786 CES host annual base clean-up day Published April 13, 2016 By By Master Sgt. James Ming 786 Civil Engineer Squadron RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany -- First impressions leave a lasting mark. The pride we show in how we take care of our work and living spaces creates an immediate and lasting impression. This May, we are going to set aside a few hours to ensure the unspoken messages are the ones we intend to send. Designating time specifically for the upkeep of facilities and the surrounding area improves the working and living environments. This is why the 86th Airlift Wing, in coordination with U.S. Army Garrison Kaiserslautern, coordinated a spring cleanup event on May 10 and 11, and is encouraging residents of military family housing and dormitories, along with all facility managers and users to participate. May 10 -- Clean Where You Work: Tuesday is designated for the cleaning of administrative and industrial facilities, grounds and common areas across the Kaiserslautern Military Community by facility managers and building occupants. Remember that the area of responsibility extends 100 feet in all directions from buildings and includes nearby parking lots and sidewalks. Biodegradable bags, rakes, shovels, brooms, weed burners (with a permit) and pressure washers are available to facility managers at the U-Fix-It Store on Ramstein in building 505. May 11 -- Clean Where You Live: Wednesday will focus on cleaning common areas around military family housing and dormitories. This is the time for you to attend to your communities, focusing on common areas like playgrounds, walkways, running trails, and wooded areas. This is a great opportunity to team up with your neighbors and foster community pride in areas where you and your families live and play. Biodegradable bags for tree and bush trimmings are available from the Housing Self-Help stores. The Self-Help Store has a limited supply of tools for residents to utilize, but due to the large amount of customers, it is recommended that housing occupants bring their own gloves, rakes, brooms and leaf blowers. The Ramstein Self-Help Store is in building 859 and the Vogelweh Self-Help Store is building 1139. The 786th Civil Engineer Squadron's Facility Excellence Team (DSN 480-7768) will pick up tree limbs, bagged leaves and weeds curbside for later composting. Curbside locations will be briefed by squadron and group point of contacts. Cleanup participants should separate tree branches and shrubs into two piles at curbside -- one for small wood stems up to four inches in diameter and another for larger material. Place weeds and leaves in biodegradable bags curbside for pickup, but well away from dumpsters. There will be no bulk trash pick-up this spring clean-up. Base Pride Day objectives include litter collecting, weed pulling, trimming of overgrown shrubs, tidying plant beds, removing tree limbs and pine cones, and raking and bagging leaves. Interior suggestions include cleaning stairwells, entries and carpets, cleaning out storage rooms, washing windows and perhaps even doing some minor touch-up painting. Housing residents will receive a letter notifying them of their specific meeting locations. At this time, members will be briefed on each group's area of responsibility and given instructions on how to care for common areas. Items like batteries, glass, bulk paper and metal should be taken to the nearest recycling center either on Ramstein Air Base in Bldg. 5146 and on Kapaun Air Station in Bldg. 2820. Many hands make quick work. If we all do our part, this clean-up will be done quickly and the results will be something we can all enjoy.