February in the Neighborhood: Take out the big trash, and clean up the forest

Did you know? When a resident of a single-family home wants to throw out an old couch, the DC Department of Public Works will come and collect it for free. But for DC residents in apartment buildings and condos, getting rid of bulk trash requires calling and paying a junk hauler, or hauling it yourself to the Fort Totten Transfer Station. (Greater Greater Washington wrote about the century-old roots of the inequitable system in 2022.)

In 2018, Mayor Bowser’s Office of the Clean City launched an additional bulk trash option: Roll Off Day. Eight times a year, in each of the eight wards, a large dumpster appears, and everyone’s invited to bring their unwanted stuff. The next Ward 3 Roll Off Day is Saturday, February 10th at the Chevy Chase Community Center.

Once you’ve cleaned up indoors, clean up outdoors. Invasive plants abound at the source of Broad Branch stream and a new section of the Rock Creek Conservancy “mini oasis” in the park known as Reservation 630. We’ve told you about the volunteer efforts to attack the weeds and save the trees at these and other spots. February brings more opportunities to join these and other invasive removal events.

Just for fun:

• Drop by Peirce Mill between noon and 4 p.m. on Saturday, February 3rd to learn about Kente cloth weaving and do yarn crafts.
• Hillwood Museum reopens after its winter cleaning for La Chandeleur, or Crêpe Day, a French celebration of the halfway point between winter and spring. On February 3rd and 4th, that means French-inspired crafts, another excuse to explore the house and gardens, and to snack on crêpes, of course.

What did we miss? Send your neighborhood events to [email protected] or comment below to let your neighbors know.