As Marci Novack Winter picked up her share of the litter in and around White Rock Lake at the 1995 Trash Bash, she began to wonder why the entire year was spent littering the lake and only one day was spent cleaning it up.
It was on that day that For the Love of the Lake was born.
For the Love of the Lake, a grassroots, nonprofit group dedicated to improving White Rock Lake and its surroundings, has since proven effective at donating not only funds, but volunteers, time and ideas to help “spruce up” the area.
The group’s latest effort, the installation of about 400 new covered trash cans, including recycling bins, has been its largest success in the two years of operations.
“This is the first time in a Dallas park that recycling bins have been introduced, and the park is definitely a whole lot cleaner,” says Winter, the group’s founder and coordinator.
In the first two months after the bins were installed, nearly two tons of plastic, aluminum and glass were collected.
Although the group works closely with the Dallas Parks and Recreation Department, which helps to fund some projects, money to purchase the recycling bins came solely from donations.
The group’s request for small local businesses to “adopt” cans, which involves a donation of $250 for one can or $800 for an array of three cans, netted a bigger response than they expected when 7-Eleven, on behalf of the Southland Corporation, joined the cause, donating seven “arrays.”
“We really didn’t expect the response we got,” Winter says. “The sponsor list just continued to grow, and now we have something that people notice when they go to the park.”
The assembly of the bins was completed by volunteers, with concrete donated by the Parks Department.
“I think the project is very helpful to cleaning up the lake,” says volunteer Wayne Weltin. “I used to be so disappointed with the appearance of the lake when I would go to the park.”
“I can really see the difference these cans have made.”
The Parks Department is responsible for collecting recyclables from the receptacles and taking them to BFI, where they are sorted and recycled.
BFI, the program’s recycling partner, has donated the tipping fee usually assigned for sorting commingled recyclables at its Plano plant.
Other corporate sponsors for the Adopt A Can program include: Lucent Technologies, Full Circle Recycling Service, Ben E. Keith Beers, Coca-Cola Bottling Company of North Texas, Merchants of Casa Linda, Forest Hills Association, Jenny Capritta RE/MAX Realtors, Swiss Avenue Bank, DECATS Students, Ebby Halliday Realtors Northeast, Starbucks Casa Linda, Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission and North Central Texas COG.
For more information on other events sponsored by For the Love of the Lake, call 972-622-SAVE.
