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!
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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!
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/.
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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.
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LAST CALL FOR TOUR DE TRASH EXPRESS TO THE STEAM PLANT! 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.
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HELP PLANT TREES NOVEMBER 7 AT ARMISTEAD POINTE!
We’re partnering with Hampton Public Works to plant a bunch of trees and shrubs around the storm pond at Armistead Pointe. You know where it is – but you know it better as Boo Williams Sportsplex. We’ll be planting on November 7 from 9am to around noon. This project will involve carrying trees, digging holes, covering roots with soil, and watering the trees after they’re planted, so we’ll need all the muscle you can lend.
To sign up for the Armistead Pointe tree planting or for information, contact hccc@hampton.gov or call 727-1130.
NEWS YOU CAN USE!
HALLOWEEN IS ON OUR DOORSTEP! MAKE IT A CLEAN ONE!
Halloween is such a fun time of the year! We don’t know how the pandemic will change participation and Trick or Treating this year, but one thing is for sure. There will be candy. And where there is candy, there are candy wrappers. Please ask your children to PROMISE to throw their candy wrappers in the garbage when they get their candy. They’ll be helping Hampton and our waterways stay clean!
If you have a jack-o’-lantern sitting on your steps, consider composting it or cutting it up to feed to the wildlife rather than throwing it away. However, if you’ve painted it, into the trash it will need to go.
For more information, contact the Hampton Clean City Commission at hccc@hampton.gov or 757-727-1199.
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BALLOONS ARE LITTER TOO!
From Clean Virginia Waterways webpage: “More than 11,400 balloons, balloon pieces and attachments were found on Virginia’s most remote beaches by Clean VA Waterways' researchers as part of a five-year study of balloon litter in coastal environments of Virginia. Balloon litter was the #1 most frequently found type of marine debris on these beaches.
This report is a companion to the 2017 report: "Balloon Release Research in Virginia & Reducing Balloon Debris through Community-Based Social Marketing"”
When they are released (littered), as far too many are, they float up and either float down because the helium escapes or they 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.
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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.
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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”.