By: Claire Tribble
Now that we have gotten through the hustle and bustle of spring, and we took a breath, we have kicked off our 2026-2027 Keep Athens-Limestone Beautiful Membership Drive. Since we are a nonprofit, we rely heavily on donations from our community. From businesses to individuals, we are thankful and proud of every dollar we receive. We take great pride in being good stewards of the funds we receive, and we hope we are making you proud as well.
In case you don’t know much about our organization, Keep Athens-Limestone Beautiful (KALB) is an affiliate of Keep America Beautiful and Keep Alabama Beautiful. Our mission is to empower citizens of Athens and Limestone County to take greater responsibility for enhancing their community environment. We focus on litter abatement, environmental education, and recycling education. We provide many volunteer opportunities throughout the year, and our volunteers have made our mission successful.
We host several big annual litter cleanups each year including the Tennessee and Elk River TVA Trash Attacks, and we co-host the Ardmore Spring Clean with Lookout Pest Control. We have many smaller cleanups such as the Athens First Methodist Church’s Vacation Bible School Cleanup, our Athens Renaissance School Cleanups and many other smaller groups. Since I became the director in 2023, we have removed over 10,000 pounds of litter and illegal dumps from within Limestone County.
The Earth Day Expo is our favorite event. The Expo is our annual celebration of Earth Day and our natural environment. Thanks to local businesses and donations, we are not only able to host this event, but we are able to offer every show and exhibit for free! Over the past few years, we have had an assortment of entertainment such as Steve Trash, The Bubble Circus, Rise Raptors, Wild Adventures, the Bat Lady, the Science Guys, and more. We have also been adding local vendors of art, locally sourced products such as honey and tinctures, and more. We try to add to our vendor list every year to make sure there is something for everyone.
The Household Hazardous Waste Collection is another service we take great pride in providing. Thanks to a wonderful and generous partnership with the Limestone County Commission, we have been able to host an annual collection for the past seven years. We have serviced over 1,100 households, taking in harmful chemicals to be ethically disposed of or recycled. This is a much-needed service for Limestone County Residents, and we are proud to be able to continue to offer it free-of-charge to residents. We hope that we can expand the event in the years to come.
If you are interested in becoming a member of Keep Athens-Limestone Beautiful, we have several ways to donate. You can donate via PayPal on our website, www.kalbcares.com, you can mail a check to us at P.O. Box 1007, Athens, AL 35612, or you can stop by the office at 125 East Street. If you want more information, or to be added to our e-newsletter, send us an email @ KALBCares@gmail.com.
By: Claire Tribble
Executive Director,
Keep Athens-Limestone Beautiful
