Earth Week is upon us, and local resiliency group Transition Charlottesville Albemarle is encouraging you to fire your dryer. At 5pm on Friday, April 25, the group will hold a pop-up clothesline party near the Central Place fountain on the Downtown Mall to share information about renewable energy alternatives for clothes drying. The event will include games, a raffle, and a demo on making laundry detergent at home. For more information visit www.transitioncville.org/fireyourdryer.
Have some space that needs filling in your backyard? Check out the Virginia Native Plant Society’s (VNPS) annual native plant sale. On Sunday, April 27, volunteers will gather at the Ivy Creek Natural Area with a selection of more than 50 species, like Virginia bluebell, wild columbine, Jacob’s ladder, wild ginger, and trillium. Most perennials are $4, and most trees and shrubs are $6. All proceeds will support the VNPS Jefferson Chapter’s educational and conservation efforts.
On Tuesday, April 15, a U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the Environmental Protection Agency’s mercury and air toxics standards for power plants, a clean air safeguard that will reduce harmful emissions from power plants including mercury, lead, arsenic, and acid gases. Charlottesville-based Southern Environmental Law Center attorney John Suttles said the decision “secures critically important safeguards for people’s health, particularly in the Southeast, where people are vulnerable to some of the largest concentrations of coal-fired power plants in the country.”
Each week, C-VILLE’s Green Scene page takes a look at local environmental news. The section’s bulletin board has information on local green events and keeps you up to date on statewide happenings. Got an event or a tip you’d like to see here and in the paper? Write us at news@c-ville.com.