FEATURED EVENTS
INTERNATIONAL COASTAL CLEANUPS THROUGH OCTOBER
International Coastal Cleanups are ON this fall! In some ways it looks a lot like Walk Hampton Clean, and is focusing on dry land as well as water edges and boat cleanups. For more information, visit https://oceanconservancy.org/trash-free-seas/international-coastal-cleanup/
To sign up for Hampton cleanups, fill out this form:
https://hampton.gov/FormCenter/Hampton-Boards-Commissions-Committees-5/Sign-Up-for-the-International-Coastal-Cl-146.
Thank you so much to all the coastal cleanup volunteers who make ICC part of their fall activities!
***
COMMUNITY CLEANUPS THIS MONTH
Important point: if fewer than five people sign up for any cleanup, we’ll cancel, so be sure to register so we’ll know you’re coming!
October 10, 10am: Ivy Home Road Community Cleanup
October 16, 3pm: Robinson Park Area
October 17, 10am: Lee Street (Armistead - S Armistead and Old Celey)
November 20, 3pm: Milford/Brightwood/Westwood/Shell Area
November 21, 10am: Cooper Elementary
To sign up, email hccc@hampton.gov or go to https://volunteer.kab.org/.
***
COMMUNITY GARDEN HELP NEEDED!
Here are THREE ways you can help our Community Gardens effort:
- Help finish building the hoop houses
- Moving soil from a pile to garden sites
- Helping build an accessible pathway for the Phoebus Community Garden
Schedules for these activities are flexible. If you’re a member of a small group that could help with any of it, please let us know!
For more information or to volunteer, email Wendy at wendy.iles@hampton.gov.
***
LAST CHANCE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ANNUAL LITTER INDEX TODAY!
The Community Appearance & Litter Index, Wednesday October 14th, is an annual requirement of our good standing as a Keep America Beautiful Affiliate. We need 10 volunteers to accomplish this important event, we have 3. The event is a day-long event (8am – 5pm) that includes lunch. Social distancing and other safety measures will be practiced.
For more information, email hccc@hampton.gov.
***
SIGN UP FOR THE ANNUAL SCHOOLS APPEARANCE INDEX TODAY!
No, we’re not repeating ourselves. The Litter Index and the Schools Appearance Index are two different events.
The Schools Appearance Index, Saturday October 24th, is an annual event designed to help keep our schools beautiful and clean. We need 10 volunteers to accomplish this important event. The event is a day-long event (8am – 5pm) that includes lunch. Social distancing and other safety measures will be practiced.
For more information, email hccc@hampton.gov.
***
TOUR DE TRASH EXPRESS! THIS MONTH
October’s Tour de Trash Express is October 28: Tour de Trash Express to the Steam Plant! 9am-11:00am. We have FIVE more seats, so sign up today!
To sign up for Tour de Trash Express go 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! For information, contact hccc@hampton.gov or call 727-1130.
NEWS YOU CAN USE!
BALLOONS ARE LITTER TOO!
When they are released (littered), as far too many are, they float up and either float down because the helium escapes or burst. In either case, they fall to earth and onto land or into our waterways. From land they wash into our waterways and then into the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, where sea turtles think they’re jellyfish, other marine animals get tangled up in them, and birds eat them and the strings wreak havoc in their digestive systems. DO NOT RELEASE BALLOONS! And if you can’t avoid the possibility of releasing them, just don’t get them or give them. Never give them to little kids. They can’t help letting them go oftentimes.
For more information, contact the Hampton Clean City Commission at hccc@hampton.gov or 757-727-1199.
***
PET WASTE IS LITTER TOO!
Some people say that pet waste is natural. Tell that to my shoe! There are just too many pets and too many people stepping in pet waste to make it natural.
Pet waste left on the ground (or sidewalk, or parking lot, or street) washes into our storm drains carrying with it all the bacteria, parasites, and other nasties that are in there. We get increased water pollution and too many days we can’t swim or fish in our waterways when that happens. Before it washes into the storm drains, it becomes a breeding ground for flies and food for roaches and rats. Then there’s the smell. If you’ve ever lived next door to someone who isn’t conscientious about picking up their pet’s waste, you know how the smell can amplify. Or if you step on it unaware, the smell is what cues you in to the situation.
When walking your pet, take along a plastic bag. You can buy them from the pet store or reuse lunch or grocery bags. When your pet “goes”, pick up the poop with the bag, enclose it, and take it to the nearest trash can, or back to your trash can.
Don’t be fooled by the “biodegradable” label some bag manufacturers use. That doesn’t mean you can pick up the waste and leave it in a bag under a bush. See paragraph two above. Please put your bagged pet waste into a trash can.
So be a good pet person, a good neighbor, and a good citizen and pick up your pet’s waste, whether it happens in public areas during walks or in your back yard. Your efforts will keep our local environment cleaner and fresher smelling. And all of us will be grateful to you.
***
SIX IMPORTANT RECYCLING TIPS:
- Place unbagged recyclables in your container. No plastic bags at all, please. None. Not one.
- The only plastics that can be recycled are bottles and jugs.
- Flatten cardboard and corrugated boxes to make more room for your other recyclables.
- Rinse or wipe cans, bottles, and jugs before putting them in your bin.
- Remember aluminum foil and foil pans (pie pans, baking pans, cookie sheets) can be recycled, just rinse or wipe.
- ONLY the recyclables listed in the most recent recycling chart can be recycled. Check here to make sure you’re recycling right: https://hampton.gov/DocumentCenter/View/14663/Acceptable-Recyclables-Information?bidId=
EXTRA RECYCLABLES? LIVE IN AN APARTMENT OR CONDO?
Take them to the Yard Waste Transfer Site, 98 North Park Lane. As you enter the site, the recycling containers are on the right.
The same rules apply for drop-off recycling 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 recycling container or the drop-off recycling container. Thanks!
***
RECYCLE YOUR PLASTIC BAGS & OTHER FILM PLASTICS – DON’T LET THEM BECOME TURTLE FOOD!
Plastic bags and plastic wraps of different kinds ARE recyclable, but they’re not recyclable in your household recycling container. They have to be taken to drop-off sites, most of which are retail locations that you might already be visiting. For more information and a list of plastic bag recycling sites: https://hampton.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=4565.
When they are littered, as far too many are, they blow or wash into our waterways and then into the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, where sea turtles think they’re jellyfish and other marine animals get tangled up in them. And then, of course, they also get tangled around boat propellers as well, we hear. DO NOT LITTER anything, especially plastic bags!
For more information, contact the Hampton Clean City Commission at hccc@hampton.gov or 757-727-1199.
***
TRASH BAG HOLDER EXPERIMENT – HAVE ANY OLD TENNIS RACQUETS?
Keep Norfolk Beautiful devised an interesting way to help hold trash bags during cleanups – by using unstrung tennis racquets with the bags clipped on with large paper clips. We’d like to give it a try! If you have an old tennis racquet you would like to donate to the cause, we would appreciate your donation of it!
***
ILLEGAL SIGNS ARE UGLY EYE LITTER!
Those yard-size signs that say “We’ll buy your house” and “Free Week When You Sign Up” that mysterious people put on our easements along our roadways are illegal. The people who are putting them there are violating the law and littering our roadways. The problem is that they sneak to put them up (because they know it’s wrong) and it’s hard for the Hampton Codes Office to find and prosecute them. We need your help!
Would you watch for people putting those signs out, get a license plate, and report it through 311 to the Codes office? That would help them a lot, and help our city, as well. If you can snap a few photos while you’re at it, all the better.
Another way to help is to pull them out and throw them in the trash when you see them. Make sure you’re not pulling up yard sale signs – permit holders are allowed a couple of signs to advertise their sales. But if it’s one of those “We’ll Buy Your…” signs, feel free to pull it up and throw it away.
For more information, contact the Hampton Clean City Commission at hccc@hampton.gov or 757-727-1199.
***
CHECK OUT THE BEE CITY USA – HAMPTON WEB PAGE!
Check out the information and resources on our new Bee City USA - Hampton web page! We hope you'll find it a useful source of information and support in your efforts to support Hampton's pollinators! https://hampton.gov/3759/Bee-City-USA
COMING THIS FALL
TOURS DE TRASH EXPRESS!
Upcoming Tours de Trash are:
- November 13: America Recycles Day Tour de Recycling, 9am-1pm, TFC Recycling Material Recovery Facility
- December 2: Tour de Trash Express to Goodwill! 9am-11am NEW!
Naturally these dates depend on widespread healthiness! So sign up, and we’ll all cross our fingers that the tours will go on!
To sign up for Tours de Trash Express or Tour de Recycling go 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! For information, contact hccc@hampton.gov or call 727-1130.
FOR REFERENCE
CONNECT WITH HCCC IN 2020:
HCCC’s Facebook page serves as an information source for all things “clean city” – beautification, community environment improvement, litter prevention, recycling, the 3Rs, and general environmental education. We share reputable information about these topics and provide information about our programs, activities, and volunteers. If you want a good overview of what’s happening in Hampton and the larger world of our topics of interest, the Hampton Clean City Commission page is a can’t-miss sign-up! Follow us on Instagram or Twitter, too, to help share information about topics that are important to you. By the way, have you been to the HCCC web page at https://hampton.gov/179/Clean-City-Commission?
Hampton Community Gardens is officially part of the Clean City family now (always has been in our hearts). Check out the Community Gardens web page at https://hampton.gov/2798/Community-Gardens. Community Gardens has a wonderful Facebook page with great information about all things garden related. Like it at https://www.facebook.com/HamptonVAcommunitygardens.
HCCC sponsors two Facebook groups – Hampton Waterways Restoration Project and Bee City USA – Hampton. The Hampton Waterways Restoration Project Group focuses on the HWRP Committee’s efforts to improve Hampton’s waterways through awareness and action projects. Among the posts you’ll see are reports on committee oyster activities, waterway cleanup announcements, information about various impacts on water quality, and volunteer reports on their various HWRP projects. The Bee City USA – Hampton Group focuses on building a resilient habitat for bees and other pollinators. You’ll see educational posts about pollinators of various types, the plants they thrive on, how you can support a sustainable pollinator habitat, and occasionally cool educational resources.
You can find and sign up for volunteer opportunities with HCCC at https://volunteer.kab.org/.
Sign up for web page notifications (news flashes and calendars) at https://hampton.gov/list.aspx.
For more information, hccc@hampton.gov or 757-727-1130. Or look for Hampton Clean City Commission on each platform.
The HCCC Office is open to the public. We’re limiting the number of people in our reception area for the time being, so call 727-1130 before you come so we can make sure we don’t have a “traffic jam”.