| Happenings at the Hills
Greene Hills has gone GREEN
The Bluebird Trail at GHC
Greene Hills has gone "green"! Please help in the efforts to recycle cans and plastic at Greene Hills. There are recycling bins, provided by the LGA, in the Hills Grille, in the area outside of the Hills Grille next to the patio, and behind the clubhouse near the scoreboard. Each bin is labeled for either cans or plastic. Many of us recycle products in our homes, and we would like to extend this effort at the Club. When out on the golf course, please leave your cans and plastic bottles in the carts to be recycled when you finish your round. When you are in the Hills Grille or on the patio, please use the bins provided.
According to Eco-Cylce, Inc, "Sustainable resource management, through recycling and similar activities like water and energy conservation, is no longer a personal decision but a necessary practice in a world with a growing population and a finite resource base. We must greatly expand recycling infrastructure around the world and incorporate sustainability into everyday personal and business practices for the future of our econcomy, or health and our environment." Some examples of the reductions in pollution and energy savings by recycling are as follows: 1) using recycled cans instead of extracting ore to make aluminum cans produces 95% less air pollution and 97% less water pollution; 2) recycling and remanufacturing are 194 times more effective in reducing greenhouse gas emissions than landfilling and virgin manufacturing, and 3) if Americans will recycle 30% of our waste every year, we will save the energy equivalent of 11.9 billion gallons of gasoline and reduce the greenhouse gas equivalent of taking 25 million cars off the road. These are some staggering statistics!
The Bluebird Trail
In 2009, Virginia Master Naturalists installed twenty-five bluebird houses on the golf  course using grant money from the Virginia Bluebird Society for supplies. When you see the houses, you will notice that a baffle was installed under the house to prevent snakes from climbing up, and a wire cage encircles the opening to prevent raccoons and other predators from reaching into the opening from the rooftop. Two of our members are Master Naturalists and they continue to monitor the use of the boxes by bluebirds, discouraging their occupation by house sparrows, and cleaning out the boxes between nestings.
As a result of this effort, we have seen a significant increase in the bluebird population around Greene Hills. The Master Naturalists encourage you to enjoy watching the birds, but please do not disturb the boxes. For more information about the Virginia Master Naturalist program, visit their website: http://www.virginiamasternaturalist.org/. If you would like to make your own birdhouses, plans for the birdhouses may be found at www.virginiabluebirds.org/pages/new_box_grd.html.
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