KVB

About KVB

https://keepvirginiabeautiful.org

Posts by KVB :

Clean my commute: 84 waterlogged Washington Post newspapers in their plastic bags

Clean my commute: 84 waterlogged Washington Post newspapers in their plastic bags

I got tired of seeing litter during my daily evening commute and decided to enlist my friend Heidi to help me clean the 1/10 mile stretch of the I-66 exit ramp in Vienna, VA. We found 84 putrid, waterlogged Washington Post newspapers in their plastic bags, along with the usual suspects: single-use plastic bottles, fast food containers, plastic bags, cups with plastic lids & straws, liquor bottles, beer cans, cigarette butts, and other foul-smelling detritus in various stages of disintegration. We can do better for ourselves, for wildlife, for our watershed, and for our planet.

LOS DE SIEMPRE

LOS DE SIEMPRE

Los De Siempre performing our Fall cleaning in Fairfax County. We’re proud to be the first Hispanic group volunteering to keep our roads beautiful. We strongly believe in teaching by example, and we hope this is a good start to let our community know that getting involved with activities that help our environment can not only be rewarding, but fun. In the picture: Oscar Silva, Roosevelt Vidal, Erika Silva, Maribel Flores, Vicky Mariscal, Noemi Vincentty, Miguel Toro, Antonio Daza and Nancy Rojas. (Thanks also to Daisy Mendieta for being the responsible one for picking up and dropping off the signs)

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America Recycles Day 2019

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We frequently preach the 3 R’s – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. The less litter we create, you see, the less litter ends up on our roadways and scenic places.

It’s simple – don’t make trash.

Since there are some things that must be thrown away, we always encourage that last R: Recycle. But some localities are beginning to have a problem with that. As more and more folks embrace the importance of litter prevention and waste reduction, those tasked with processing our recycling are beginning to weigh the cost/benefit of curbside recycling programs.

Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality recently reported that we’re doing a bang-up job of recycling things. The rate of recycling in the Commonwealth rose from 42% to 46% over the last year. The largest curbside recycling firm in our region is Central Virginia Waste Management Authority, and in 2018 they processed over 651,000 tons of material!

On November 15th of each year, we follow the lead of our parent organization, Keep America Beautiful, and put a spotlight on this issue with America Recycles Day. As we have for several years, we joined our friends at the Retail Merchants Association in Richmond for a convenient drive-through recycling event. Folks could reduce their household clutter, donate goods and clothing to be reused, and recycle materials to keep them out of a landfill somewhere. In addition to paper shredding, we processed 250 pounds of clothing, and 3,200 pounds of various electronics. This included computers, laptops, television sets, and more.

And we weren’t alone.

Across town in Powhatan, an event at Goodwill braved colder temperatures to take in 5,200 pounds of electronics, a lot of cardboard, 3,500 pounds of textiles, and 1,800 pounds of furniture. Several truckloads of those materials went to Habitat for Humanity.

We won’t recycle our way out of our litter problem, but numbers like these tell the powers-that-be that we’re not stopping anytime soon.

Tire-d of removing trash from our roads & stream

Tire-d of removing trash from our roads & stream

Miller Heights Neighborhood partnered with Oakton High School Environmental Club & Clean Fairfax for today’s trash cleanup #LitterFreeVA #keepVaBeautiful. This is our 2nd cleanup in 2019 so we’re eligible for 2 Adopt a Highway signs. We found a tire, a string of holiday lights, plastic bags, styrofoam, cans, plastic bottles, broken glass, balls, broken plates, a fork,…

Los De Siempre. Hispanic volunteers.

Los De Siempre. Hispanic volunteers.

Los De Siempre. Proud of being a Hispanic group of volunteers adopting a road in Fairfax. We believe in teaching by example. Our community and children need to know about the importance of getting involved with keeping our Virginia Beautiful. In the picture: Oscar Silva, Roosevelt Vidal, Erika Silva, Maribel Flores, Vicky Mariscal, Noemi Vincentty, Miguel Toro, Antonio Daza and Nancy Rojas.

Village Bank Teammates

Village Bank Teammates

A few of our teammates were able to snap this pic during our October Clean up. We are very proud of our signs – they look great and we love working with Keep VA beautiful!

VFW Post 7327 Highway Clean-Up

VFW Post 7327 Highway Clean-Up

Springfield VFW Post 7327 completed our clean-up of our assigned area of the Franconia-Springfield Parkway on Saturday 19 October 2019. We collected approximately 30+ bags of trash as well as some other large objects.

I attached photos of our volunteer group consisting of VFW members and the West Springfield High School Boys Varsity Lacrosse team and photos of the trash we collected.

Dickenson County Chamber/Tourism

Dickenson County Chamber/Tourism

We are proud of our new Nature Love Garden at the Dickenson County Chamber/Visitor Center. It has made a beautiful place for visitors to sit and enjoy the garden and the new LOVEworks sign. We had volunteers come from SWVA Community College, Ridgeview High School, Chamber board and Tourism committee members to clean up the area and plant the garden. Come spring, we should have over 100 flower bulbs popping up in our garden. Thanks to Keep Virginia Beautiful for the grant funding to do this project.

NAPS Launches Flotilla for Creek Cleanup

NAPS Launches Flotilla for Creek Cleanup

With a warm wind and cloudy skies, 62 student and adult volunteers participated in the annual Creek Cleanup organized by the Northumberland Association for Progressive Stewardship (NAPS) on Sunday, October 6th.

After a lunch for all participants at the Mallard Bay Community Clubhouse near Heathsville, seven skiff captains shoved off with cleanup teams to remove boatloads of trash and recyclables from the shorelines of the upper Great Wicomico River and adjacent creeks, reported NAPS president Mike Ahart. A small group of kayakers tackled the headwater creeks of Bush Mill Stream and Crabbe Mill Stream.

The teams covered over 30 miles of shoreline, bringing the “catch” back to the Mallard Bay piers to be unloaded and sorted. Bottles, cans, plastic, fishing gear and dock debris were removed from the water and shore, plus lawn furniture, a sunken sailboat, old crab baskets and oyster floats, scrap metal, tires and various other trash.

Prizes were awarded to the students on the teams with the largest total haul, largest single item, and most unusual item (see photos). In addition, each registered participant was awarded a NAPS-designed T-shirt with a trash crab logo and the message: “don’t trash my Bay!”
READ MORE and see full slideshow at NAPSva.org/2019-Creek-Cleanup

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