Recycling Comes to Richmond in a BIG Way

Early next year, some garbage collection routes will be selected as the first to participate in Richmond's new recycling program. Homeowners and residents of apartment buildings with four or fewer units will receive a new giant green cart with a blue lid. Put all your recyclable items such as paper, No. 1 and No. 2 plastics, cardboard, junk mail, newspapers, glass bottles, aluminum and tin cans in this bin instead of your regular trash can and it will be picked up every other week on your regular trash collection day.

Six thousand 95-gallon cans will be distributed during the first phase of the program, made possible by a $420,000 grant from a recycling nonprofit organization. These carts will go to neighborhoods with alley trash pickup. Recipients will receive postcards in the mail explaining when the carts will arrive and how to use them. The carts will have electronic tracking tags, so they can be traced if stolen.

By the end of 2015, all city residents will have the cans.

Central Virginia Waste Management Authority will administer the recycling program. The total cost of supplying carts to all 61,000 city households is approximately $3.2 million, but will save $26,000 per year by reducing the amount of regular trash collected and buried in the landfills and reuse of materials will have an economic value of $6.5 million.

Once the program is fully operational, the small, 18-gallon recycling bins will no longer be collected. Residents living in apartment buildings and condos larger than four units should use the recycling containers provided by their building management.

Bus Rapid Transit Due in October 2017

GRTC, along with the City of Richmond and Henrico County, is preparing to introduce RVA’s first Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line along a 7.6 mile corridor from Rocketts Landing to Willow Lawn, in October 2017. 

BRT buses will run frequently and make fewer stops, serving 14 stations that offer more amenities than traditional bus stops. To improve trip times, riders will pay for their trip before boarding the bus, using off-board payment stations.

GRTC will unveil the name of the BRT service, logo and vehicle design in Spring 2015.

City Adopts Complete Streets Policy

The City of Richmond achieved another milestone toward becoming a bike and pedestrian friendly city by adopting a Complete Streets Policy in October. Complete Streets is a transportation policy and design approach that helps make communities healthier, more livable, economically competitive and resilient. They are streets designed and operated to be safe, comfortable and convenient for all users regardless of age, ability or mode of travel.

Adopting a Complete Streets Policy was a recommendation of the Mayor’s Pedestrian, Bicycling and Trails Commission, the City’s RVAgreen Sustainability Plan, Richmond Connects and the Green City Commission. The policy outlines the design and construction standards for sidewalks, public ways and public rights-of-way and requires that City transportation improvement projects provide appropriate accommodations to promote safe usage for all users.

The City Administration is working to develop guidelines for implementing complete streets in the City of Richmond as required by the City’s Complete Streets Policy. As detailed in Resolution 2014-R172-170, the City Administration has 12 months to develop implementation guidelines and incorporate those into the City’s “Right-of-Way Design and Construction Standards Manual.”

Pedaling for a Cleaner America

Keep Virginia Beautiful (KVB) hosted a cleanup in June 2014 in honor of Pedaling For A Cleaner America. Volunteers picked up litter from the park along Dock Street and the start of Virginia Capital Trail near 17th Street, continued to 14th Street and proceeded across Mayo Bridge.

John Deuel, the recently retired recycling coordinator for the City of Norfolk and Keep Norfolk Beautiful, has been rode his bike across America beginning in April 2014 to raise funds and awareness for Keep America Beautiful and bicycle safety for kids. He did cleanups at some of his stops across America but Richmond’s event was a focal point.

With the World Road Cycling Championships coming to Richmond in September 2015, the Virginia Capital Trail and the numerous biking initiatives growing, KVB is hoping to capitalize on the biking craze. Partners in this endeavor were the Richmond Clean City Commission, Richmond 2015, Virginia Capital Trail, City of Richmond Sustainability–RVA Green, James River Association and the many biking groups across the RVA region.

Keep Virginia Beautiful’s mission is to engage and unite Virginians to improve our natural and scenic environment. Since 1953, KVB has been bringing people together to build vibrant communities through litter prevention, waste reduction, recycling, beautification, and education. Get involved with KVB to help deliver a positive and lasting impact by visiting www.keepvirginiabeautiful.org.

Using Food Waste to Grow New Food

Natural Organic Process Enterprises (NOPE) collects compostable waste from institutions, restaurants, schools, and businesses, and through an agreement with Enrichmond, turns the waste into compost for use by Enrichmond's participating partners. Companies that qualify but have no use for the compost get credits instead, and they can use the credits to donate compost to non-profits.

Recently, for instance, Watkins Nursery matched the Hilton Garden Hotel's donation to the Richmond Grows Gardens program for use at the Crafty Kids community garden at 404 Broad Rock Road and the Owl Orchard community garden at 801 W. 44th Street. The goal is to get all the community gardens as much compost as they need.

Organic waste recycling is a growing trend and is part of a comprehensive sustainability plan. Organic waste is anything that once lived or grew. NOPE focuses primarily on food waste and provides the logistical know-how for companies and institutions to support organic recycling by separating food waste from recyclable and non-recyclable waste. NOPE provides instruction and materials to partners to get them started, schedules and provides small batch collection and transportation to accredited compost facilities.

The Hilton Garden Inn in downtown Richmond composts all of its food waste, supports recycling projects in local schools, and collects used soap for recycling in support of international mission projects. The hotel won the 2013 Virginia Green Travel Star award.

We Won the Bell Helmets Dream Trail Project Grant!

Richmond won the East Coast region of the Dig This competition sponsored by Bell Helmets. The local project is one of three nationwide to receive an equal share of $100,000.

Developers of the Richmond Regional Ride Center will use the money to rehabilitate 15 miles of existing mountain bike trail and construct an additional 20 miles at Pocahontas State Park, offering trails at a variety of skill levels. That would help efforts to designate the area an International Mountain Bicycling Association Ride Center, of which there are only 17 currently in the country.

The city collaborated with the state and Chesterfield County to be designated as an IMBA Ride Center, the first urban-focused ride center by virtue of our great--and expanding--mountain bike trails. Pocahontas State Park will see additional trails, including some designed specifically for access by hand cyclists--with an emphasis on paralyzed vets. Getting greenways and on-road routes built will also be central to linking these amenities in Richmond and Chesterfield.

Bike Master Plan

The city's Bike Master Plan is nearing completion. The commission has been working with a consulting team to develop a network of proposed bike routes throughout the city and is now opening the draft for public review and comment.

An online interactive map has been created that allows users to log comments and draw their suggested edits on the map.

A commission meeting is scheduled for May 14, 2-4 p.m., on the 5th floor of City Hall to discuss the recommendations and plan.

A Bike Master Plan Open House is scheduled for Wednesday, May 14, 6-8 p.m., at the Carillon in Byrd Park to present the network maps and recommendations, and engage in dialogue on what needs to be refined. Maps and moderators will be on hand to facilitate discussions and suggested edits to the network.

The network recommendations will serve as the blueprint for better bike infrastructure, so the commission needs stakeholders to provide critical feedback. Please read the map instructions, particularly the part about turning off other comments so you can better navigate the map. If you can't see the whole screen, use scroll bars on the bottom and left. The map can pinpoint specific locations as well as draw routes and provide comments associated with them. In particular, the commission needs feedback on:

• Route recommendations. Did they capture the right streets? Are critical streets or destinations missing. Remember this is limited to the city limits.
• Problem locations -- Any bad intersections or segments that need addressing?
• Facility type -- The legend shows the types of facilities proposed. Determine if the recommended infrastructure is appropriate for that route.

Stormwater Sentries Facebook Game

The Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, in partnership with Timmons Group and SRRN Games, have produced a Facebook game, Stormwater Sentries, designed to educate the public about how their actions impact local streams, rivers, and the Chesapeake Bay.

Game players take on missions to clean up trash, pick up after their pet, plant native trees, shrubs, flowers and rain gardens, reduce impervious surfaces, install rain barrels, and more environmental related activities.
As missions are completed, the player sees water quality improve in the local stream and they qualify for advanced missions to restore the stream buffer to provide a habitat for wildlife.

On Facebook, go to www.facebook.com/stormwatersentriesgame.

GRTC Opens Natural Gas Fueling Stations

Earth Hour

The City of Richmond participated in the global initiative known as Earth Hour on March 29. Earth Hour is a World Wildlife Fund campaign that encourages individuals, businesses and governments to turn all non-essential lights off for one hour. Through this symbolic action, participants show leadership and make a commitment to ongoing change that reduces their impact on the environment.

The City of Richmond participated in Earth Hour for the second year by turning off all non-essential lights at 21 city facilities including the John Marshall Courthouse, the Juvenile Courts Building, Public Works fleet garage on Hopkins Road, Parker Field warehouse, Manchester Courthouse, Marshall Street Plaza Services Center, Police Training Academy, Main Library and all branches, Emergency Operations Center, Public Safety Building, and the Utilities Operations Center.

  

The City also instructed employees in other City buildings to turn off all task lighting, computers, printers, copiers, etc. to further illustrate the administration’s dedication to reducing the city’s carbon footprint, as well as being a better steward of city tax dollars through efficiency and sustainability.

“I am extremely pleased that Richmond City government participated in Earth Hour again this year,” said Mayor Dwight C. Jones. “My administration continues to be deliberate in making Richmond a more sustainable city. We have worked to make our infrastructure more efficient, replacing older City fleet vehicles with new vehicles that operate on compressed natural gas, building to LEED Silver certification standards, and we are continuing to work with the community on projects such as increased recycling, community gardens and rain barrels.”

The City of Richmond is also a proud participant in the Earth Hour City Challenge. The Challenge invites cities to submit their innovative actions towards creating a greener, cleaner and more sustainable city via an internationally recognized carbon reporting platform.

Since 2010, the City has saved more than $2.2 million as a result of its energy efficiency and sustainability efforts. The savings will continue into the future averaging $940,000 per year in annualized savings. These efforts include enhancing the efficiency of the City’s vehicle fleet with new Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) vehicles; lighting, roof, and facility upgrades in City buildings, including libraries and recreation centers; and the City’s Green Government Team that consist of City employees volunteering to find energy savings within their departments.

The City is also in the process of upgrading lighting controls at City Hall to enable non-essential lights to be turned off in the building after business hours and on weekends. Lighting timers have been installed on all floors in the interior hallways and elevator lobbies. Lighting controls are currently in the design process for office areas throughout the building.

As the City continues to pursue increased sustainability, it also encourages residents and businesses to find ways they can become more sustainable. Here are some ways residents and businesses can start saving money and reducing their environmental impact:

• Turn thermostats down in the winter and up in the summer

• Install more efficient heating and A/C units

• Install energy saving lights and devices and turn off non-essential lights during the day

• Replace windows with high efficiency windows

• Caulk and weather-strip your home or business

• Upgrade insulation

• Change washer temperature settings from hot or warm to cold

• Carpool to work

• Buy an alternate fuel vehicle or a fuel efficient vehicle (getting 30+ mpg) or get

   frequent tune-ups and air filter changes on your current vehicle

• Recycle

• Install rain barrels and rainwater harvesting tanks to water gardens and lawns

For more information on Earth Hour go to www.earthhour.org.

For more information on the City of Richmond’s participation in the Earth Hour City Challenge go to www.earthhour.org/citychallenge.

To learn more about Richmond’s RVAgreen: A Roadmap to Sustainability plan go to www.RichmondGov.com/sustainability.