Scoop the Poop for Jasper!

Arf! Arf! I’m calling on all my dog friends to be like Jasper and tell their owners to scoop the poop!

Jasper—RIP--was the first dog volunteer to help Lynnhaven River Now with this campaign.

Over a decade ago (before my time), Jasper sat and stayed for this zany photograph, created by his owner John Koehler.   Arf! Arf!

Jasper has been a role model for good dogs ever since. He urged folks to scoop the poop everywhere, whether in their yard, in someone else’s yard, in the park or on the beach. Three bones for Jasper!

Jasper knew that when Lynnhaven River Now first started its campaign to clean up the river, up to a third of the pollution in the river could be from dog waste!  Grrrrr!

He also learned that bacteria from dog poop flows into the river not only from riverfront property but also from storm drains all over the northern part of the city! Grrrrrr!

Jasper would tell you that every new dog owner has to be educated about the importance of scooping the poop to keep the river clean.  Arf! Arf!

That means dogs, like me, though we will never be as famous as Jasper, have to step up to the plate. Arf! Arf!

Bring your owners and come to see and bark with me and other good dog volunteers at LRN’s Fall Festival October 11 at Rosemont Forest Elementary School and at the Virginia Beach SPCA’s Walk for the Animals on October 19 at the Oceanfront’s 31^st Street Park.

Tell your owners if they sign LRN’s scoop the poop pledge, we’ll give you a scoop the poop scarf and even put your photo on the Scoop the Poop-Virginia Beach Facebook page.

Help me keep Jasper’s legacy alive!   Scoop the poop and keep the river clean.  Arf! Arf!

Barked by Sam to his person, Mary Reid Barrow 

Celebrating 325 Years of Faith on the Lynnhaven

In the late 1600s a small congregation of people joined together on the North Branch of Wolfsnare Creek on the Lynnhaven River. With faith and hope they built the first of several buildings that would become the center of their community. Churches were built along the waterways as “rivers were the highways and flat-bottomed skiffs were used by those who lived too far to come on foot.”*  To those sturdy settlers, the river was a lifeline, providing food, as well as transportation for themselves and their incoming and outgoing goods. Their art and early writings tell us that they loved and appreciated its beauty much as we do today.

This weekend, three hundred and twenty five years later, Eastern Shore Chapel Episcopal Church celebrated their anniversary and amazing survival with continuous service to the community. Though, sadly the original members would find the Lynnhaven drastically changed today with a population of 447,021 still mostly centered around the river, we have practically loved her to death.  However, they would also be proud to see their current congregants renewing their faith, hope, and stewardship, as they have become part of the Pearl Faith Community partnering with Lynnhaven River NOW.  As part of their conservation landscaping they have already installed rain barrels and planted natives in their school butterfly garden. Future plans include a rain garden to decrease storm water run-off, and native plantings for a labyrinth and prayer garden. Their celebration party was a carefully planned Zero Trash event, ending up with approximately 400 gallons of compostable materials, 96 gallons of recyclables, and only 2.5 gallons of landfill trash! They also collected 4,000 oyster shells for oyster restoration!

On Sunday we were happy to present them with their Pearl Faith Award Banner, a beautifully handcrafted depiction of a “slice” of the river, complete with oysters and pearl. We applaud this congregation who, with simple acts of stewardship, are now working to save their beloved river so that it will continue to be a source of sustenance and joy for future members in the next three hundred and twenty five years. 

Find more information about Eastern Shore Chapel here.

Written by Pam Northam, Pearl Faith Coordinator, LRNow

*Excerpt from The History of Eastern Shore Chapel and Lynnhaven Parish, 1642-1969, written by Louisa Venable Kyle, 2006.

Save those Oyster Shells for Restoration!

Having an Oyster Roast or Clam Bake? Save those Shells!

Save Oyster Shells (S.O.S.) for the Lynnhaven. If your organization (or you personally) have an oyster roast coming up, give us a call! We will pick up the oyster shell following your roast, and they will be cured and later used on a sanctuary oyster reef! Call 962-5398 or email.

In the Summer of 2006, Lynnhaven River NOW launched a pilot program with 8 Virginia Beach restaurants as well as public donations to gather and recycle oyster and clam shells which were used to build our LRNow/Athey Island Oyster Reef in the Spring of 2008. The pilot program was so successful, it is now an ongoing program in partnership with the City of Virginia Beach.

Look for the blue trash cans labeled "Shell Only" at these Public Drop-off Sites for your Oyster and Clam shells:

• Lynnhaven River NOW office, Brock Environmental Center, 3663 Marlin Bay Dr, Virginia Beach, VA 23455 (near the parking lot entrance from Marlin Bay Dr, set atop a wooden platform)
• Lynnhaven River NOW satellite office, 1608 Pleasure House Road, Suite 108. 
• VA Aquarium in the Satellite Parking Lot, 717 General Booth Blvd. (This is the parking lot ACROSS General Booth Blvd. from the main Aquarium building.) 
• Welton's Seafood, 940 Laskin Road, Virginia Beach
• Virginia Beach Landfill, 1989 Jake Sears Road, ask for directions at the gate.

Check out a video of how we collect our shell here:

Here is our own version of the Virginia Beach Oyster (shellfish) Trail! These VB Restaurants are saving their oyster & clam shells for us, and we hope you will patronize them and thank them for their participation:

• 21^st Street Seafood Company, 2106 Pacific Avenue
• Abbey Road Restaurant, 203 22nd Street
• Blue Seafood and Spirits, 2181 Upton Drive, Suite 420
• Bubba's, 3323 Shore Drive
• Captain George's, 1956 Laskin Road
• Chick's Oyster Bar, 2143 Vista Circle
• Coastal Grill, 1427 N. Great Neck Road, #104
• CP Shuckers, 1400 Atlantic Avenue
• CP Shuckers, 3232 Shore Drive
• Croakers, 3629 Shore Drive
• Croc's 19^th Street Bistro, 620 19th Street
• Dockside, 3311 Shore Drive
• Five 01 City Grill, 501 North Birdneck Road
• Harpoon Larry's, 216 24th Street
• Lucky Oyster, 2165 General Booth Boulevard
• Metropolitan Oyster Exchange, 972 Laskin Road
• Ocean Eddie's, 1506 Atlantic Avenue
• Rockafeller's, 308 Mediterranean Avenue
• Salt, 1716 Pleasure House Road, #101
• Sheraton Oceanfront Hotel,3501 Atlantic Avenue
• Steinhilber's, 653 Thalia Road
• Swan Terrace, 5641 Indian River Road
• Tautog's, 205 23rd Street
• Yukai Seafood Buffet, 1952 Laskin Road

Plastic Wasteland

Last week, an endangered 45-foot sei whale made the local news. Unfortunately, it was not good news. Several days after the New York Times had published an article titled, "Choking the Oceans with Plastic," this sei whale was discovered to have a 3"x5" broken plastic DVD case lodged in its stomach (find that article here). 

(photo credit: Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center)

The female sei whale was thin and there was no food found in her stomach. To think that a 45-foot behemoth beauty such as this could be brought down by such a small bit of plastic! It is no stretch of the imagination to think of the detriment to other species in an ocean plagued by plastic covering 40% of its surface, or 25% of the entire earth.

(photo credit: strangesounds.org)

As of yet, there is no viable solution to clearing these giant plastic garbage gyres covering our oceans. The best solution still remains prevention. People must understand that their garbage and trash must go somewhere, and too often, that somewhere is into the water, through their storm drain (either blowing there or washing there by water), by blowing or washing directly to roadside waterways, or from beaches. (I remain amazed by the number of solo cups and cigarette butts I routinely find scattered on my morning beach walks!) 

(photo credit: motherjones.com)

Unfortunately, some of the trash we find strewn about may be entirely unintentional, escaping from tipped trash cans, overflowing trash trucks, and unsealed garbage bags. Therefore, the most important form of prevention is avoiding all this waste in the first place. "Refuse" is rapidly gaining acceptance as the "4th R"-- "Refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle." Do not accept excess disposable materials in the first place by using reusable bags (for produce and bulk food as well as bagging your groceries), bottles, and containers. (Most restaurants will even use your container for leftovers, if you bring one, avoiding styrofoam and plastic waste!). Get creative, and you'd be amazed how much extra trash you can prevent from ever entering the system. 

(photo credit: sustainableisgood.com)

When having items shipped, or purchasing new items from the store, provide feedback to the shipper or manufacturer regarding their packaging. Following public outcry regarding excessive shipping waste (example above), Amazon.com now requests packaging feedback.

Of course, for the trash that does escape or end up in our waterways, Lynnhaven River Now conducts monthly river cleanups (2nd Saturday of most months) at various locations in the watershed. Find more information about getting involved in an upcoming cleanup on our website-- lrnow.org or hold your own cleanup!

Please share your ideas for reducing waste in the comments!

Posted by Trista Imrich