From the Charlottesville Community Engagement newsletter Solar facility planned near Batesville The Albemarle Board of Supervisors amended its zoning ordinance in 2017 to allow property owners to petition for permission to install solar panels on fields in order to generate a large scale amount of …
Master Gardener Events on Zoom
Bev emailed me asking if I’d do a story about this Master Gardener event series, “In this time of COVID, many have turned to gardening as one of the ways to enjoy the outdoors, reduce stress and reap concrete rewards for the work.” She obliged …
Update on Recycling in Crozet
When I spoke last spring to Tom Frederick about the opening of the center in Fluvanna who can take all recyclables for 49 a ton, I asked why we cannot use their facility until we have the money to do something ourselves. … RWSA Bulky Waste and Household Hazardous and Business Hazardous Waste Amnesty Day — the spring dates when tires, appliances, and household waste can be dumped for free at the landfill have not yet been set, but when they are set they will be available at http://avenue.org/rswa/ 3.
Crozet Gateway Moving forward
Take a picture of the intersection of 240 and 250…. the Board of Supervisors approved a site plan for a new development at a key intersection in Crozet. The Crozet Gateway project will redevelop a 2 acre site at the corner of Route 240 and Route 250 near Brownsville Elementary School. The existing convenience store will be replaced with two multi-story commercial buildings, a use allowed by-right on the property.
Recycling in Crozet Poll
With all the talk of recycling in Crozet and the discussion on the Crozet Community Association listserv, I figured I would post a poll here, hopefully for a centralized location for responses.So, without further ado …Please vote, tell and/or email your friends about this poll. For more information on what you can do to advocate for recycling in Crozet, read more here.
One small step towards environmental sustainability in Crozet
He speaks from experience, as he built his own “net-zero” house in Charlottesville–a house that costs $30 per month to operate completely and often earns (rather than costs) him money from the power company, due to its solar panels…. Folks there had other good, immediate, and easy suggestions for ways to make your own energy use more efficient:-turn off your computer (and everything else) at night-put a timer on your hot water heater so that it works in the morning and evening, but not all day, when there’s no one there -buy only energy efficient appliances, such as “Energy Star” appliances–front loading washing machines, for exampleBigger changes you can make:-install a geothermal heating system (will pay for itself in 7 years, according to Mr. Brown) -install solar panels to make use of the sun’s energy–a 2400 square foot house could install a $20,000 system and run coal/nuclear power free — if that sounds daunting, realize that just about ANY roof space can be utilized to collect solar energy Mr Brown suggests that if you are building a new house, you can make it a “Net Zero” house–that is, a house that costs nothing for energy use–by paying 15 – 25% more per square foot…. Work for things already in place in many states –rebates for installing solar panels; a deal in which people using solar power get paid the peak rate for the energy their panels produce, and pay the non-peak rate for whatever energy they use off of the grid…. Good news: Albemarle County has joined the Kyoto Protocols and has also changed to LED lights in all of its traffic lights and exit lights, reducing energy use enormously.I left the meeting inspired, ready to make a difference instantly in my own home and more slowly but surely in my community.