FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. – The official ‘Making Trash Bloom’ signs were installed today at the new pollinator meadow high atop the county’s I-66 Transfer Station in the Springfield District. They were unveiled during a ‘Lunch at the Landfill’ event held jointly by the Department of Public Works and Environmental Services and Sustainability Matters, a grassroots environmental non-profit based in the Northern Shenandoah and Piedmont regions. The meadow is on approximately one acre of land, which was cleared and seeded with native perennial wildflowers in mid-October. The flowers will be pollinated next spring by bees and butterflies. This is the first of two phases of the project.
By implementing ‘Making Trash Bloom’, DPWES is enhancing our community’s natural resources and providing an example of the usefulness and viability of native plants. The new meadow is a showpiece of nature that will be visible as residents drop off recycling and food scraps. Hopefully, they will see the meadow as something they can plant in their own yards or neighborhood. DPWES solid waste team did the planting, working collaboratively with Sustainability Matters to make it a reality.
The new meadow aligns with the County’s "Natural Landscape Policy" under which the Solid Waste Management Program has installed native plants and trees at I-66 as part a site modernization project. ‘Making Trash Bloom’ also gives the county a unique opportunity to scale up its conservation impact by creating yet another exciting opportunity for community outreach.
This project is an excellent complement to SWMP’s work with George Mason University’s Honeybee Initiative, where we host three beehives at the I-95 Landfill and have pollinator meadows converted from traditional turf cover.
Since 2019 Sustainability Matters has implemented three ‘Making Trash Bloom’ projects in the Commonwealth.
People posing in front of Make Trash Bloom sign atop of newly seeded hill at I-66 Transfer Station
Attendees scattering seeds across the pollinator meadow
SWMP Director of Operations Hans Christensen speaks to crowd of people about history of the newly planted pollinator meadow.
Sustainability Matters Executive Director Sari Carp talks to crowd of people about the joint effort between her organization and Fairfax County.
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