More VCU Community Garden Volunteer Days - Get Involved!

***Update: This Thursday and Friday the volunteer work day has changed to 11am-5pm, sorry for the short notice and any inconvenience!  Sign up to volunteer to get the latest news and updates.

Got community spirit? Need to get some extra service learning hours, or staff volunteer hours? Come out this Thursday and Friday,  to help us turn the VCU Community Garden into a safe haven for our friends, the bees and other pollinator insects, to help ensure bountiful crops for the first open season of the garden this summer. Sign up to volunteer whole or half days at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/XMSKCLG

All volunteers get a free meal and a plant to take home! No gardening experience necessary, all tools and gloves provided. Please wear sturdy, close-toed shoes and bring your own water bottle if you have one.

Electronics Recycling on Monroe Park Campus Friday April 6th

Have old cell phones? Computers? A pile up of drained batteries?

We will be collecting all unwanted electronics that you may have.
(Exceptions include incandescent light bulbs and very large e-waste such as refrigerators.)

Let your friends know we are recycling hazardous electronic waste! We'll see you this Friday, April 6th at the sidewalk between Student Commons and Cabell Library.

NOW ALSO COLLECTING UNWANTED T-SHIRTS! These will be up-cycled into reusable shopping bags for this years Earth Day celebration - a Student and Community Market!

We will be taking other hard-to-recycle items:
-#5 plastic containers (clean/rinsed)
-Corks
-Personal care products packaging (lipstick cases, mascara tubes, eye shadow cases, shampoo bottles, etc. Not accepted: hair spray cans, nail polish bottles and nail polish remover bottles. For a full list click here:
http://www.terracycle.net/en-US/brigades/personal-care-and-beauty-brigade.html
-Scotch tape packaging (plastic tape dispensers, plastic tape cores)
-Various promotional items/items you don't use anymore
     -Reusable bags (in good condition)
     -Working USB keys (non-working can be recycled instead)
     -Unused water bottles
     -Unused coffee mugs/travel mugs

Hope to see you out there!

http://www.commonwealthtimes.org/2012/02/06/vcus-green-unity-promotes-electronic-recycling/

VCU Community Garden Summer Plot and Volunteer Registration Open!

Sign up now to help build the garden, the ground breaking days will be Friday, March 30th, and Saturday, March 31st (10am-4pm). You can also help plant the pollinator and volunteer gardens on Saturday, April 7th and Sunday, April 8th (10am-4pm). All food grown in volunteer plots will be donated to local food banks. Volunteer for these events, ongoing maintenance of volunteer plots, or related projects like VCU Bayscape gardens or the Union Hill Garden Project by signing up here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/XMSKCLG

If you would like to grow food of your own, we have individual or shared plots at very reasonable prices.  
Register at:
 http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GZ8BH6K by Thursday, April 5th. Register early as space is limited!

All plots include free use of water from on-site spigots, one pair of complementary garden gloves to keep, and free access to shared garden tools. 

Volunteer plots: Free


Small plot (5'w x 3.5'd)
Semester: $10 + $10 deposit
Year: $20 + $10 deposit


Medium plot (5'w x 7d')
Semester: $15 + $10 deposit
Year: $35 + $10 deposit


Large plot (7.5w' x 7'd)
Semester: $25 + $10 deposit
Year: $45 + $10 deposit 

Organic Gardening Workshop and Seed Starting Party

Sunday, February 26th

10:30am - 4pm

871 N 22ND ST

Directions:
http://bit.ly/zbzaT7

In preparation for the upcoming VCU Community Garden or for starting your own garden at home, why not come out and learn some organic gardening skills and learn how to start your own plants from seed! Wear sturdy shoes, weather appropriate clothing that you can get dirty,and bring your own garden tools if you have them. We will have plenty of gloves and garden tools to share, and no previous gardening experience is necessary. 10am: Meet at the VCU Campus Connector bus stop in front of Cabell Library to bus or bike over together. Those interested in carpooling can post to this page if they are driving and have room for extra people. 10:30am-1pm: Get a tour of Rachel's organic garden and help prepare the Spring beds for planting while Rachel teaches you the basics of organic gardening. You'll get to see many sustainable garden features including rain barrels, worm composting, traditional composting, drip and soaker hose timer irrigation, hay bale gardening, raised beds, and the Ruth Stout mulch method. Lucky participants will take home new skills as well as some of Rachel's delicious organic potatoes and onions. 1pm-1:30pm: Break for lunch. Bring your own lunch to eat or about $5 to chip in for ordering pizza. 2pm: Bring your own newspaper, toilet paper rolls, and cardboard egg cartons to learn how to start seeds the eco-friendly way. Seed starting soil-less mix will be provided, as well as a variety of different organic and heirloom seeds. Bring your own seeds if you have them to grow or to trade. You will learn how to take care of your seedlings as they grow, and natural ways to prevent damping-off disease. This event is pretty flexible and low-key, so show up when you can for part or all of the workshop. If you're coming on your own, here are the directions: http://bit.ly/zbzaT7 This event is free and open to everyone! Green Unity merchandise will be for sale for those who wish to support our various community outreach efforts: -Rain Barrels: $55 -Green Unity Recycled Cotton T-shirts: $10 -Green Unity BPA-free Water Bottles: $10 -Recycled PET reusable Earth Chico bags: $10 (reg. $13)

VCU Community Garden Gets Ready to Break Ground!

Hello all you garden enthusiasts! Just a quick update on the VCU Community Garden:
Plot applicants will be notified this Sunday, February 12th if you are on the waiting list, or have received a plot, and how to sign the waiver and pay your plot fee and deposit. Special thanks to the 48 people who applied for plots, we are thrilled to see so much interest. And if you won't get a plot right away, don't worry, we have another garden project in the works!

Ground breaking for the garden is set for Sat. Feb. 25th and Sun. Feb. 26th, from 10am-4pm both days. Volunteers will help us build traditional raised beds, build water-wise raised beds (sub-irrigated and hugelkultur), paint on a natural wood protectant to help the beds last longer, plant the pollinator gardens, and mulch. If you haven't done so already, you can sign up to volunteer here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CZJ5T2D

Thanks for everyone's help so far in getting this amazing project off the ground!

VCU Community Garden Registration

Green Unity, VCU's student-run environmental organization, is starting a community garden this semester with the help of the MCV Campus SGA next to the Larrick Student Center. Staff, faculty and students from both campuses can use the garden. Participants can plant and harvest their own food or help in volunteer plots to provide food donations to local groups such as soup kitchens. 

Register by February 2nd: http://www.surveymonkey.com/checkrequest.aspx?aspxerrorpath=/s/KGH2K5F 


More details and cost can be found on the VCU Community Garden page: 
http://green-unity.blogspot.com/p/vcu-community-garden.html


All other questions please email us at vcucommunitygarden@gmail.com

Electronics Recycling on Monroe Park Campus

Stop by our table in the VCU Student Commons to recycle your personal electronics and keep the harmful chemicals they contain out of the landfill. We'll also have sustainability info to share, including how to get curbside recycling pick-up.

New! We will be accepting some non-electronic items for recycling/repurposing:

• #5 plastic containers (clean/rinsed)
• Cosmetics packaging (lipstick cases, mascara tubes, eye shadow cases, shampoo bottles, etc., for a full list click here. Not accepted: hair spray cans, nail polish bottles and nail polish remover bottle)
• Scotch tape packaging (plastic tape dispensers, plastic tape cores)
• Various promotional items/items you don't use anymore
• Reusable bags (in good condition)
• Working USB keys (non-working can be recycled instead)
• Unused water bottles
• Unused coffee mugs/travel mugs

Time	Friday, December 2 · 1:00pm - 4:00pm
Location	VCU Student Commons, Lobby 907 Floyd Ave. Richmond, VA
More Info

Worm Composting - Back by Popular Demand

Register by 5pm November 17th to attend this workshop:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VM5D9QJ

Tricycle Gardens will also teach us general composting skills, and will demonstrate their own self-watering planter design, so you can make your own. Don't miss out on this fantastic opportunity to learn new skills and support our Union Hill Community Garden Project!

Time	Sunday, November 20 · 1pm - 4pm
Location	Jackson Ward Room, Larrick Center, MCV Campus 900 Turpin St. Richmond, VA
More Info	To register, please follow this link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PZ6BQ83 Learn how to compost with worms with Tricycle Gardens and Green Unity.

Join our Planting Family this Saturday

Wear study shoes and bring a water bottle if you have one. We have garden tools and gloves to share - no gardening experience required! Free snacks and water provided, free pedometer or trowel with flower bulbs for all volunteers. This is a family friendly event - feel free to bring your kids to help beautify RVA!

Union Hill Garden Planting

Saturday, November 5th

2-4pm

Meet at N 20th and O St.

Directions

A Community Garden for VCU?

VCU Community Garden Planning Meeting

Time	Monday, November 7 · 12pm - 1pm
Location	Dean's Conference Room, 2nd Floor, Hunton Student Center MCV Campus 1110 E. Broad St. Richmond, Virginia
More Info	All interested VCU students, faculty, and staff, as well as Richmond community members, are invited to attend this first planning meeting for a proposed community garden on MCV Campus at VCU. We will need lots of energy and enthusiasm to get this idea off the ground - bring your input and ideas. Proposed site is on the East side of Larrick Center, across from N parking deck. Hope to see you all there!

Green Unity Wants to Help You Learn Worm Composting

Last chance - register by 5pm tomorrow (Thursday) to attend this workshop:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PZ6BQ83

Tricycle Gardens will also teach us general composting skills, and will demonstrate their own self-watering planter design, so you can make your own. Don't miss out on this fantastic opportunity to learn new skills and support our Union Hill Community Garden Project!

Time	Monday, October 17 · 5:30pm - 8:00pm
Location	Courtend Ballroom B, Larrick Center, MCV Campus 900 Turpin St. Richmond, VA
More Info	To register, please follow this link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PZ6BQ83 Learn how to compost with worms with Tricycle Gardens and Green Unity. Worm composting is great for small spaces indoors, as it gives off little to no odor. Perfect for dorm and apartment dwellers with no access to a yard. When combined with recycling, worm composting can reduce the amount of household waste going to the landfill by up to 80%. Participants will take home their own worm composting kit, so they can try it at home! All proceeds from this event go to support the Union Hill Community Garden Project. Admission is guaranteed for the first 20 students to register. Limited additional space is available for VCU faculty & staff, as well as Richmond community members. Workshop cost: $20 per person Student discounted cost: $15 per person Payment can be made at the event through cash or check

Help Us Paint the Town Green

Time	Saturday, October 8 · 8:00am - 1:00pm
Location	Meet at Monroe Park Richmond, Virginia
More Info	Show your neighborhood spirit and strengthen the relationship between VCU and its surrounding communities by picking up trash with VCU students, faculty, staff, and community residents. Free food after the clean up! Lead VCU Group: VCU Monroe Park Student Government Association

Participating Neighborhoods: Jackson Ward, The Fan, Oregon Hill, Randolph, Carver. http://www.community.vcu.edu/solutions/cce/calendar.html A collaborative neighborhood clean-up between the VCU Monroe Park campus and its surrounding neighborhoods. Immediately following the clean-up, each neighborhood will host a social event.

Pine Street Neighborhood Clean-Up

Time	Sunday, October 2 · 2:00pm - 3:30pm
More Info	Help beautify RVA! Green Unity 4 VCU invites you to take part in the tradition of community clean-ups, on Sunday, Oct. 2nd. Wear sturdy shoes and bring your own water bottle and gloves if you have them. Free snacks will be provided, as well as disposable gloves, trash pickers, and trash bags. Meet at Mojo's, on the corner of Cary and Laurel at 2 pm. It will wrap up around 3:30. Tell your friends and enjoy the day outside!

Facebook Event	http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=207841305948746

Electronics Recycling Thursday, Sept. 29th

Time	Thursday, September 29 · 1:00pm - 4:00pm
Location	The sidewalk between Cabell Library and the Student Commons, Monroe Park Campus
More Info	Have old cell phones? Chargers? A pile up of drained batteries? We will be collecting all unwanted electronics that you may have! Even the big stuff. One exception is Incandescent light bulbs, they are unable to be recycled. Hope to see you all out there, and tell your friends!

Electronics Accepted

Anything you can plug-in except large appliances (i.e. refrigerators, stoves)
Microwaves
Television Sets (No big screen TVs)
Old & New Computers
Computer Monitors
Cell Phones
Printers
Printer cartridges
Fluorescent Bulbs (No incandescent bulbs)
Batteries
Device charging cords/equipment
Extension Cords

US National Security and Climate Change

Wilder Research Series Event:

US National Security and Climate Change

Vice Admiral Dennis McGinn (USN-Ret.) and British Real Admiral Morisetti, the UK's Climate and Energy Security Envoy, will discuss the security implications of our current energy policy

McGinn and Morisetti will discuss how their respective militaries are dealing with energy security --- and why our countries should work together on this issue.

4:30pm, Wednesday, March 2nd
Student Commons Theatre

Questions: Contact Jason Levy jklevy@vcu.edu

Sponsored by the Wilder Faculty Council

MPC Green Unity U-Block Neighborhood Clean-Up Sunday Feb. 13th

Show some love for the VCU community by coming to our first street clean up of the semester! You can earn volunteer hours for class and for the goodness of your heart!

Please meet at 1:50pm outside of Mojo's (corner of Cary and Laurel, behind GRC), wear good walking shoes that you don't mind getting rough in & bring your own durable gloves if you have any !

Snacks will be provided, but try to BYOh20Bottle

Bring your friends and help beautify RVA!



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