Celebrate Texas Arbor Day with a tree planting demonstration and receive a complimentary tree sapling while supplies last. Visit the outdoor library corner to find books on trees and how to care for them at Mercer’s West Side Arboretum. EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES, FACE PAINTING, HISTORICAL TREES, CHILDREN’S CRAFTS

Join us for the Parks and Natural Areas (PNA) Roundtable on Monday, July 8, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at H-GAC Conference Room A, Second Floor.

The PNA Roundtable serves as a forum for discussion of issues related to parks and natural areas, promotes the PNA Award Program, and maintains a regional inventory of parks. The PNA roundtable facilitates information exchange and planning efforts between various stakeholders and collaborators to protect and preserve parks and natural areas across the region. To register visit events.r20.constantcontact.com/register.

Interested in Urban Forestry? Come join Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, HAUFC and ISA-TX for a great day of education. Topics include: Emerald Ash Borer – Coming to a City Near You, Using Tree Growth Regulators to Reduce Pruning Costs, and Greening the Houston Region – Partnerships and Projects that Support the Urban Forest.

Time to get rid of those tires, mattresses, paint, motor oil, antifreeze and other hard to recycle items. Keep Pearland Beautiful is hosting Pearland Recycles Day on Saturday, November 16th from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. This is the only day that the Stella Roberts Recycling Center will accept tires and mattresses for recycling. Pearland residents and non-Pearland residents can recycle up to 8 tires ($2/each) and up to 3 mattresses ($5/each). We are only accepting car & light truck tires off of the rim. KPB received a grant from Keep America Beautiful of 9-Volt batteries.  We will be distributing them to residents on this day to educate about the importance of replacing your smoke detector batteries and recycling all batteries properly.

Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) including paint, motor oil, antifreeze, etc. is accepted year-round at the Recycling Center during normal operating hours of Tuesday – Friday 8 AM – 5 PM and Saturday 9 AM – 1 PM. Brazoria County residents can recycle HHW at the Recycling Center for free with proof of residency and non-Brazoria County residents can drop-off HHW for a $1/pound donation to KPB.

Tires and mattresses were chosen to be collected on this day for several reasons. Used tires can be a threat to the environment because they hold water, serving as a breeding space for mosquitos. They can also become a fire hazard, emitting harmful toxins into the environment. Used tires will be sent to Liberty Tire Recycling, where they will become rubber mulch and tire derived aggregate. Mattresses are bulky, hard to compress, and tough on machinery when taken to the landfill. Mattresses collected from the event will be sent to Houston Furniture Bank, which will reuse, if possible, or recycle up to 90% of the material.

Keep Pearland Beautiful offers this program in conjunction with Texas Recycles Day and America Recycles Day. Please go online and take the pledge to recycle more at americarecyclesday.org. For more information about this event call (281) 489-2795.

H-GAC’s Parks and Natural Areas Summit and Awards Ceremony will be held from 9 a.m. to noon on Friday, February 14, 2020, at H-GAC Conference Room B, Second Floor. The Summit will include presentations on trends and topics related to parks and natural areas.

The event will also include the annual Parks and Natural Areas Awards recognition ceremony. These projects serve as models for planning and project implementation for parks and natural areas in the region. Projects will be honored in three categories: Planning Process, On-the-Ground Projects Over $500,000, and On-the-Ground Projects Under $500,000.

A light breakfast will be served. Registration and breakfast begin at 9:00 a.m., followed by topic speakers at 9:30 a.m. The awards program will begin at 10:30 a.m. and will be followed by networking until noon.

Agenda
9:00 a.m.    Registration and Breakfast
9:30 a.m.    Presentation – Claire Hempel, Design Worskshop, Equity In Parks
10:00 a.m.  Presentation – Katie Coyne, Asakura Robinson, TBA
10:30 a.m.  Parks and Natrual Areas Annual Awards Ceremony
11:30 a.m.  Networking

The Parks and Natural Areas roundtable serves as a forum for discussion of issues related to parks and natural areas and promotes the Parks and Natural Areas awards program. The roundtable facilitates information exchange and planning efforts between various stakeholders and collaborators to protect and preserve parks and natural areas across the region.

Join the Parks and Natural Areas (PNA) Roundtable on Monday, March 9, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at H-GAC Conference Room A, Second Floor.

Attendees will learn about the Nature and Eclectic Outdoors’ Healthy Outdoor Communities initiative and Exploration Green, an award-winning parks and natural areas project in the region. They’ll also discuss the time and date for the spring field trip.

The PNA Roundtable meets the second Monday of January, March, May, July, September and November and is open to anyone interested in participating.

Register

Viewing Global Best Practices through Texas Leadership
Texans design, construct, operate and maintain their buildings has an immediate and lasting impact on the Social, Environmental and Financial health of our communities.  Texas continues to rank high Nationally in total number and total area of Energy Star and LEED certified buildings and has over 11,000 trained LEED Accredited Professionals.

However, the advancement of betterments such as Energy Efficient Designs, Proven Advanced Technologies, Healthy Indoor Air Quality, and Higher Standards of Care Processes have stagnated.

This session will be facilitated by Unboxed, a social innovation consulting firm that helps organizations thrive by connecting people, planet, purpose, and profit. They will introduce us to innovation methods and guide us through a brainstorming sprint in order to generate innovative ideas to make best practices and knowledge about sustainable buildings available for everyone.

The Houston Botanic Garden presents Pat Hudnall, vice president of the Texas Gulf Coast Fern Society, who will introduce participants to 12 ferns often available in Houston nurseries that are well suited for, and typically not difficult to grow in, the Gulf Coast climate.

Garden members receive a $5 discount off registration.

*Non-member price ($15) covers the workshop but does not include general admission to the Garden on July 31, which is an additional $15 for adults, $10 for children and students.

Event page:  https://hbg.org/events/a-dozen-ferns-for-houston-gardens-2021-07-31-10-30/

Plant-it-Forward will give a presentation on city farming and plant growing times. Plant-it-Forward empowers refugees to develop sustainable urban farming businesses that produce fresh, healthy food for our community. This event is free and registration is required. Masks and social distancing are highly encouraged.