Spring Watershed Festivals and Septic Maintenance Workshops

March 11, 2015By 0 comment

After a cold and snowy winter, Garrard, Lincoln, and Boyle Counties will welcome the long-awaited spring with festivals celebrating the Earth and focusing on the importance of clean water. Bluegrass Greensource is working with local partners to host two festivals and workshops in April.

The Garrard/Lincoln County Earth Day and Watershed Festival will be held on April 18th from 10:00-3:00 at Garrard County High School. Garrard County High School offers a perfect venue for the event. The outdoor area features a rain garden, a monarch butterfly way station, and ample space for local vendors, children’s activities, food, hiking, and music. Free workshops will be held inside and will focus on water quality in the Dix River watershed, septic system care and maintenance, organic gardening, rain barrels, and monarch butterfly way stations. A guided hike at nearby Tom Dorman Nature Preserve will take place in the afternoon.

The Boyle County Earth Day and Watershed Festival will be held on April 25th from 11:00-3:00 at Bluegrass Community and Technical College, Danville Campus. Boyle County’s Earth Day Festival’s theme of Water Quality will help educate the community about the importance of clean water and the ways they can protect their local waterways. Local vendors, children’s activities, art contests, food, music, and a 14-mile bike ride will be featured at the festival. The Boyle County Earth Day festival will also offer a variety of free workshops indoors, including septic system care and maintenance.

Bluegrass Greensource will host the Septic System Care and Maintenance workshops at the festivals. Septic workshops will focus on the Dix River Watershed in Garrard, Lincoln, and Boyle Counties and the impact of failing septic systems on human health and on the environment. The workshops will give local residents an opportunity to learn about local watersheds and water quality, how septic systems work, proper septic system maintenance, and how to identify problems in a septic system. After attending a workshop, homeowners may apply for financial assistance for system repairs or installation, or for a free septic tank pumpout. To be eligible for the grants, homeowners must reside within the Dix River watershed in Boyle, Garrard, or Lincoln Counties. County health departments are partnering with Bluegrass Greensource to help make this project possible. Please contact Bridget Abernathy at bridget@bgGreensource.org or (859) 266-1572 for more information or to register for an upcoming workshop in advance. Workshop registration will also be available the day of the festivals.

The spring festivals and septic workshops are funded in part by a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under §319(h) of the Clean Water Act. The Garrard/Lincoln County Earth Day and Watershed Festival is co-sponsored by Earth Angels, Garrard/Lincoln Solid Waste, and Garrard/Lincoln County Cooperative Extension. The Boyle County Earth Day Festival will be held in conjunction with Clarks Run Environmental and Educational Corporation, Boyle County Cooperative Extension, and Bluegrass Community and Technical College.

Festival Locations and Additional Information:

Garrard/Lincoln County Earth Day and Watershed Festival

April 18th, 10:00-3:00

Garrard County High School

599 Industry Road
Lancaster, KY 40444

https://www.facebook.com/events/362190993964925/

 Boyle County Earth Day and Watershed Festival

April 25th, 11:00-3:00

BCTC Danville Campus

59 Corporate Drive
Danville, KY 40422-9690

https://www.facebook.com/events/956443684365965/

 

 

 

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Over 400 Volunteers Participate in First Annual Main Street Clean Sweep

May 7, 2014By 0 comment

Bluegrass Greensource hosted the first annual Main Street Clean Sweep on Earth Day.  On April 22nd, city employees, small business owners, and concerned citizens from seven counties throughout the Bluegrass region came together to clean up litter during their lunch breaks to keep their main streets clean. Our first annual Earth Day Main St. Clean Sweep was a huge success.  We had 413 volunteers collect 286 bags of trash and recycling from Anderson, Clark, Estill, Franklin, Garrard, Lincoln, and Mercer counties!

We would like to thank all of the volunteers that took time out of their busy schedules to make a difference in their communities! We would also like to thank the businesses and government agencies that partnered with us to make this day possible:

  • All Things Country Magazine
  • Bushnell Drycleaning
  • City of Burgin
  • City of Frankfort
  • City of Harrodsburg
  • City of Irvine
  • City of Lancaster
  • City of Lawrenceburg
  • City of Winchester
  • Clark County Emergency Management Agency
  • Davis Law
  • Corning Inc.
  • Estill County Animal Shelter
  • Estill County Fiscal Court
  • Estill Development Alliance
  • Evergreen Community Supports LLC
  • Farmers National Bank
  • Frankfort First Baptist Church
  • Franklin County Attorney’s Office
  • Franklin County Circuit Clerk’s Office
  • Franklin County Drug Court
  • Franklin County Fiscal Court
  • Franklin County Occupational Tax
  • Friends of the Franklin County Court
  • Full Circle Market
  • Garrard County Extension Service
  • Garrard County Food Pantry
  • Garrard County Schools
  • Garrard County Recycling Center
  • Halcomb’s Knob B&B and Farm
  • Hitachi
  • Howard Law Group
  • Kentucky Division of Energy Development and Independence
  • Kentucky Heritage Council
  • Kentucky.gov
  • Lake Village Water
  • Lancaster Lube
  • Lile Law
  • Lincoln County Recycling Center
  • Mercer County Chamber of Commerce
  • Mercer County Schools
  • Napier Brothers Clothing and Shoes
  • No Kill Central KY Regional Humane Society
  • Otis Engineering LLC
  • Republic Services
  • Roy Gray Law Office
  • Sekisui
  • Strodes Creek Conservancy
  • The Mikes Travel
  • Three Elements Design
  • Winchester First
  • Winchester Municipal Utilities
  • WUKY

Thank you, and we hope to see you all again next year!

Below: Volunteers from (1) Winchester and (2) Lawrenceburg participate in Main Street Clean Sweep.

Main St. Winchester 3 Main St. Clean Sweep 3 - Lawrenceburg

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Earth Day Main St. Clean Sweep

April 1, 2014By 0 comment

Bluegrass Greensource needs your help this Earth Day for our first annual Main Street Clean Sweep.  On April 22nd, employees from seven downtown communities throughout the Bluegrass region will work during their lunch break to  pick up litter and keep their Main Street clean.

BGGS_Main St Clean Sweep

In the past, Bluegrass Greensource has worked with numerous community groups on litter clean ups and helped collect over 150,000 bags of trash and recycled an additional 1,500 tons.

Cleanups are planned in Frankfort, Lawrenceburg, Harrodsburg, Irvine, Lancaster, Stanford, and Winchester from 11:30 – 1:30 pm, rain or shine, on April 22nd.  Bluegrass Greensource will provide trash bags, gloves, t-shirts (adults), and tattoos (kids) to participants at each location.  Click on your city below to see more details.  Click here to register.

[add_eventon event_type=”176″ fixed_month=”4″ fixed_year=”2014″ event_order=”DESC” ux_val=”3″ ]

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First Annual Earth Day Main St. Clean Sweep!

March 13, 2014By 0 comment

BGGS_Main St Clean Sweep

 

 

Bluegrass Greensource needs your help this Earth Day for our first annual Main St. Clean Sweep!  What better way to celebrate Earth Day than by getting out in your community and picking up litter?  Litter thrown on the streets ends up in storm drains and trashes our environment.  Storm drains often flow directly into streams, lakes, and rivers.  When water becomes polluted, it is no longer safe for drinking or recreation, and this litter harms fish and other wildlife.  Many of the items that are thrown from car windows or dropped on the sidewalk are not biodegradable, which means that their chemical decomposition takes a very long time and that these items will create long-term damage to environment (this is the case with cigarette butts).

You may have heard all kinds of things about how litter harms the environment, but did you know that litter also hurts local economies?  Houses in littered neighborhoods sell for less money than those in unlittered neighborhoods.  Also, cleaner communities have a better chance of attracting new businesses, residents, and tourists.  Much of what is thrown away or littered (like cans and plastic bottles) could have been recycled and is thus a lost resource.  So, let’s pick up some litter and help clean up the Bluegrass this Earth Day!

We are asking employees from businesses in Downtown/Main Street areas throughout the Bluegrass region to get outside during their lunch break on April 22nd anytime between 11:30 am and 2:00pm and pick up some litter (rain or shine).  Bluegrass Greensource is planning cleanups in Frankfort, Lancaster, Harrodsburg, Winchester, Stanford, Irvine, and Danville.  We will provide trash bags, gloves, and FREE T-SHIRTS at all locations!  Stay tuned for kick-off locations and more details in the coming month!

Even if you aren’t able to get out on Earth Day and help with one of the litter cleanups, you can still make a difference by picking up litter anytime, anywhere.  With your help we can make every day Earth Day!

If you are interested in being involved in one of the Earth Day Main St. Clean Sweep events, please contact Ashley at 859-266-1572 or vista@bggreensource.org.

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Garrard County Joins Us for Septic Workshop

December 11, 2013By 0 comment

Septic Workshop photo

Homeowners attended a free workshop about septic system care and maintenance, hosted by Bluegrass Greensource in partnership with the Garrard County Health Department on November 5th.  The workshop, held at Maywoods Environmental and Educational Laboratory, gave local residents an opportunity to learn about how the septic systems in their homes work, how to take care of them, how to tell if they’re not working properly, and what to do if a problem is suspected.  Additionally, Malissa McAlister of the Kentucky Water Resources Research Institute discussed the history of water quality sampling in the Dix River watershed and the impact failing septic systems have on human health and on the environment.  Following the workshop, participants were able to apply for financial assistance, including free pumpouts and cost-share grants for system repairs or installations.

The workshop was the first in a series of similar workshops to be held as part of a grant program funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under section 319(h) of the Clean Water Act through the Kentucky Division of Water.  Bluegrass Greensource will offer a total of nine homeowner workshops over the next three years, as well as a series of watershed festival events in local communities and water-related activities in area Kindergarten – 12th grade classrooms.

The next free septic system workshop offered through this program is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, January 14th from 6:00 to 7:00 PM at McKinney Elementary in Lincoln County.  Only residents of the Dix River watershed in Boyle, Garrard, and Lincoln Counties who attend the workshop are eligible to apply for the financial assistance programs.  Please contact Sandy Bottoms at sandy@bggreensource.org or (859) 266-1572 for more information.

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