Keep Okaloosa Beautiful Mission & Background: Keep Okaloosa Beautiful was certified as a local affiliate of the Keep America Beautiful and Keep Florida Beautiful organizations on February 7th 2023. To promote environmental awareness and educate the community on how to reduce litter from our natural resources, beautify our recreational and private areas, improve recycling efforts, and keep our county beautiful.
Keep Okaloosa Beautiful sees a future where every community within Okaloosa county is clean, green, and beautiful! We strive to see our residents partake in efforts which support a healthy and inviting place to live. If you would like to participate in clean ups, tree plantings, recycling events and more please request a volunteer form by emailing: khiemier@myokaloosa.com.
Goals
- End littering
- Improve recycling
- Beautify communities
- Restore native habitats
Clean-Ups/ Litter Prevention:
Check out our map of our clean-ups below.
Schedule :
September 16th- International Coastal Clean up- Okaloosa boardwalk 8am https://fb.me/e/3RetvurPV
Beautification:
KOB is in search for partners who would like to start or have on their site a beautification project! Making areas greener and more presentable will help in deterring common problems such as litter, vandalism, and other negative behaviors. KOB is currently working with other organizations to create beautiful areas for the public to enjoy! Stay Tuned!!
Recycling/ Waste Reduction:
Recycling is important and should be practiced when possible whether at home or out in public while vacationing. According to the EPA recycling and reuse activities are responsible for about 681,000 jobs, recycling, reduces the amount of waste sent to landfills and incinerators, conserves natural resources such as timber, water and minerals, prevents pollution by reducing the need to collect new raw materials, saves energy, supports American manufacturing and conserves valuable resources.
Keep Okaloosa has created a recycling activity sheet that will work in conjunction with the Choctawhatchee Basin Alliances "Grasses in Classes" lessons/field trips. The activity sheets are given out during in-class lessons, then during the field trips KOB sets up a fun interactive table that displays multiple items such as composite board, soda bottle fibers, carpet, Trex, and playground padding all of which were made from recyclables. This helps show the full circle of recyclable materials and teaches the students the amazing things that can be created with something so simple as a water bottle. Next, we play a game where students must throw a mini frisbee (which has an attached object on it, either belonging in the trash, recycling bin, or compost bin) into the correct bin. Before each throw, as a group we discuss the item and where it belongs/why it belongs there.
Placemats discussing recycling/stormwater awareness were created and will be disbursed to businesses in the county to help spread awareness on these important topics. Each placemat will have engaging activities to promote a fun learning experience while waiting for your meal!
Outreach: KOB promotes recycling/ waste reduction education by tabling at events, as well as setting up pop-up tables out in the community where the public can engage by participating in activities or asking questions!
To download our "How to make a DIY compost" Click Here
To download our recycling activity sheet Click Here
