Oyster Gardening Opportunities: Friday, February 14, 11:30am, Sunset Boating Center, 800 S Armistead Avenue, sign up at causink@hampton.gov, AND/OR Dandy Haven Marina, 374 Dandy Haven Rd, date and time dependent on weather, for specifics, contact George at glc74@cox.net. Join in for a hands-on oyster gardening experience, or watch from the dock. Either way you’ll learn about oysters, how they grow, and why they’re important to our waterways.
Rain Barrel Workshop! February 15, 9am – 11am: Make your very own rain barrel for only $50 and learn the skills to make one for every corner of your house at this HCCC and Hampton VCE Master Gardener partnership! To sign up, http://bit.ly/HamptonRainBarrels. For information causink@hampton.gov or call 727-1158!
Tour de Trash Express to the Steam Plant! February 20, 9am – 11am: Have you always wanted to visit the Hampton Steam Plant (Refused-Fired Steam-Generating Facility), but didn’t have time for the day-long Tour de Trash? Now is your golden opportunity to follow your household trash to the Steam Plant, where it is burned and reduced in volume by about 85 percent before going to the landfill! Watch, listen, absorb, ask questions, there will be plenty of time and opportunity. To sign up, contact hccc@hampton.gov, call 727-1130, or to http://bit.ly/TourdeTrash, where there’s a full list of upcoming tours – you can sign up for all of them if you want to! Many people have expressed a desire for Saturday tours, but the sites don’t open for tours on Saturdays. So if you can take a little time off from work, this would be a fun way to learn about trash in Hampton!
TWO Community Cleanups! Some people like to squeeze in a cleanup to end their week on a good note, while others like to start their weekend on the clean foot. So here are two Community Cleanup opportunities for you! Sites are selected based on litter index results and citizen recommendations.
Friday February 21 at 3pm, we’ll be cleaning up Kearney Park and the surrounding area in Phoebus. This is a family-friendly cleanup.
On Saturday February 22 at 10am, we’ll go to Hall Road to clean up! This one will be good for older children, teens, and adults.
Two things to know – we need a minimum of five people to hold each cleanup, and you MUST register in advance.
To sign up, contact hccc@hampton.gov or call 727-1130.
Newmarket Creek Clean Sweep Cleanup! February 22 at 1pm, Power Plant: This shoreline cleanup is part of an effort to reduce pollution in Newmarket Creek. To sign up, contact causink@hampton.gov or call 727-1158.
Virginia Peninsula Clean Business Forum Breakfast, February 26 at 8:30am, Location to be announced: This business recognition and education event is a regional partnership. Mark your calendar now, and we’ll send out an announcement when the bidding process is complete. To sign up, contact cfharris@hampton.gov or call 727-1130.
Check Out & Clean Up! Did you know you could check out cleanup equipment from our libraries? You can clean up your street, your neighborhood, or a nearby park! Yes, you CAN! Try it out! It’s an easy and rewarding way to help your neighborhood or another favorite place you want to clean up. Ask at your favorite library branch! Have you tried it yet? When you clean up, be sure to report so we can thank you! http://bit.ly/LibraryCleanupReport
Plastic Bag Recycling: You CAN recycle plastic bags and wrap, but ONLY at store or civic organization drop-offs. As a matter of fact, you can drop them off at Hampton’s community gardens or HCCC to help earn plastic benches for the community gardens. The locations are: North Phoebus Community Center, 249 W. Chamberlin Ave; Phoebus, 124 S. Hope St; Buckroe, 710 Buckroe Ave; or HCCC, 1296 Thomas St. The Hampton Master Gardeners (at Bluebird Gap Farm Arboretum and Demonstration Garden, 60 Pine Chapel Rd) and Peninsula Master Naturalists also collect them, and some schools will collect them for competitions.
We urge you to support your local schools by saving your clean plastic bags and plastic case wrapping for them! There’s a lot at stake for them – prizes ranging from $500 - $1000 or a plastic bench! Winners are selected based on the weight of bags per student, so the participating schools need your bags, your neighbors’ bags, and your business or organizations’ bags!
Here’s our list of plastic bag recycling competition schools:
- Aberdeen Elementary School, 1424 Aberdeen Rd
- Armstrong Elementary School, 3401 Matoaka Rd
- Asbury Elementary School, 140 Beach Rd
- Bethel High School, 1067 Big Bethel Rd
- Booker Elementary School, 160 Apollo Dr
- Burbank Elementary School, 40 Tidemill Ln
- Hampton Christian Academy Lower School, NOT A DROP-OFF SITE
- Hampton High School, 1491 West Queen St
- Langley Elementary School, 16 Rockwell Rd
- Phenix Prek – 8 School, 1061 Big Bethel Rd
- Rivermont School, 303 Butler Farm Road, Ste 100
- Spratley Gifted Center, 339 Woodland Rd
Recycling Information: Would you like someone to come to your group and talk about recycling right? Contact hccc@hampton.gov for a presentation! For quick questions, call 311 or HCCC at 727-1130.
Extra Recyclables because of deliveries or family gatherings? Take them to one of three drop-off sites: The Yard Waste Transfer Site mentioned above; Gosnold’s Hope Park administrative building at 901 E Little Back River Rd; or Briarfield Park by the ball field at 1560 Briarfield Rd. At all three sites, the same rules apply as for curbside recyclables: paper (boxes, newspapers, mail, food boxes, clean and dry), household-food-beverage plastic bottles and jugs only; glass bottles and jars only; metal cans, foil, and disposable aluminum baking sheets and pans; and milk and food cartons. NO PLASTIC BAGS, dirty diapers, garden hoses, or other trash. Questions? Call 311 (727-8311) or visit this link: https://hampton.gov/DocumentCenter/View/14663/Acceptable-Recyclables-Information?bidId=. Please don’t put anything else in either your home container or the drop-off containers. Thanks!
HCCC Board and Committee Meetings for February: For more information, contact hccc@hampton.gov or call 727-1130.
February 6, 11:30am – 1:00pm, Litter & Recycling Awareness Committee, Mama Rosa’s Restaurant
February 10, 10am – 11:30am, Beautification Committee Meeting, HCCC Office
February 11, 3:30am – 5pm, Hampton Clean City Commission Meeting, HCCC Office
February 13, 6:30pm – 8pm, Hampton Waterways Restoration Project, Ft Monroe Community Center
February 18, 3:30pm – 4:30pm, Clean & Green Workplaces Committee Meeting, Goodwill Community Employment Center
February 20, 1pm – 2pm, Bee City USA – Hampton Committee Meeting, HCCC Office
Holiday Closure, Presidents Day, February 17: For more information, hccc@hampton.gov or 757-727-1130.
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For more information, hccc@hampton.gov or 757-727-1130.