News Flash

April 5, 2019 - FIVE THINGS TO DO!

• Oyster Gardening at Sunset Boating Center, April 6 (tomorrow), 9:30am, 800 South Armistead Avenue! More info at causink@hampton.gov.
• Hampton Clean City Commission Meeting, April 9, 3:30pm, HCCC Office, 1296 Thomas Street, presentation about Resilient Hampton, more info at hccc@hampton.gov.
• Hampton Waterways Restoration Project Meeting, April 11, 6:30pm, Fort Monroe Community Center, info at causink@hampton.gov.
• International Children’s Festival Litter-Free Event Volunteers Needed, Mill Point Park and Downtown Hampton, April 20, 10am – 5:00pm, volunteer to clean up throughout the festival area to keep trash out of the river. Sign up at hccc@hampton.gov. Volunteers also needed for Hampton Parks, Recreation, and Leisure Services to help throughout the festival from 7am – 7pm. for those opportunities fill out the attached volunteer application and follow instructions for submitting it to HPRLS.
• Walk Hampton Clean, April 20 - 27 – sign up before April 17th! Pick your day, spot, and time and make your part of Hampton clean and beautiful. We’ll provide cleanup equipment and trash bags. Our goal is to clean up the entire city during Earth Week! Sign up at https://hamptonmarketing.wufoo.com/forms/z1o5pr4p10cibga/. For info, causink@hampton.gov.

Spread the word!  Thanks!

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW!

• Oysters purify the Chesapeake Bay as they filter the water for their food. An adult oyster can filter as much as 50 gallons of water a day. – Chesapeake Bay Foundation Oyster Face Sheet FYI, you can garden oysters in waterways adjacent to your property or you can participate in public oyster gardening efforts in Hampton.
• According to a University of Wisconsin-Madison study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, trees play a big role in keeping our towns and cities cool. According to the study, the right amount of tree cover (40 percent) can lower summer daytime temperatures by as much as 10 degrees Fahrenheit. FYI, protect your trees – keep them mulched, properly pruned, and otherwise healthy to benefit your house and your neighborhood.
• No matter what the conditions are outside – snow, rain or sunshine – you should always pick up your pet’s waste [yes, even for cats]. It’s not only neighborly, it’s also for the health of you and your animal companions. Simple steps for picking up pet waste: Take a plastic bag; Put your hand in it; Pick up the waste; Invert the bag; Tie it off; Throw it in the trash. – The Importance of Picking Up After Your Pet, W. Jean Dodds, DVM.  FYI, your pet’s waste ends up in our soil and waterways, causing disease, smells, and water pollution.
• Over 51 billion pieces of litter appear on U.S. roadways each year. Most of it, 46.6 billion pieces (91%), is less than four inches. That’s 6,729 items per mile of roadway. – Keep America Beautiful Litter In America Fact Sheet, 2010  FYI, you can battle this litter by picking up litter when you see it. Approximately 80 percent of Hampton litter that’s not picked up ends up in our waterways.
• Some estimates suggest that 100 billion single-use plastic bags are thrown away in the U.S. every year. Currently, less than 5 percent of plastic bags are recycled annually in America, and single-use plastic bags are the fifth-most common single-use plastic found in the environment by magnitude. – “Kroger begins to eliminate single-use plastic bags”, by Fred Pace, The Herald-Dispatch, Huntington, West Virginia FYI, you can take your plastic bags and package wraps to most retail stores in Hampton for recycling. They DO NOT go into your curbside container or the public drop-off containers. 

Feel free to submit good things to know – just back them up with a source, please!