Three Collin County cities have won one of the most sought-after environmental and community improvement honors in Texas! Several other awards were also received by Collin County cities through Keep Texas Beautiful’s three distinct awards program that recognize the efforts of individuals, schools, businesses, communities and everything in between who work to keep the Lone Star State’s environment clean and beautiful.
Keep Texas Beautiful (KTB) recognized Plano, Allen and McKinney as three of 10 winners of the 2016 Governor’s Community Achievement Award for outstanding community improvement. As a result, Plano will receive $310,000 for a landscaping project along a state maintained right-of-way, Allen will receive $270,000 and McKinney will receive $290,000. The competition distributes $2 million in funding from Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) across the 10 communities, with the amount based on population size. Judges chose the winners based on their achievements in seven environmental and community improvement areas: community leadership and coordination, education, public awareness, litter prevention and cleanup, litter law and illegal dumping enforcement, beautification and community improvement, and solid waste management. For more information, click here.
The Keep Texas Beautiful Awards recognize the efforts of individuals and groups who make efforts to enhance their community and protect the Texas environment. City of Plano – Live Green in Plano and and the City of Murphy were recognized with a Government Award, as the #1 city with a population over 40,000 and the #1 city with a population under 40,000 respectively, for its outstanding contributions to the Texas environment made by government departments, divisions or agencies. Finisar in Allen won the state/national category for the Ebby Halliday & Maurice Acers Business/Industry Award recognizes businesses with sound environmental principles supporting the KTB mission. For more information: click here. For the complete list of winners, including Volunteer of the Year Award for Plano resident Jaideep Patel and Civic Organization Program for Collin County Master Gardeners Association, click here.
The third KTB awards program is the Youth and Educator Awards, which honor extraordinary students, educators and volunteers working to improve and beautify their communities. The 2016 winners are not yet chosen but last year Allen won both elementary school categories for Green Elementary Kindness & Compassion Leaders and Flossie Floyd Green Elementary School.
Congratulations to Plano, Allen and McKinney!
Keep Texas Beautiful
KTB is a statewide 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to beautifying and improving community environments through programming and education; they address the areas of litter prevention, community beautification and waste reduction. KTB works with affiliate communities, government agencies, businesses, civic groups, and volunteers to ensure that every Texan has the opportunity to make Texas the cleanest, most beautiful state in the nation. KTB is also a certified state affiliate of Keep America Beautiful.