Jennifer Currier | ARLnow.com

County Leaf Collection Starts Next Week

Published October 28, 2015 at 10:00AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_g57bBJX8RY

The leaves are falling, and the county is coming to take them away.

Arlington County’s leaf collection program is scheduled to start next week, eventually offering two ways for locals to rid their yards of leaves.

“We provide residents of the county opportunities to get rid of their leaves in an environmentally responsible way,” Solid Waste Bureau Chief Erik Grabowsky said in an informational video about the program (above).

Leaf bag collection begins on Monday. The county will collect full, biodegradable paper leaf bags the day after regular trash collection. The collection runs every weekday from Nov. 2 through Jan. 8, including all holidays except for Christmas and New Year’s Eve.

These biodegradable bags can be reused from last spring’s waste collection, purchased at hardware stores, or picked up from one of the following locations, while supplies last:

Aurora Hills Community Center, 735 18th St. S.
Courthouse Plaza Information Desk, 2100 Clarendon Blvd.
Lee Community Center & Park, 5722 Lee Highway
Long Branch Nature Center, 625 S. Carlin Springs Rd.
Lubber Run Community Center, 300 N. Park Dr.
Madison Community Center & Park, 3829 N. Stafford St.
Solid Waste Bureau, 4300 29th St. S.
Thomas Jefferson Community Center, 3501 2nd St. S.

Vacuum leaf collection will begin the following week on Nov. 9, running every Monday through Saturday until Dec. 17, excluding Thanksgiving. Residents are asked to rake leaves into piles along the curb, making sure the pile only has leaves in it and is clear of cars and storm sewers.

The vacuum will make two passes in each neighborhood, scheduled based on when the leaves in each area will fall.

“We did an analysis of the types of trees in the county [because] the leaves from various types of trees will fall at different times,” Grabowsky explained. “We’ve tweaked the schedule a little bit so we think we’ve actually now optimized our collection program for vacuuming. We’re hoping this year is as successful as last year.”

Part of ensuring this success is giving at least one weekend’s notice before a vacuum collection. Yellow signs around a neighborhood will indicate the vacuum’s first pass, and orange signs will indicate the second.

There’s also a tentative vacuum schedule, an interactive progress map and a Listserv for email updates about which neighborhoods are next on the schedule.

“We try to be thorough and diligent to make sure we don’t miss anybody,” Grabowsky added.

More information about how to prepare for leaf collection is available on the county’s website.

Photo via DES

Anti-DUI Campaign to Thank Sober Drivers in Clarendon This Weekend

By Jennifer Currier

Published October 27, 2015 at 11:05AM

This Halloween, patrons at select Arlington restaurants will be praised not for the creativity of their costumes, but for getting home safely.

Designated sober drivers will be publicly recognized this Friday night by Checkpoint Strikeforce and the Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP) as part of an anti-drunk driving campaign.

From 7:30 to 9:30 p.m., representatives from the campaign will be outside three Clarendon nightspots to thank designated drivers and those who choose to take public transportation, a taxi or ride sharing service home.

The three restaurants that will be reference points for the “surprise and delight” thanking events are:

Clarendon Ballroom at 3185 Wilson Blvd.
Spider Kelly’s at 3181 Wilson Blvd.
Don Tito at 3165 Wilson Blvd.

This year’s campaign is aimed at stopping people ages 21 to 35 from drinking and driving. According to a release, 36 percent of highway fatalities in Virginia last year were alcohol-related, and more than 40 percent of people killed in alcohol-related crashes were within the campaign’s target age range.

Festive holidays, like this weekend’s Halloween celebration, often see a spike in DUI-related incidents.

WRAP will also offer free taxi rides on Saturday through its SoberRide program.

File photo

Arlington Now Accepting ‘Notable Tree’ Nominations

By Jennifer Currier

Published October 26, 2015 at 4:45PM | Updated November 22, 2016 at 2:46PM

Arlington County is preparing to make its list of 265 designated “notable trees” a bit longer.

The Department of Parks and Recreation is accepting nominations for its Notable Tree Program through Nov. 15. The program has identified the county’s most notable trees for nearly 30 years.

Last year, 16 trees were deemed worthy of the designation.

According to the nomination form, the purpose of the program is to “recognize and thank the citizens who maintain and care for the County’s most noteworthy trees.” It also hopes encourage other residents to appreciate and take better care of greenery on their property.

What exactly, then, makes a tree notable?

Size, age, historical interest, species uniqueness and special significance to a neighborhood are all factors that can earn a tree a spot on the county’s registry and a certificate or plaque.

The process to get there, though, can be complicated. First, nominators are encouraged to get consent from the tree’s owner before filling out the one-page application. A team of County staff and volunteers will then visit each tree to measure it and evaluate its condition.

That team will make a recommendation to the Urban Forestry Commission, who will decide whether or not to designate and register the tree.

The winners will receive their award at the County’s Arbor Day ceremony, which falls on April 29, 2016.

Photo via Arlington Dept. of Parks and Recreation