Photo credit: Lindsey Adams

The Permian Press sat down with the initiator of the Basin Beautification Project and city Strategic Partnerships Officer, Lindsey Adams, to discuss its founding, progress, and future goals.

What happened: The Basin Beautification Project, a collaborative effort between Midland, Odessa, Midland County, Ector County, Keep Midland Beautiful, and Keep Odessa Beautiful, continues to gain momentum in its mission to clean up the Permian Basin.

In its first two Basin Action Days, the initiative mobilized more than 600 volunteers and removed nearly 1,000 bags of trash. Leaders are now looking to expand into education efforts and long-term waste solutions.

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The big picture: The project was born when Midland Mayor Lori Blong sought to find a solution to Midland’s persistent trash problem. Recognizing it would take more than one city working alone, the Basin Beautification Project was created as a standalone initiative supported by all four city and county entities.

“The blessing and the curse of Basin Beautification Project is since it’s the four entities, it’s not funded by anything,” Adams said. “There’s no revenue going into the project. We just kind of operate off of what the four entities are able to do.”

The core group meets every other month, with leaders from Midland, Odessa, Midland County, and Ector County helping to guide the initiative’s future.

“It’s really nice having the support of all four entities,” Adams said. “They’ll offer any help, saying, ‘Odessa can provide this,’ and Midland County says, ‘We can have this,’ and it just all happens.”

The operation began with a kick-off press conference in September of 2025, leading up to their first event that November.

Go deeper: The project’s flagship events are Basin Action Days, twice-yearly large-scale volunteer cleanups. The first event in November 2025 drew 515 volunteers who collected 657 bags of trash. The April 2026 event had 123 volunteers and collected 335 bags, with turnout impacted by weather and scheduling conflicts.

“Spring is a lot harder to program,” Adams said. “There’s sports going on, church events are happening, camps… Even the date that we picked, some of the city workers weren’t available.”

Large church groups, company teams, students, and civic organizations have all participated. Adams said volunteer service hours have also helped attract student involvement. Organizers coordinate cleanup locations in both cities and provide participants with supplies such as trash bags, gloves, and safety vests. City solid waste departments handle trash pickup after the cleanups.

“We’re barely a year in,” Adams said. “That’s already impressive for what we’ve all been able to do.”

Zoom out: The future holds big possibilities for this initiative. Adams said the project is now focusing more heavily on education and prevention, particularly through partnerships with schools and community organizations. “We’re really trying to beef up the education piece,” she said, noting that the project is taking an “it starts with the kids” approach.

“We want to do a competition of sorts among the high schools, cities, and maybe even a ‘strangest thing found’ contest,” Adams said. “Kind of my own personal goal is to encourage families on a Saturday morning that are looking for something to do to go out for a couple of hours and pick up around our neighborhood or in a park. I’m trying to figure out a way to incentivize that.”

One major issue the group hopes to tackle is tire disposal, which remains a common source of illegal dumping in Midland because current disposal options often carry a fee. Organizers are now exploring pilot solutions in Midland County and partnering with companies that use new recycling technology.

“I think there’s still a lot of room to grow because we have to do more than just trash pickup,” Adams said.

What’s next: Another Basin Action Day is planned for fall 2026, with some mystery events in between. Residents can learn more, stay updated, and sign up for cleanups by visiting the Basin Beautification Project website or social media.