Many neighborhoods and Homeowners’ Associations (HOAs) own and manage common areas that may provide opportunities for practicing environmental stewardship on a large scale. For example, your neighborhood can replace unused mowed areas with native trees, meadows, or features that capture stormwater runoff, such as a rain garden. And if your neighborhood has streams or ponds, try maintaining a wide vegetated buffer. The benefits are endless: fewer chemical and fuel inputs, more wildlife habitat, better infiltration of stormwater into the soil, more shade and cooling, and increased carbon capture – to name just a few.

If the common areas in your neighborhood are managed by an HOA, you may need to work with your HOA leaders and managing agents to promote the types of landscape changes described here. If cost is a concern, let your HOA leaders know that help is available for greening up! For example, cost-share funding is available from the Albemarle Conservation Assistance Program and the Trees for Clean Water grants offered through the Virginia Department of Forestry. 

Picking up litter is an easy way to get involved and can have a big impact on your community by maintaining scenic beauty, protecting wildlife, and keeping litter out of waterways. You can volunteer to pick up litter on your own or join an organized event. Keep your eye out for litter clean-up events organized by the County, or through other local organizations like the Rivanna Conservation Alliance (RCA), which provides self-guided clean-up kits to help support volunteers with their own stewardship efforts.  

To report litter or illegal dumping in Albemarle County (especially deliberate dumping of large items or trash bags), use the non-emergency Police dispatch phone number (434-977-9041) or the Albemarle County Police Department online reporting system.

Water quality monitoring has shown that some stream sections in Albemarle County are impaired - some due to animal sources of bacteria, including pets. Pet waste contains bacteria and parasites that can be harmful to humans and other pets. Recent research has shown that it may also contribute to the development of drug-resistant bacteria in urban areas! Waste left on trails, sidewalks, and grassy areas can wash into creeks and lakes, harming aquatic life and making the water unsafe for swimming and wading.  

By picking up after dogs and cats (even on your property), you can improve local water quality and keep your community safer! Remember: Always scoop pet waste and dispose of it properly by throwing it in the trash, flushing it down the toilet or composting it with a pet waste composter. 

As a consumer, your buying choices have some measure of environmental impact. While there is no official distance or range for what counts as “local”, we can generally say that products grown and made closer to where you live require fewer transportation miles and fossil fuels to get to you. And less fossil fuel use, of course, means fewer greenhouse gas emissions into our atmosphere. Buying products from local businesses also helps support our local community and economy! 

Since food is what we buy most routinely, buying from local farms is a great place to start. For ideas of where to buy local farm products, visit the Piedmont Environmental Council’s Buy Fresh Buy Local website. There you will find an interactive map and directory of farms, farmers markets, farm-to-table restaurants, and local food retailers in the area. 

The Virginia Master Naturalist program is a statewide, community-based natural resources volunteer program. Master Naturalists are volunteer educators, citizen scientists, and stewards helping Virginia conserve and manage natural resources and public lands. The local Rivanna Master Naturalist Chapter includes Albemarle County. 

Our area has a vast array of opportunities for community members to volunteer their time improving the environment. Here are just a few examples of local organizations and programs that rely on the help of volunteers:

• Rivanna Conservation Alliance – Volunteer opportunities include water monitoring, tree buffer planting, trash cleanups, and invasive plant removal. 
• Rivanna Master Naturalists – This a program that trains and organizes volunteers in community-based education, science, and stewardship projects that benefit the natural environment. 
• Community Climate Collaborative – Volunteer activities include helping with outreach events, surveys and research, and multi-lingual translation related to climate change action. 
• Blue Ridge Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management (PRSIM) – The Blue Ridge PRISM is a volunteer-based organization dedicated to controlling the spread of invasive plants. 
• Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards – Tree Steward volunteers are trained to increase public awareness of the value of trees in all environments, rural and urban. 

Everyone can participate in our local government. There are many different ways to engage – from simply staying informed, to actively joining the conversation. For example, you might simply subscribe to the Albemarle County News email list or social media, or you could attend a public meeting to share your views on a particular issue or topic. If you have more time and energy, you could even consider joining a board or committee to become more actively engaged. 

Public meetings are intended to engage community members in information sharing, discussion, and building awareness on specific issues, and are a regular part of local government. Anyone can watch or participate in public meetings.  

To learn more about current projects and how you can get involved, visit the online engagement center and check out the Participation Guide for Public Meetings.  You can also view a list of all the County’s Boards and Commissions and learn how to apply to serve.