Que Linda! grant brings recycling, clean-up to Socorro

Plastic recycling will soon become available to the City of Socorro with the Que Linda! Beautification grant awarded to the city from the New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT).

“It’s a great boost for our city’s recycling efforts,” Mayor Ravi Bhasker said.

He credited his staff for doing the leg work on the grant.

City Finance Director Ruby Lopez said the $125,000 grant will fund a dump trailer to transport plastic to Albuquerque twice a month, roll-off dumpsters in various city areas twice a month at no charge and pay for community organizations to assist with cleanup efforts.

“We’re trying to promote beautification; it’s important to keep our area nice and clean,” Lopez said.

The New Mexico Department of Transportation requires the grant to fund a full-time coordinator for the local beautification program. The coordinator must participate in Que Linda! cohort meetings, develop a formal beautification plan and organize at least three events and two contracts related to Que Linda! strategies.

Lopez said the funds will be required to be exhausted by June 30, 2026. However, she hopes it will be the beginning of a long-term, sustainable effort to keep the city clean.

“We’ll already have the trailer, we’ll have some supplies already and we’ll be a little creative with how to put it in the budget and keep this going,” Lopez said, “Maybe we won’t be able to do it every month with the roll off dumpster, but I will budget to do it at least a few times a year.”

She said the program plans to involve local schools and nonprofits in cleaning city properties and participation in recycling efforts. The initiative will be promoted through social media and community engagement, including a potential recycling poster contest for students.

“There are some resources out there that people don’t know about, and we’re hoping this will bring this to light for people here in Socorro,” Lopez said, “Even here at the city, if we have a pickup which is a free service that if you have weeds, if you have appliances, the city does a street pickup. You could put in a work order, and you can have that picked up.”

Lopez expects the funding to come in sometime this month.

“Once we do have something in place I will announce it at the council. We are going to try to work on a schedule and put something out to get some ideas of where people want these roll-off dumpsters, because it is going to have to be on city property.” Lopez said.

According to NMDOT, the program goal is to help local governments develop and implement community beautification initiatives that align with the state’s ongoing efforts to improve and preserve New Mexico’s landscape.

“The Que Linda! program supports local governments in creating sustainable beautification initiatives, focusing on enhancing community aesthetics through strategies like abatement, enforcement, sustainability, and improved access to beautified areas. Que Linda! is a capacity-building initiative designed to expand and strengthen local beautification efforts, offering a broader, lasting impact,” The NMDOT press release said.