Let’s keep the Tri-Cities beautiful and thriving | Guest Opinion

Let’s be thankful: The Tri-Cities region is still a beautiful community to be a part of. It is a fabulous setting to live a lifetime, to start out in work, to raise a family, or to retire.

Residents in the diverse patchwork of our neighborhoods have proven over the years that we all care about beautifying shared public spaces, preventing and cleaning-up litter and graffiti, taking care of our parks and natural resource areas, participating productively in recycling and solid waste management efforts in neighborhoods and business districts, and establishing a general sense that we are all stewards of the community who share the responsibility for our shared surroundings.

But we now face unprecedented challenges to this “stewardship culture.” Yet another thing the COVID-19 crisis has shown us is that it would not take much for our beautiful community to fall prey to the kind of neglect and environmental decay that, if unchecked, will have significant impact on our quality of life.

We recently used a community litter survey model designed by the national community care organization, Keep America Beautiful (KAB), to see where we stand. The survey showed that debris and garbage is piling up in unprecedented volume in our public areas and natural resource access points. Graffiti is on the rise again throughout the area. And citizen-driven beautification efforts and volunteer maintenance of business districts and community gateways has slowed to a crawl.

Does all that matter? You bet it does.

This is not a government problem. Citizen-driven, volunteer community care is a significant driver of not only quality of life, but also factors into our economic development prospects, our job opportunities, neighborhood crime rates, and family health. If it seems increasingly like citizens in any neighborhood or community don’t care about the “small stuff” like litter, graffiti, abandoned lots, broken windows, etc. then research shows that all sorts of bad things will necessarily result for the community at large.

It is time we address this important long-term challenge to the success of our community. So let’s launch a Keep America Beautiful affiliate organization right here in the Tri Cities.

This new volunteer-driven organization, Tri-Cities Beautiful (TCB) will be locally chartered as a 501(c)3, non-profit organization. It will be a positive partnership of Tri-Cities citizens, local businesses, local government agencies, neighborhood and community groups, homeowners associations, and individual volunteers. There are currently over 750 KAB affiliates in communities nationwide. TCB will become the first KAB affiliate in the State of Washington.

Tri Cities Beautiful will not be a political or advocacy organization.

Instead TCB will become known throughout the area as a facilitator of positive, citizen-driven progress for our local quality of life. TCB will inspire and enable volunteer efforts like community clean-ups and beautification initiatives; we will deliver impartial K-12 and adult education on litter and graffiti prevention and community sustainability. And we will foster cross-sector partnerships that bring about measurable progress for the community.

We hope you will join us as we build this worthy enterprise over the next several months. To find out more about the development of Tri-Cities Beautiful or to get involved as a member of our founding board or working committees, or to just raise your hand as a possible future volunteer, feel free to look at our website — tricitiesbeautiful.org — or contact us via e-mail at info@tricitiesbeautiful.org.

In the meantime, next time you are out walking your dog, please bring along a garbage bag and rubber gloves, and let’s get started getting things back in shape around here!

This story was originally published August 25, 2020 at 1:10 PM with the headline "Let’s keep the Tri-Cities beautiful and thriving | Guest Opinion."