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Leesburg advisers plan Flower & Garden Show outreach, prize game and Keep Leesburg Beautiful cleanup; commissioners set tasks and budget guardrails
Summary
Commissioners detailed their plans for the Leesburg Flower & Garden Show booth, giveaway strategy and a litter‑pickup (Keep Leesburg Beautiful) on April 5. They discussed a hands‑on recycling game, tote‑bag and magnet giveaways, composting outreach and volunteer shifts. The commission also reviewed a low number of Tolbert award applications and
The Leesburg Environmental Advisory Commission spent the largest portion of its meeting planning outreach: the Town’s Flower & Garden Show booth, giveaways and the Keep Leesburg Beautiful litter pickup on April 5.
Flower & Garden Show plans: Commissioners agreed the booth’s primary theme will be waste reduction and recycling guidance. The group discussed a hands‑on game in which participants sort common household items (examples discussed: cereal boxes, aluminum cans, small plastic bottles, egg cartons, clamshell fruit containers and small plastic bottles) into recycling or trash bins; participants would receive a participation prize and a tote bag for playing. Paul Schaffer (chair) and Amy Mason (vice chair) led a discussion about logistics: the commission will prepare two parallel game lines, collect physical sample items to use in the game, and test the activity at the next in‑person meeting. The commission set a target to order custom tote bags (green with white or black print) and magnets or stickers summarizing Leesburg’s “do/don’t” recycling rules. Amy said the commission’s FY25 budget is $3,500 and staff estimated a bulk tote order could cost roughly $1.29 per bag at a 1,000–2,000 quantity scale; the commissioners discussed buying a mix of insulated and standard totes depending on price.
Giveaways and education: Commissioners proposed giving every participant a small magnet or sticker with recycling dos-and‑don’ts and reserving the tote bags for game participants or contest winners. They also discussed offering compostable kitchen liners, seed packets and small compost bins as higher‑value prizes and placing informational inserts (compost drop‑off instructions, recycling‑coach links, lists of where to take batteries and electronics) inside totes.
Volunteer shifts and collaboration: The commission set up volunteer shifts for the two‑day show and asked members to sign up on a shared sheet; they asked Loudoun County’s environmental commission to share volunteers and to coordinate on presence at the event. William (vice chair, Loudoun Environmental Commission) had proposed county participation and the Leesburg commission agreed county members could staff parts of the booth. Commissioners decided on two main shifts per day (morning and afternoon) with additional setup and teardown coverage and targeted three people per active shift where possible.
Keep Leesburg Beautiful and the Golden Grabber: The commission confirmed the town’s litter pickup event for April 5 at 11 a.m. and the “Golden Grabber” outreach and prize concept. The town’s economic‑development director agreed to contact local merchants about incentives (discounts) for volunteers; teams will receive volunteer cards that participating businesses can accept. Stormwater staff said the town can provide grabbers for use and asked participants to return them when possible to avoid repeated purchases. The commission plans to label volunteer bags and to use a bag‑weight method for a light competition element among teams.
Tolbert (environmental excellence) award and recruitment: Commissioners noted they had not yet received applications for the Tolbert award (the town’s long‑running environmental excellence award) and agreed to step up outreach: possible channels include Live in Leesburg social segments, flyers, school‑principal emails and partner organization outreach. Laura (commissioner) volunteered to distribute sign‑up information and help with the Live in Leesburg segment.
Tasks assigned: Commissioners agreed to inventory leftover giveaway items from prior years, collect sample recyclables for the game and finalize a tote design mockup before the next meeting. Amy agreed to draft a reply to the resident who raised the airport lead question (item 5B) using staff bullets. Deb Moran (sustainability manager) said she would seek cost estimates for tote printing and follow up with recycling‑program staff about the recycle‑coach launch and compost drop‑off promotional materials.
Why it matters: The outreach plan aims to give residents clear, usable guidance about single‑stream recycling, composting and local drop‑off options, and to recruit volunteers for spring cleanups.
