Past Events
February 2022 Downtown Community Cleanup
Keep Coral Gables Beautiful held its first Community Cleanup of the year. Thirty-eight volunteers collected more than 230 pounds of litter from the downtown area, setting a new record. Four teams and two individual participants won more than $1,000 in prizes for the Most Pounds Collected. This event is part of Mayor Vince Lago’s ongoing push to keep downtown pristine and inviting. A special thank you to the city’s partners at the Chamber of Commerce, the Business Improvement District, Clutch Burger, CRAFT, and Baptist Health South Florida.
Mangrove Potting Event
Over 100 volunteers got their hands dirty at a recent mangrove potting event. In just under two hours, around 1,300 mangroves seeds were potted at the Keep Coral Gables Beautiful popup nursery. These seeds will be grown on-site for six months before being donated to MANG for further growth and planting in South Florida's coastal areas. Thank you to the Coral Gables Garden Club and Boy Scout Troop 7 for their partnership in this event.
Girl Scouts at Matheson Hammock Park
Recently, Girl Scout troop members of Tropical Florida and volunteers from Spirit Airlines participated in a cleanup event at Matheson Hammock Park collecting 127 pounds of litter. They also had an opportunity to learn about the different types of pollution and how it affects our environment and water. Keep Coral Gables Beautiful thanks to Miami-Dade County Parks, Miami EcoAdventures, Sea Turtle Conservation Program, and the Plastic Fisherman for their partnership.
Downtown Community Cleanup - Holiday Edition
Keep Coral Gables Beautiful thanks to everyone that joined the Dec. Downtown Community Cleanup – Holiday Edition. This event brought out 37 volunteers who collected over 121 pounds of litter from our downtown. At a recent Commission Meeting, several winners of the Most Pounds Collected contest were recognized and received their prizes. The contest prizes totaled over $1,000 in value.
We would like to thank our partners at the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce and Business Improvement District. A special thank you to Clutch Burger and Baptist Health South Florida.
Attracting Birds to South Florida Gardens
Thank you to everyone that joined us on Saturday, Nov. 13 at the War Memorial Youth Center for the third event in our Conservation Series. We had 25 attendees at our conservation with writer, photographer, and Tropical Audubon Society Plants for Birds co-coordinator Kirsten Hines as she shared tips from her gardening book, Attracting Birds to South Florida Gardens. Families enjoyed the morning while painting their own birdhouses. We look forward to seeing everyone at our next event.
Volunteers Cleanup!
Companies, organizations, and residents are encouraged to organize community cleanups in partnership with Keep Coral Gables Beautiful. Recently, University of Miami (UM) staff participated in a group clean-up effort at Matheson Hammock Park, collecting 335 pounds of litter from the surrounding bike trail and waterway. Cocoplum resident Claudia Caporal also rallied 40 neighbors for a post-Halloween cleanup in her neighborhood. Together they collected 40 pounds of litter. We appreciate our UM partners and residents for helping to build a cleaner, greener, better community together.
Recycling Drive-Thru
In celebration of America Recycles Day, the city held its bi-annual Recycling Drive-Thru Event on Saturday, Nov. 6 in the City Hall Parking Lot. The event was a huge success bringing in over 550 cars and 1,100 attendees. Over 38,950 pounds of electronic and household hazardous waste, clothing and sensitive documents were collected. Over the last 6 years (13 community collection events), the city has collected and diverted 328,743 pounds of electronic and household hazardous waste, clothing, and sensitive documents from entering the landfills. Thank you to all the residents that came out!
Downtown Community Cleanup
Keep Coral Gables Beautiful together with the Chamber of Commerce, BID, and 45 volunteers took to the streets of our downtown to clean up litter and #KeepourCityBeautiful. In a little over an hour, volunteers collected a total of 161 pounds of litter!
Parks Pollinator Palooza
Thank you to the over 30 families that joined us this past Saturday at the Parks Pollinator Palooza. Families participated in a talk by Dr. Jaeson Clayborn on “Butterfly Gardening and Imagination” and helped plant several flowers in the War Memorial Youth Center Butterfly Garden. A big thank you to the Coral Gables Garden Club for their partnership in this event.
International Coastal Cleanup 2021
Approximately 150 people participated in Keep Coral Gables Beautiful International Coastal Cleanup Day. Volunteers collected more than 550 pounds of litter from four sites. An additional cleanup effort took place at Matheson Hammock park where volunteers collected more than 450 pounds of litter bringing the total collected within the City of Coral Gables to more than 1,000 pounds. Thank you for helping to #KeepCoralGablesBeautiful.
Great American Cleanup - Solo Cleanup Season
The Great American Cleanup Season has come to an end and Keep Coral Gables Beautiful wants to thank everyone that participated in a Solo Cleanup. An estimated 253 pounds of litter was collected by volunteers covering 11 miles of the City. Congratulations to the South Gables Dental Group, Fior, and Pichardo Families, our Most Pounds of Litter Collected contest winners! Thank you to the Coral Gables Community Foundation for their donation of gift certificates to local restaurants as this season's prizes.
Stantec Company Cleanup
Companies are encouraged to participate in organizing community cleanups in partnership with Keep Coral Gables Beautiful. Recently, Stantec employees participated in a group clean-up effort at Matheson Hammock Park. They collected 67 pounds of litter from the surrounding bike trail and waterway.
“Events like these are a great and fun way to have companies give back to the community while helping the environment and providing a team-building experience,” said Matt Anderson, the City’s Senior Sustainability Analyst.
Downtown Cleanup
Keep Coral Gables Beautiful in partnership with the Coral Gables Community Foundation, Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce and the Business Improvement District, volunteers took to the streets of downtown Coral Gables to pick up litter from sidewalks, medians, and alleys.
Thankfully, the rain didn’t stop participants from collecting 69 pounds of litter in a two-mile radius.
Household Hazardous Waste Collection Event
Thank you to the more than 400 cars and 750 attendees who drove through the Household Hazardous Waste Collection Event on Saturday, April 24. As a result, the City was able to safely dispose of 8,804 pounds of old electronics,14,000 pounds of household hazardous waste, and 8,000 pounds of shredded sensitive paper.
Throughout the past six years, these bi-annual events have diverted more than 240,000 pounds of electronic and hazardous waste along with over 49,000 pounds of paper from entering landfills and polluting the environment.
University of Miami Litter Index
Keep Coral Gables Beautiful and the University of Miami partnered to conduct a campus-wide litter index this past April. Using Keep America Beautiful’s Community Appearance Index methodology, students mapped out the campus into three areas with four sites in each which were scored on a scale of one to four depending on the litter present. The campuses received an overall score of 1.33 meaning that there was minimal or no litter present on campus.
Keep Coral Gables Beautiful is in the process of conducting a citywide litter index.
Plogging at Matheson Collection Results
Keep Coral Gables Beautiful wants to thank everyone that participated in the Great American Cleanup season kick-off event, 'Plogging at Matheson' on March 20, 2021. Participants collected a total of 165 pounds of waste, all while enjoying the spring weather and helping the environment. Make sure to stay tuned for more upcoming events and ways to keep our environment green.
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2020 Christmas Tree Recycling Program
Keep Coral Gables Beautiful wants to thank all the residents that participated in this year’s Christmas Tree Recycling Program. The City collected 2,800 Christmas trees for recycling. That is roughly 140,000 pounds of mulch that will be used in our City parks and planting areas throughout the community. THANK YOU!
2020 International Coastal Cleanup Season
Keep Coral Gables Beautiful in partnership with VolunteerCleanup.org celebrated International Coastal Cleanup with a 2020 twist. This year, to ensure safety, instead of a large one-day event, a cleanup season was held from Sept. 19 to Nov. 1. Keep Coral Gables Beautiful and Vice Mayor Vince Lago encouraged residents to participate in Solo Cleanups throughout the season. The City hosted two supply pickup locations: City Hall and the Biltmore Tennis Center for those that wanted to participate in solo cleanups. Supplies were donated by VolunteerCleanup.org. The City also hosted its own Team Member Cleanup event which collected about 400 pounds of trash from the waterway.
Congratulations to the winners of the Keep Coral Gables Beautiful International Coastal Cleanup contests. Carlos J. Garcia went above and beyond this cleanup season completing four solo cleanups and collecting some 314 pounds of trash. His hard work and dedication make him the winner of the Four or More contest as well as the first-place winner of the Best Before & After Photo Contest. Second place goes to the Rodriguez Family and third place to Lizandra Lopez. Congratulations to all the winners!
Special thanks to all who participated in a #SoloCleanup. A big thank you to the Lago Family and the Coral Gables Community Foundation for donating the prizes.
2020 America Recycles Day
Through rain and sunshine, the Nov. 14 Household Hazardous Waste event was a huge success! Thank you to the over 600 cars and 1,200 attendees who drove through the event and safely disposed of 17,154 pounds of electronic waste, 17,558 pounds of household hazardous waste, and shredded 9,180 pounds of sensitive documents. As a result of the events over the last four years, the City has diverted over 200,000 pounds of electronic and hazardous waste along with over 41,000 pounds of paper from entering the landfill or potentially the environment. If you couldn’t make it out to the event, you can still do your part this America Recycles Day by taking the #BeRecycled pledge. Our next Household Hazardous Waste Event will take place during the Great American Cleanup in April.