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TextNews to Use Podcast Transcript: March 24, 2010
Good day, and welcome to the Fairfax County News to Use podcast for March 24, 2010. Coming up, learn about environmental spring cleaning, watershed cleanup days, and debris management.
Clean Fairfax Council and the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District encourage residents and homeowner associations to coordinate a community clean up for spring! Organized clean up days are a great way to meet your neighbors and improve your neighborhood at the same time.
During rainfall, trash from neighborhoods and streets washes into storm drains which channel runoff into the nearest creek. All Fairfax County creeks eventually flow into the Potomac River, our source of drinking water, and then the Chesapeake Bay. Picking up litter from your neighborhoods keeps it out of our waterways and away from wildlife.
Studies suggest that cleaning up a community helps it stay cleaner by discouraging future littering. Clean neighborhoods usually show higher property values as well, and in some cases, less crime.
Free clean up supplies--such as trash and recycling bags and gloves--as well as tips on how to have a successful neighborhood clean up are available through Clean Fairfax Council at www.cleanfairfax.org. Supplies can be picked up at the Council’s office or sent to your supervisor’s district office. Contact the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District at 703-324-1422.
Eight Park Authority sites are seeking volunteers to don work gloves and lend a hand in picking up everything from plastic bottles and bags to discarded mattresses, rusting auto parts, old appliances, rubber tires and other debris illegally dumped in local waterways. Since 1990, volunteers have helped improve the health of the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay downstream by removing trash from streams and creeks close to home. Volunteers may choose from two scheduled cleanup dates: Saturday, March 27 and Saturday, April 10, 2010.
Cleanups will begin at 9 a.m. and conclude around noon. Removing trash from the watershed is messy work. Participants are encouraged to wear boots, old clothes, and to bring gloves. Trash bags and appreciation will be provided.
For a a list of and sites contact the Park Authority at 703-324-8680.
Residents have begun the process of cleaning up the large amounts of debris left in the wake of record-breaking snow accumulation. While the Fairfax County Park Authority and the Virginia Department of Transportation are responsible for tree debris on county park land and on public roadways, debris on residential property is the responsibility of the property owner.
All trash and recycling collection companies that provide service to Fairfax County residents are required to collect up to ten bundles, bags or containers of brush placed at their customers’ curbsides as long as the brush is less than four feet in length, weighs less than 50 pounds and no piece is larger than six inches in diameter. All residents should contact their trash collection service provider to arrange pickup of larger quantities of debris and material thicker than six inches.
County residents living in established sanitary districts pay a service fee in addition to their annual tax assessment for trash and recycling collection service provided by the Fairfax County Division of Solid Waste Collection and Recycling. These county collection customers receive five special collections annually at no additional charge as part of their standard service. County collection customers may contact the Customer Service Center at 703-802-3322 to schedule a special collection for debris.
That’s all for this News to Use podcast. Thanks for listening. For more information about the topics in this podcast and for continuous news updates, visit www.fairfaxcounty.gov/news. You may also call 703-FAIRFAX, that’s 703-324-7329, weekdays between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. News to Use is produced by the Fairfax County, Virginia, government.
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