Trash/Recycling Pickup Tomorrow

This Wednesday is a red Wednesday, which means trash and recycling pickup.

Ideally, rolling recycling containers are stored and deployed in the back alleys along with trash cans. Please make sure you pick up containers after pickup tomorrow night.

If you have not done so already, don’t forget to sign up for your Recycling Perks.

In order to take your recycling to the next level, read this: 10 ways to improve your recycling. There was a recent Richmond.com column on local recycling.

In state recycling news, Virginia Beach is offering residents a way to properly dispose of holiday cooking oil.

In national recycling news, an Albany, NY man claims Walmart fired him for recycling $5 in cans from their parking lot.

North Bank/Oregon Hill Plant List

Sample of a plant inventory:

Here is a list of all the plants I observed on our walk to North Bank (Oregon Hill end), broken up into sections.

Section 1: This section received a lot of south facing sun, had little to no canopy, was heavily disturbed, compacted poor soil, lots of foot and bicycle traffic, and subject to a lot of urban runoff and pollution.

Paper mulberry
privet (everywhere)
hackberry
Johnson grass
blackberry
honeysuckle (abundant)
pokeweed
lespidizia?
mimosa (abundant)
tree of heaven
black cherry tree
sweet gum
black locust
eastern red cedar
sweet potato vine
greenbiar
Virginia creeper
ragwort
dock
hops vine
daisy fleabane
morning glory
trumpet creeper
kudzu (abundant)
osage orange
bradford pear
sycamore
white pine?

Proposal To Ban Indoor Furniture From Porches And Yards

From Times Dispatch article:

A Richmond City Council panel on Tuesday advanced a proposal that would ban indoor furniture and mattresses from porches and yards.
The measure is less about dictating tasteful porch decor and more about giving the city recourse to collect discarded mattresses and couches, said Councilman Parker C. Agelasto, 5th District, who sponsored the measure.

At a public hearing on the two ordinances, Jean V. Capel, the city clerk, was the only person to speak.
She said she supported the furniture measure because indoor furniture left on porches spawns mold and can be a fire hazard.
The ordinance specifies that “use or storage of upholstered furniture, including mattresses, manufactured primarily for indoor use shall be prohibited on any front or side yard visible from any public place, sidewalk or road” or “any front or side porch.”
Colonial Heights, Henrico County and Emporia already have similar rules in place, according to a City Council member.
Residents cited for a violation would be fined $100, plus the cost of removing the furniture.

Oregon Hill has some experience with this.
img_0062-1024x768

Redistricting Proposals

Courtesy of Councilperson Parker Agelasto:

The Richmond Times-Dispatch had a great article about the court order redistricting for the US 3rd Congressional District held by Rep. Bobby Scott. The expert proposal brought in to review this case has recommended two proposals that would redistrict the City of Richmond into the US 4th Congressional District held by Rep. Randy Forbes. The following images allow for a comparison of the current and proposed redistricting that would change representation for Richmond voters.

currentproposal1proposal2

Indian Music At Main Library Saturday

The 2015-16 Gellman Room Concert season features a variety of concerts performed by musicians and composers from Richmond and across the country on Saturday afternoons at 2 pm in the Gellman Room of the Main Library.

This Saturday, Soumya Chakraverty will be playing sarod (Indian classical fretless string lute) accompanied by Souvik Ghosh on tabla (Indian percussion hand drum).

Here is a previous concert featuring Chakraverty: