It’s forecast to be a sunny but chilly weekend ahead here in RVA, and neighbors can expect a lot of weekend visitors as the 6th Annual Shiver In The River celebration happens down at the riverfront and the Virginia War Memorial is having a grand opening for its finished expansion.

So, no raining on the parades, but worthy of some consideration-

Shiver In The River combines a lot of activities- a community clean up that helps keep our neighborhood and riverfront clean, a 5 kilometer walk/run that allows appreciation of the natural beauty of the area, and lastly, a group dip or ‘polar plunge’ into the James River designed to raise money for Keep Virginia Beautiful.

On the surface, all of these activities sound fun and worthwhile, and they might still be, but citizens should also be aware of the backstory- Keep Virginia Beautiful’s mission is programming that supports litter prevention, community outreach, education, recycling and beautification for the Commonwealth of Virginia. It started as an offshoot of Keep America Beautiful, a national organization that was founded in 1953 by group of businessmen from the beverage and packaging industries who were concerned that government would make them responsible for solving the litter problem by regulating their industries.

In the early 1970’s a new campaign was launched with the theme “People Start Pollution, People Can Stop It”. Environmentalists were not happy with the campaign theme and wanted KAB (Keep America Beautiful) to focus on making producers responsible for packaging waste, but the organization’s industry backers refused. In 1974 KAB publicly opposed California’s proposed bottle bill. However due to reactions that the organisation was self-serving, they decided to drop any official position on the issue. KAB changed their approach to promote alternatives to bottle bills instead. In 1975 KAB introduced a Clean Community System campaign which encouraged local communities to clean up their litter and had the effect of keeping interest in bottle bills at bay. In 1976, more than a dozen environmental and citizens groups quit KAB after a member of the board of directors called for the organization to oppose four upcoming bottle bills. In the 1980s the Clean Community System expanded and became more focussed on encouraging people to recycle. In the 1990s there was a new campaign theme “Let’s not waste the 1990’s” which purported to support a sensible strategy to managing waste with source reduction, recycling, composting, incineration and sanitary landfilling. In practice, however, the campaign did not attempt to implement any real methods or targets for achieving improvements. And so it goes…it should be noted that in recent years KAB have launched a cigarette butt litter prevention program with support of Philip Morris. As part of this they have undertaken a significant public service announcement campaign stressing the fact that cigarette butts are a significant pollutant and that the chemicals leaching from them into our soils and waterways are a severe environmental concern. And, the plastics industry has become an even greater support of Keep America Beautiful.

Locally, RVA Cleansweep and other groups have continued to work with Keep Virginia Beautiful, and that is understandable. (Editor’s note: I have taken part in the litter pick ups and the James River Jump in past Shiver In The Rivers). On the whole, the organization does great work and its leaders should be appreciated, but it’s important that the ‘greenwashing’ potential be explained and information shared. This is more important than ever now that we know that we can never recycle or ‘litter pickup’ our way out of the plastics crisis, and that this crisis is becoming more and more pressing.

In a similar vein, there are things to know about the Virginia War Memorial.

Where the War Memorial is today used to be Oregon Hill ‘proper’. Technically, what is known as Oregon Hill today was known as Belvidere Hill, a subsection of the original neighborhood. It’s important to recognize that part of the neighborhood was sacrificed for the Virginia War Memorial and that was not just ‘blank land’ where it stands today. From the National Parks Service:

“In 1847, the Harvie Family platted their property east of Belvidere and south of the penitentiary as the Oregon Hill subdivision. The community’s name came from the witty geographic observation that a pedestrian excursion trip from the center of Richmond to Oregon Hill seemed the equivalent of a trip to Oregon by the standards of the day. The original portion of Oregon Hill consisted of modest houses east of Belvidere and south of Spring Street. Its early occupants were a mixture of white and African American laborers and artisans. This area, just outside the boundary of the district, was demolished to construct the Virginia War Memorial and state office buildings.”

Oregon Hill residents hope the Virginia War Memorial will continue to be a good neighbor and help protect our river views.

Another thought is that, while most people are not against memorializing those who have died in battle, many do wish our country was expanding its peace efforts instead. The ‘endless’ foreign wars in the Middle East keep supplying a trickle of new names for the War Memorial. Some of the wars are ‘covert’, but the names keep coming. Between Hollywood Cemetery and the Virginia War Memorial, there are some strong solemn presences around the neighborhood.