The City of San Marcos | 11
San Marcos residents (and visitors) to take
responsibility for improving the community
environment, the program focuses on litter
prevention, waste reduction and beautifi-
cation. It has prompted considerable part-
nering with schools, civic organizations as
well as popular community events. Kirwin
points to the creation of community gardens
and increases in recycling as achievements
of the program. Advances in recycling have
diverted a significant measure of waste from
area landfills, but has also fostered the cre-
ation of green waste collection sites. Kirwin
says residents can drop brush off to such
sites where it is then converted to mulch and
provided free to anyone who wants it. Oth-
er measures have involved the collection of
outdated pharmaceuticals, which instead of
being flushed down the toilet to threaten the
water supply, can now be dropped at sites,
and that recently accounted for more than
250 pounds of materials. Household hazard-
ous wastes are also being diverted from area
landfills.
As Tom Taggart explains, “Conserva-
tion and environmental practices has been
informing the culture and guiding our efforts
for more than fifteen years.” In this degree,
Exotic Plant removal
