Summit Smithville Green Expo - 2016

The Summit Smithville Green Expo—hosted by the City of Smithville, the Smithville Public Library, and the Smithville Area Chamber of Commerce's Keep Smithville Beautiful Committee—is an annual event that raises awareness about green living. This year, the event takes place on Saturday, May 21st, from 10am-3pm on Main Street in historic downtown Smithville, Texas.

 

This year's theme is "Talking Trash" and will feature information about how to reduce, reuse & recycle to keep items out of landfills, as well as how to manage the trash that comes from your home and business and what to do with trash that shouldn't be thrown out in the regular garbage.

If you can't make it to the Expo, you can check out the Recycling Resource Guide by Keep Bastrop County Beautiful here.

There will be speakers, vendors, exhibitions, demonstrations, and more! The two panel discussions will take place at Playhouse Smithville, located at 110 Main Street. Panelists will discuss general information at 10:30am and will go into more depth about local efforts at 1:30pm.

Confirmed speakers include: Clara Beckett (Bastrop County Commissioner, Precinct 2); Phillip Merino (Bastrop County ESS Manager); Melissa Middlebrooks (President, Keep Bastrop County Beautiful); Matt Holderread (CAPCOG Grant Coordinator); Travis Hill (owner, Brush2Mulch); and James Nolan (James Nolan Construction).

Photo by Jax REcycle / Flickr CC

There will also be a Bicycle Maintenance and Repair Workshop for youth from 10am-12pm. Look for the SRTS signs on Main Street. The workshop is FREE and includes FREE pizza (thanks to a donation from the Smithville Noon Lions Club). Please RSVP to (512) 237-3282 x6 to have a better estimate on supplies needed.

A new addition to this year's Expo is the Smithville Spring Cleanup, a citywide initiative to help Smithville residents get rid of their bulky trash items. Smithville residents can bring their bulky items to the City Yard at 1000 MLK Drive for FREE on Saturday, May 21st from 8am-12pm. Please bring a City Utility Bill as proof of residency.

There will be no curbside pick-up. DO NOT BRING: Household hazardous waste (paints, pesticides, cleaning chemicals), yard waste, or regular garbage. They will accept up to 8 tires for free, and will charge $3/tire for more than eight tires. Non-residents will need to pay regular rates for bringing their trash. Construction site waste WILL NOT be accepted from contractors; any "construction debris" accepted will be small-scale home repairs from residents.

Photo by Alan Levine / Flickr CC

This year, money raised from sponsorships will pay for expenses related to the new Bastrop County Household Hazardous Waste Facility to be located on MLK Drive in Smithville, upgrades to the Smithville Recycling Center, and materials that may be needed for potential demonstration projects. Any additional funds will be given to the Smithville Public Library.

For more information about the Summit Smithville Green Expo, click here. For more information about Summit Smithville, visit them on Facebook here.