Be Earth Friendly Everyday

Whether it's your yard, your home, a park or just a green spot in Arlington, there are numerous ways to help the Earth every day in Arlington:

• Save energy and money with our Home Energy Rebates.  Add insulation, upgrade your heating/cooling equipment, or replace your water heater.
• Choose among the daily Earth-friendly happenings in Arlington.
• Plant a tree.
• Volunteer to be a stream monitor by contacting Lily Whitesell at 703-228-3042.
• Become a regular spring and fall participant at E-CARE, giving a safe sendoff to Household Hazardous Materials (HHM) plus bikes, shoes and more - or use our HHM collection center other times.
• Explore StormwaterWise Landscapes and create your own rain garden, conservation landscape, or other project to improve water quality and create a beautiful habitat for birds and butterflies.
• Create your own rain barrel in one of our rain barrel workshops.

The County's Solid Waste Bureau helps Arlingtonians reduce waste every day through a variety of programs and services:

• Not sure if you should you recycle that? Our handy Where Does It Go? directory helps answer that question.

Recycling Tips:

• Place recycling containers in your laundry room, bathroom and garage as this can drastically reduce how much waste goes into the garbage in your home.
• When you take your plastic bags to the grocery store to be recycled, you can bring along many more types of plastic film materials. Check which grocery stores accept recycled plastic bags.
• Getting a lot of unwanted mail? Before placing it in the recycling bin, take a moment to remove your name from the company's mailing list. Arlington has partnered with Catalog Choice so you can register for the "Do Not Mail" list.
• Join the Arlington Freecycle group to exchange goods with neighbors instead of purchasing new items.
• Learn more about our new curbside year-round yard waste program.
• Learn about the County Board's Zero Waste Resolution, which aims to divert 90 percent of the County's waste by 2038.

You can also visit one of Arlington's eight public libraries and online, offering numerous programs to help you be more eco-friendly:

• Need to measure how much energy your home appliances are using? Borrow a Kill A Watt meter at any Library location.
• Check out the energy lending library to learn about saving energy, monitor your energy usage, check out LED bulbs, and more!
• Need to dispose of old CFL bulbs? You can drop those off at at Central, Aurora Hills and Plaza.

Visit one of the County's engrossing nature centers listed below, register for a nature event or improve your yard with some native plants at our spring native plant sale.

• Gulf Branch Nature Center - Gulf Branch is nestled in lovely park settings and are staffed with friendly and knowledgeable people. They provide interpretive environmental education programs for all ages and for a wide variety of audiences including small groups. It features exhibits, children’s Discovery Room, pollinator garden, live animal exhibit room, pond, restored log cabin, observation bee hive and more.
• Long Branch Nature Center - Long Branch Nature Center features exhibits, a children’s Discovery Room, live animal displays, interpretive gardens, a viewing pond and space for birthday parties. The Center hosts year-round programs and special events, including story times, campfires, invasive plant removals and nature walks. It’s located in a beautiful setting that offers a natural habitat for bird watching and other outdoor activities. There are sightings of everything from woodpeckers to wood ducks and warblers.
• Bon Air Rose Garden - Bon Air Park features a beautiful memorial rose garden that is often a chosen location for wedding photos. The Arlington Rose Foundation serves as partner to advise on and help promote planting. Enjoy the azalea, shade, sun and ornamental tree gardens. Master Gardeners of Arlington maintain sun and shade gardens to use as teaching tools for local gardeners.

The Arlington Initiative to Rethink Energy team can help with

• Renovating or building a new home with the Green Home Choice program.
• 15 ideas to reduce energy use that are all under $15.
• Going solar with homes and commercial buildings.
• Connecting environmentally savvy building owners with private investors.