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Oh, and One More Thing...

Before I shuffle off from the scene of the Oakland Mills Board in my rumpled raincoat, there's one last piece of news I want to share with the hocosphere. It's about why trash is trash, poop is poop, and why good customer service will put you at the top of the heap.

On Thursday April 18, mac and I participated in the 20 minute Howard County Cleanup.  We walked to the top of Timesweep with a trash bag and gloves, and cleaned up the entrance area into the new Blandair Park. There is no official waste receptacle near this pedestrian entrance, and it was beginning to look a bit "trashy."
We were dismayed to discover that quite a few folks had been bringing their dogs up into the park to relieve themselves.  mac was both disgusted and indignant.  She's waited her entire life for this park--how could people do this?

When we went home I posted about our experience on Twitter, and was advised by fellow blogger Wendi to address my Tweet to @LiveGreenHoward.  Here is what followed.

April 19th:
@LiveGreenHoward 20 minute clean up accomplished! mac and mom, top of Timesweep at Blandair. Rec &Parks--need signs "Pick up after dog"!
April 23rd:
@macsmom Thanks so much for making a difference in 20 minutes! I'll pass along your note to Rec&Parks too.
@LiveGreenHoward Thanks! We want our new #BlandairPark to be beautiful forever! #hoco #ColumbiaMD
April 24th:
@macsmom Blandair Park Mgr has been notified and the pet waste stations will be up asap. Thanks for letting us know!
@LiveGreenHoward You are the coolest! Thank you so much. I'll def. be doing more 20min. Cleanups in your honor!

The first thing you will notice is that the conversation is punctuated by quite a few exclamation points.  You can get pretty excited about cleaning up in Howard County.  And Tweeters can be an enthusiastic bunch.  But the overall message is clear--the folks at LiveGreenHoward are at the top of their game. They listen, they are paying attention, and they are making connections to solve problems. Whoever is keeping an eye on that account took responsibility instead of making excuses.

Wow--do you think they might consider running for the school board?

hocoblogs@@@

Comments

  1. WendiApril 26, 2012 at 4:25 PM

    Julia - I shared this with my friend, Elissa, who works for Live Green Howard - I think she shares Twitter duty with someone else, though, so I'm not sure that it was her who followed through. But Elissa is awesome - she's the PTA parent in charge of our Green School initiative at Veterans.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Julia A. McCreadyApril 26, 2012 at 5:08 PM

    Wendi--without you I wouldn't have known to make this connection. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete

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