April Showers Bring May Flowers

Being a member of our River Hero Homes program is an easy way to make a difference and help protect the James River at home. Anyone living in the James River watershed can sign a simple online pledge to protect the James through everyday river-friendly actions like picking up after your pet or reducing the use of lawn fertilizer. 

If you have plants or trees in your yard, you are already making a difference for the James and our environment. Plants and trees remove carbon dioxide, absorb stormwater, and help reduce the urban heat island effect. But you can do more for a more sustainable future!

River Hero Homes is a community of stewards that realize the first step to a cleaner James River starts in their own backyard. To become a River Hero Home we request that you pledge at least three of these actions:

• Pick up after your dog
• Reduce or eliminate the use of herbicides/pesticides
• Avoid invasive species and use native plants to support wildlife and reduce watering needs
• Use alternatives to municipal drinking water for irrigation
• Reduce need for fertilizer by encouraging healthy soil with mulch and compost

While these actions individually may seem small, when adopted on a wide scale, they have a significant impact on local water quality. Just think, if everyone in your neighborhood picked up their dog’s poop daily, just how much poop that would be! Just a single gram of dog poop contains an estimated 23 million bacteria!