urban trees. We are deeply saddened by the loss of such a great human being, friend, and volunteer, and our hearts go out to his friends, family, and community. There will be a Memorial Workday in Trinity Park in his honor this Saturday, October 26th from 8:30-11:30AM, led by his friends and neighbors. All are welcome to attend. Rest in peace, Scott. ????

Are you a member or organizer of a local Community Garden? We want to hear from you! Come join us tomorrow, Thursday Oct 17th, from 5PM to 6:30PM at SEEDS Durham for our second Community Garden Network gathering. Hear from Erin Holden, Executive Director of SEEDS, about their initiatives, tour the garden, and discuss needs and collaboration opportunties with other community garden organizers. Learn more and register here: https://lnkd.in/e7VTtGwd

The Durham Big Sweep is finally here! There are multiple opportunities to join a cleanup near you throughout the month of October. This is a great chance to care for a littered area that's been bugging you, meet some new people, or get to know Durham better. Whether you've got a spot in mind or want to join an organized event, Durham Big Sweep is for you! Cleanup events can happen on any date throughout October. Learn more at durhambigsweep.org!

Keep Durham Beautiful will be participating in the Durham Pride parade for the first time! We love the diversity of Durham and are celebrating by cleaning up along the parade route. We'd love for you to join us! This year's parade is Sunday, September 29th at 11AM. ?? Volunteers will walk with a decorated City truck driven by KDB staff and pick up litter from along the parade route. This is a great opportunity for scouts or other groups who want to do service to Durham in a fun and festive way! **PARTICIPANTS UNDER THE AGE OF 16 MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY A PARENT OR GUARDIAN** Register to join us in the parade here: https://lnkd.in/dC48cVgG

Hey Durhamites! September 24th-30th is National Take a Child Outside (TACO) Week. Swipe through this post to learn about opportunities to get engaged with the children in your life. Rain or shine, getting time outside increases children's understanding of nature and is critical to their development. Time to put your boots on and stomp around ??????? #tacoweek #takeachildoutsideweek #keepdurhambeautiful #getinvolved

We had a great time this past Sunday and Monday removing invasive plants from Piney Wood Park! Special thanks to Julie and Pete from @newhopebirdalliance for their leadership and expertise, and to the 20 volunteers who came out to help. Invasive plants are plants that are not native to an ecosystem, and that have escaped cultivation (i.e. they spread on their own without help from humans). Usually they are species that started out as landscaping plants, but can now be found even in the wilderness due to seeds being spread by bird droppings or wind. Invasive plants are a problem for a couple of reasons: ?? Since they didn’t evolve in our local ecosystem, they don’t have much ecological value - that is, local wildlife can’t or won’t eat them. Native butterflies, caterpillars, and moths (which feed our birds!) rely on native plants. ?? They outcompete native plant species for valuable space and nutrients. ?? In some cases, they can actually kill local wildlife and other plants. Nandia (heavenly bamboo) berries are toxic to birds, and Chinese wisteria vines can strangle entire forests! This won’t be the last project of this kind - if you want to get involved with invasive removal in Durham, stay tuned to our newsletter and events page for future events!