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Learn more about the Richmond area’s composting drop-off locations!

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CVWMA - CVWMA serves Central Virginia with curbside and drop-off recycling, solid waste collection, electronics recycling, household hazardous waste disposal and more.

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There’s a new compost collection in town. Read our news release from 11/18/25. Residents of Chesterfield, Henrico and Richmond can compost food scraps and other compostable products at drop-off sites through a partnership with CVWMA. The partnership expands existing compost drop-offs in Henrico and Richmond. In Chesterfield, the drop-off program is brand new. Food scraps

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We learned that composting turns food scraps to healthy soil instead of trash! Madelyn shared about composting cardboard and food scraps to make soil for her tomato plant. Ryan from NOPE Composting Company explained more about how composting works and why it is important - it keeps trash out of landfills!

What food does your adult human try to make you eat that you want to compost instead?

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Dogwood here. RocknRoll found these DIY Park Cleanup Station at Belle Isle. We know they are in other parks on the river. Where have you seen them? Have you used them to clean up?

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Hi! We are your EFF club leaders, RocknRoll (pangolin) and Dogwood (opossum). Together with our friends (that means you!) we learn and take action to help the environment!

Club meetings are on Friday mornings on Apple, Spotify, youtube, and more.

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James River Association - River Hero Homes

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James River Association - River Hero Homes

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Become a River Hero Homes program member by practicing river-friendly conservation at home. Receive a membership card, yard flag, sticker, and discounts at local nurseries and other businesses in partnership with the James River Association.

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River Hero Homes - James River Association

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River Hero Homes is a community of stewards that realize the first step to a healthier James River starts at home.

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Art by Zena, age 6 in Richmond, VA

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This EFF Club meeting, we learned that picking up your dog's poop and planting trees are two helpful ways to keep the James River clean. This is important, because Elizabeth reminds us that we need the earth! It's our home.

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The two closest planets to Earth are Venus and Mars.

- Venus is about 870°F all the time!

- Mars's day-time temperatures are normal, but at night, temperatures drop to -100°F and below.

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The James River Association's River Hero Homes program shares river-friendly conservation practices at home. Practices include: disposing of waste, using native plants, reducing fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides, and conserving water. Become a member for a membership card, yard flag, sticker, and discounts at local nurseries and other businesses. Visit thejamesriver.org.

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What are two ways to keep the James River clean?

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Throw litter and don't pick up your dogs poop.

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Pick up litter and your dog's poop wherever you are.

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Helpful supplies for picking up litter:

Grocery or trash bag (Optional: bring 2 to separate trash/ recycling. Reuse the bag by dumping just the trash in a trash can.)

Cotton gardening gloves or bandana, so you don't touch yucky trash

Grabber to avoid bending and touching trash (optional, but fun!)

Hand sanitizer

You don't need any supplies to pick up a piece of trash and throw it away. Just check with an adult.

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Have you ever picked up litter/trash before?

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Litter can be bad for animals and local waterways. If we all help, our small acts of picking up trash/litter can add up to make a big difference; keeping our area clean and healthy.

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Where do you want to help pick up trash/litter?

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We are so excited that we received our first message! John Luke and Jenny share about one way they help the environment - picking up trash. We liked the idea so much, we decided to go to the playground and pick up trash with them.

Do you pick up trash and help clean your community?

*Thank you to Zella (age 6) from Virginia for creating the club meeting cover art!

*Thank you John Luke (age 2) and Jenny (age 3-ish) from Texas for the club meeting lesson!

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Email a photo of your eco-inspired creation along with your name, age, and/or where you are from to earthfriendsforever@gmail.com.

*Square images best; JPG or PNG, under 5MB. By emailing, you are giving EFF Club permission to share.

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RocknRoll and Dogwod here! Welcome to the first Earth Friends Forever (EFF) Club meeting. We want to help protect the environment, but we don’t know how to yet. Can you help us?

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Teach us what you know about the environment!

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Teach us what you know about the environment!

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With adult permission, record your name, age, and/or where you are from.

Then share a:

A cool nature fact (Coral is a animal!)

A way you help the environment (I use a reusable water bottle.)

A question you have about helping the earth (What happens to our recycling?)

Email your recording to earthfriendsforever@gmail.com.

Record a message (3 minute or less) on voice memo app or similar. Adult and animal friends can message us too! By emailing, you are giving EFF club permission to share.

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This is your club too! That means if you care about the environment, you can get involved!

Do you have an idea?

Maybe you want to:

Make your own podcast episode for a school/family/scout project?

Share photos of a way you help the earth?

Write a song?

Share a Richmond-based resource or opportunity?

Email us at earthfriendsforever@gmail.com.

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I am an earth friend. Together, with others, I learn and take action to help the environment.

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Marsupial babies are born really tiny and then grow bigger in a pouch on their mom's tummy. Kangaroos and koalas are two well-know marsupials.

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Animals active during:

night = nocturnal

twilight = crepuscular

sporadic times during both night and day = cathemeral

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If nocturnal animal are awake at night, what is the name for animals who are awake and active during the day?

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We love the Earth, yes we do!

We are grateful for all of you.

From giant mountains to tiny ants

From blue river to native plants

2x

We’re earth friends forever.

protecting the planet together.

We are grateful for land and sea.

Protecting the planet for you and me

We’re earth friends forever

protecting the planet together.

Earth friends forever

You and me

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Hi! RocknRoll here! I am from Southern Africa, but I have cousin pangolins living in Asia as well. My favorite food are ants and termites! I moved to Richmond, Virginia in the United States to be with my best friend Dogwood after my habitat was destroyed and I could no longer find food. I started the EFF Club with Dogwood, because I don't want that happening to other animals.

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TONGUE TIME

Pangolins live in many different habitats, including rainforests and grasslands. Four species of pangolins live throughout Asia: Chinese, Sunda, Indian, and Philippine pangolins. The other four-ground, giant, white-bellied, and black-bellied-live in Africa.

Solitary animals, pangolins are active mostly at night. Many live on the ground, but some, like the black-bellied pangolin, also climb trees. Like anteaters, pangolins have long snouts and even longer tongues, which they use to snack on ants and termites they dig up from mounds with their powerful front claws. Up to 28 inches, a pangolin's sticky tongue is sometimes as long as its body, minus the tail!

PLAYING DEFENSE

All pangolins are covered in scales made of keratin-the same material as human fingernails-which gives them the nickname "scaly anteater." The pangolin's armor is so tough that even predators such as lions can't bite through it.

When threatened, pangolins roll into a ball like an armadillo, making them less than half their normal size. This helps them shield their stomach and face, which aren't covered in protective scales. From this position, pangolins can release a stinky fluid from a gland at the base of their spiky tails to keep predators away.

SAVING PANGOLINS

All pangolins face declining populations because of illegal trade. In fact, they're believed to be the world's most trafficked non-human mammal. Their scales, like rhino horns, have no proven medicinal value, yet they're used in traditional Chinese medicine to help with health problems such as arthritis. The scales are typically dried and ground up into powder, which are sometimes turned into pills. Tens of thousands of pangolins are poached for their scales each year, as well as for their meat.

Government officials, conservationists, and investigative journalists in Asia and Africa are working together to protect these shy, harmless animals. By revealing the methods poachers use to capture these animals, activists hope to prevent criminals from harming pangolins.

* A single pangolin can eat up to 70 million insects in a year.

* Pangolins are more closely related to cats, dogs, and bears than to armadillos and anteaters.

* These animals close their ears and nostrils to keep out insects while eating.

* A pangolin's scales make up about 20 percent of its weight.

* Pangolins are the only mammals with scales.

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Dozens of ants spill out of a nearby bush, each insect scrambling to outrun a strange-looking object lumbering toward them. A pinecone with legs? An artichoke with eyes? No-it's a pangolin, an animal covered in hard scales that uses its long tongue to slurp up insects for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

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Hi Dogwood Here! I am from Richmond, VA. My favorite food is almost anything! I am a little shy, so I am happy that my best friend RocknRoll moved to Richmond and we are starting the EFF club together. I hope to help the environment and make new friends.

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Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute

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Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute

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Always free of charge, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo is one of Washington D.C.’s, and the Smithsonian’s, most popular tourist destinations, with more than 2 million visitors from all over the world each year. The Zoo instills a lifelong commitment to conservation through engaging experiences with animals and the people working to save them.