Portola Valley Update April 27, 2023

This week's update:

• Great News - Next Step to Permitting Software Upgrade - Staff Training Monday, May 1st through Thursday, May 4th
• Wildfire Preparedness Committee Tip -Thank you for supporting the PV Wildfire Preparedness Fair!
• Woodside Fire Chipper Program Begins in May
• Neighborhood Cleanup Day- April 29
• Portola Valley Trivia Night: Got Brain?? Get Social!!
• Conservation Committee- What's Blooming Now
• Tips from the Sustainability Committee - Single-Use Plastics
• Upcoming Events

Neighborhood Cleanup Day

Saturday, April 29, from 8 to 11 am

Please note: No items will be accepted after 11 am

Get ready for the next Neighborhood Clean-Up Day! This event is free for Portola Valley residents - you will need to bring a copy of your GreenWaste garbage bill or the mailer insert as proof of residency.

Please note -

• There will be NO medication drop off available
• Goodwill will not be at the Clean-Up Day.
• Hazardous materials are not accepted

If you do come early and see a long line please come back later. The lines were a lot shorter after 10 am.

Portola Valley Trivia Night: Got Brain?? Get Social!!

Come join your neighbors and enjoy a fun-filled evening of banter and impractical information!

Saturday, May 13th, from 6pm to 10pm at the Community Hall. (Trivia will start promptly at 7pm.) Snacks and beverages will be available to keep your neurons firing.

SPACE IS LIMITED! Form a team or register yourself individually. For more details and to register, visit www.portolavalley.net/trivianight

Trivia Night is happily brought to you by the Parks & Recreation Committee :-)

Conservation Committee- What’s Blooming Now?

Mid - Spring Wildflowers

Here is a selection of local wildflowers, that bloom in April. You can expand small patches by clearing any weeds around the bases of the plants you’d like to encourage. Weed-whacking around them works well on larger areas.

Single Use Plastics

Three hundred million tons of plastic is produced each year worldwide and half is for single use. We now know that 10% or less of plastic is actually recycled (mostly types #1 and #2). Read How Big Oil Misled The Public Into Believing Plastic Would Be Recycled, and learn why. Plastic items mostly end up in landfill or discarded into the ocean, persisting for decades.

But there are things you can do! Reducing your plastic use is the most effective way to avoid creating plastic waste and minimizing the impacts of plastic production:

• There are companies emerging in the Bay Area that will refill your containers of cleaning supplies – laundry detergent, dish soap, hand soap, etc. – thus keeping those big plastic bottles out of landfill. Try refilling at Byrd's Filling Station in San Mateo, Country Sun in Palo Alto, or Fillgood in Berkeley. Or consider a refilling service like Blueland or Grove Collaborative.
• Making simple swaps, like reusable water bottles and coffee cups, can spare the environment hundreds of pounds of plastic each year. Select food (cream cheese, dairy, soft drinks) sold in glass, cardboard, or aluminum containers rather than plastic. Use biodegradable trash bags and compostable plates and utensils if they must be disposable.
• Buy reusable silicon storage bags instead of plastic zip lock bags. New ones are sturdy, reusable, and washable. In the meantime, washing and reusing your existing plastic zip lock storage bags reduces the production of hundreds of new plastic bags a year.
• Carry your own washable/reusable shopping and produce bags and use your own (washable) containers for bulk items. Even grocery stores like Whole Foods will weigh and mark your containers brought from home.
• Consider your clothing choices and choose natural fibers instead of polyester or mixed fabrics.

Each of us making small changes can make a difference to our community and our planet, and these changes will soon become new habits and examples for our friends and our children.