Paint-A-Can promotes environmental awareness

Brightly decorated garbage cans lined the sidewalk in Linear Park on Saturday, each asking passersby to keep Brownsville beautiful.

The cans were brought to the Brownsville Farmers’ Market to mark the end of the Healthy Communities of Brownsville Paint-A-Can Project, which challenged local schools, businesses and religious groups to decorate the 55-gallon drums and compete for cash prizes.

The day’s winner was a group of students from St. Mary’s Catholic School.

Marcela Salinas, 8, Dante Gonzalez, 9, and Daniel Martin, also 9, competed and won $100 for their can. Their design depicted people holding hands in Dean Porter Park, with the message to recycle and keep the city beautiful.

Martin said he chose the design for one simple reason: "I like the park. It’s beautiful."

Salinas said she would be proud to bring the winning trash can back to St. Mary’s and tell her fellow students that their group had won first place.

"We need to help our planet," Salinas said, "so it can be beautiful."

Second place went to Hudson Elementary and third place went to the St. Joseph’s Academy Green Team. Others decorating cans were the Gladys Porter Zoo, the Brownsville Girl Scouts, The Brownsville Herald, and R.L. Lackner Jewelry.

The cans will now be brought back to the competitors' schools and businesses for regular use.

"We hope that this will generate awareness of the impact of reduce, reuse, recycle," said Marsletta Knapp, a volunteer with the Healthy Communities of Brownsville’s Environmental Trendsetters, who put on the competition. "We need to keep our city clean."

Here is a complete list of all the Paint-A-Can Project participants:

Briarwyck Neighborhood

Brownsville Community Health Center

Brownsville Herald

Cummings Middle School

Girl Scout Troop 1016

Gladys Porter Zoo

Hudson Dyslexia Students

Keller Elementary

Kenmont Elementary

Lopez CATCH

Pace NHS

Porter Biology Team

R. L. Lackner

Michele Sanchez

Southern Texas Title

St. Joseph Academy Green Team

St. Mary's School

UTB MasterMinds