Villages of Western Oaks - August 2021 by Peel, Inc.

AUGUST 2021 VOLUME 14 ISSUE 08

The Gazette - August 2021

Lettuce Recycle! by Dena Houston

RECYCLING ON THE ROAD

On a recent road trip, it became very apparent that recycling collection bins are often non-existent. Gas stations (where we clean the trash out of our car) don’t always have these bins. In addition, there is no recycling collection at any of the highway rest or picnic areas in Texas. What to do?? As we were having lunch at a picnic area near Abilene, I looked at our aluminum drink cans, looked at the trashcan, and had to make a decision—throw them away or hang on to them for the week we would be traveling. I knew these cans wouldn’t be going into my landfill, but I just couldn’t throw them into another community’s garbage dump. So, a decision was made. We set up a recycling collection bag in the car and a box in the cabin we rented in Cloudcroft. At the end of our trip, we brought a week's worth of recyclables back to Austin and put them into our single stream recycling bin.

MORE TRAVEL RECYLING IDEAS

• Carry reusable bags for shopping—many places (especially in Europe) either charge for bags or don’t even provide them. • Carry a refillable water bottle. This reduces plastic waste. Also, refillable bottles often are insulated. • Carry non-plastic eating utensils. Take a fork, serrated knife, and spoon for each person. • Plastic containers—use these for restaurant leftovers etc. They are easily washed and a great way to use for packing delicate souvenirs for the trip home.

RECYCLING CHEAT SHEET FOR THE BLUE BIN

As the author of Lettuce Recycle, I receive many recycling questions. Below is a “cheat sheet” for recycling. It doesn’t address all recycling questions, but it helps provide a basic understanding of what can and cannot go into the blue curbside bin. 1. Nothing smaller than a credit card. 2. No mixed materials, e.g., plastic soap pump with metal spring, candy wrappers, orange juice cartons, waxed paper coffee cups. 3. No contaminated paper products, e.g., wet paper (even if dried out), pizza boxes, paper with food product on it. 4. Nothing that can wrap around sorting machinery or that poses a danger at the recycling facility, e.g., plastic bags, wire coat hangers, rope, garden hoses, hypodermic needles, or aerosol cans with anything in them. Empty aerosol cans CAN go into the blue bin. 5. Lid rules—All glass jars need to have their lids removed. Keep all plastic lids on plastic bottles and containers. All separate lids smaller than a credit card go into the trash. 6. Shredded paper does NOT go into the blue recycling bin. If it is contained in a paper or compost bag, it can go into the green curbside compost bin. Here is a very informative City of Austin recycling website: http:// www.austintexas.gov/what-do-i-do If you have any questions or recycling ideas, please send them to: recycling@hpwbana.org Copyright © 2021 Peel, Inc.

IMPORTANT NUMBERS

EMERGENCY NUMBERS EMERGENCY.................................................................... 911 Fire....................................................................................... 911 Ambulance........................................................................... 911 Sheriff – Non-Emergency.....................................512-974-0845 SCHOOLS Elementary Clayton............................................................512-841-9200 Kiker................................................................512-414-2584 Mills.................................................................512-841-2400 Patton...............................................................512-414-1780 Middle Bailey................................................................512-414-4990 Small................................................................512-841-6700 Gorzycki...........................................................512-841-8600 High School Austin...............................................................512-414-2505 Bowie...............................................................512-414-5247 UTILITIES Water/Wastewater City of Austin.....................................................512-972-0101 City of Austin (billing)....................................... 512-494-9400 Emergency..........................................................512-972-1000 Texas State Gas Customer Service.............................................1-800-700-2443 Gas related emergency......................................1-800-959-5325 Pedernales Electric Cooperative New service, billing.............................................512-219-2602 Problems.............................................................512-219-2628 ATT/SBC Telephone New Service.....................................................1-800-288-2020 Repair..............................................................1-800-246-8464 Billing..............................................................1-800-288-2020 Allied Waste.........................................................512-247-5647 Time Warner Cable..............................................512-485-5555 OTHER NUMBERS Oak Hill Postal Station......................................1-800-275-8777 City of Austin Dead Animal Collection......................................512-494-9400 Abandoned/Disabled Vehicles.............................512-974-8119 Stop Sign Missing/Damaged...............................512-974-2000 Street Light Outage (report pole#)......................512-505-7617 NEWSLETTER PUBLISHER Peel, Inc...............................................................512-263-9181 Article Submissions.......................... villagegazette@peelinc.com Advertising........................................ advertising@PEELinc.com The Gazette - August 2021

The Gazette - August 2021

poisonous or venomous? by Jim and Lynne Weber

Wester n Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox) Often used interchangeably when describing some plants and animals, in reality poisonous and venomous mean two different things. Poisonous describes plants or animals that are harmful when consumed or touched. Venomous refers to animals that inject venom into their prey, by means of a bite or sting, when hunting or for self-defense. To add to the confusion, all venoms are a poison but not all poisons are venoms! Poisonous species typically produce a toxin that can range from irritant to fatal. Plants such as Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) and some members of the Spurge family are considered irritants when they come in contact with skin, but this effect is produced through different mechanisms. Nearly all parts of the Poison Ivy plant contain urushiol, which is a substance that gives us contact dermatitis, or a severely itchy and painful inflammation of the skin. Spurges such as Texas Bull Nettle (Cnidoscolus texanus) and Betonyleaf Noseburn (Tragia betonicifolia) have raised structures called trichomes that are capable of ’stinging' animals and humans that brush against them. These plants have trichomes on their leaves and stems that have bulbous tips that break off and reveal needle-like tubes that pierce the skin. They can cause an itching, burning rash by emitting onto the skin a mix of acetylcholine, formic acid, histamine, and serotonin. One local native plant, Jimsonweed or Sacred Datura (Datura wrightii) goes well beyond irritant to hallucinogenic and even fatal if ingested. All parts of this plant contain toxic alkaloids, and the narcotic properties of this plant have been known by humans since before recorded history. They once figured prominently in important religious ceremonies of various southwestern Native American tribes. Animals that are poisonous include most amphibians (frogs, toads, salamanders, and newts), that have some amount of toxins on their skin and within other tissues. Special skin glands produce useful proteins, some for use in respiration, others for fighting bacterial or fungal infections, and at least one in each species that is used for defense. For example, many toad species will release their toxins when they feel threatened, such as when they are caught by a dog or cat, and can trigger drooling, vomiting, and respiratory or cardiac problems. Copyright © 2021 Peel, Inc.

While some snakes are the most commonly known venomous animals, all spiders, some lizards, and many bees, ants and wasps are venomous as well. The venoms they inject through a bite or sting contain various classes of toxins designed to perform specific biological effects such necrosis or death in multiple cells (necrotoxins) or individual cells (cytotoxins), disruption of the nervous system (neurotoxins), or damage to muscle tissue (myotoxins). The venom of our Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox) carries both necrotoxins and myotoxins, Black Widow spiders (Latrodectus macrons) carry both neurotoxins and cytotoxins, and Striped Bark Scorpions (Centruroides vittatus) and Texas Redheaded Centipedes (Scolopendra heros) carry neurotoxins. While the vast majority of snake toxins are transferred by bite, one exception includes garter snakes (Thamnophis sp.), which are small and harmless in terms of their bite but are toxic to eat because their bodies absorb and store the toxins of their amphibious prey. In our area, these snakes include the Black-necked Garter Snake (T. cyrtopsis) and the Western Ribbon Snake (T. proximus). It is important to keep in mind that many plants and animals that are poisonous or venomous are not necessarily a guaranteed threat to humans, as much depends on how the plant or animal is encountered, its toxicity level, and the amount of toxin absorbed. Regardless, respecting these species and giving them their space is the cardinal rule. Interestingly, the medicinal use of venoms for therapeutic benefit in treating diseases dates back to 380 B.C. in ancient Greece. Today, the venoms produced by different organisms, which contain hundreds of different bioactive elements, are isolated, purified, and screened, then studied to identify components that may have desirable therapeutic properties. This research is often the starting point for developing a therapeutic drug, and those types of drugs on the market today are used to lower high blood pressure, relieve severe pain, act as blood thinners, treat Type 2 diabetes, and stop bleeding during surgical procedures. Send your naturerelated questions to naturewatch@austin. rr.com and we’ll do our best to answer them. If you enjoy reading these articles, check out our books, Nature Watch Austin, Nature Watch Big Bend, and Native Host Plants for Texas Butterflies (all published by Texas A&M University Press), and our blog at naturewatchaustin. blogspot.com. Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) The Gazette - August 2021

The Villages Of Western Oaks newlsetter is a private publication published by Peel, Inc. It is not sanctioned by any homeowners association or organization, nor is it subject to the approval of any homeowners association or organization, nor is it intended, nor implied to replace any publication that may be published by or on behalf of any homeowners association or organization. At no time will any source be allowed to use The Villages Of Western Oaks newlsetter contents, or loan said contents, to others in anyway, shape or form, nor in any media, website, print, film, e-mail, electrostatic copy, fax, or etc. for the purpose of solicitation, commercial use, or any use for profit, political campaigns, or other self amplification, under penalty of law without written or expressed permission from Peel, Inc. The information in the newsletter is exclusively for the private use of Peel, Inc. DISCLAIMER: Articles and ads in this newsletter express the opinions of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Peel, Inc. or its employees. Peel, Inc. is not responsible for the accuracy of any facts stated in articles submitted by others. The publisher also assumes no responsibility for the advertising content with this publication. All warranties and representations made in the advertising content are solely that of the advertiser and any such claims regarding its content should be taken up with the advertiser. * The publisher assumes no liability with regard to its advertisers for misprints or failure to place advertising in this publication except for the actual cost of such advertising. * Although every effort is taken to avoid mistakes and/or misprints, the publisher assumes no responsibility for any errors of information or typographical mistakes, except as limited to the cost of advertising as stated above or in the case of misinformation, a printed retraction/correction. * Under no circumstances shall the publisher be held liable for incidental or consequential damages, inconvenience, loss of business or services, or any other liabilities from failure to publish, or from failure to publish in a timely manner, except as limited to liabilities stated above.

The Gazette - August 2021

PO Box 1148 Round Rock, Texas 78680

The Gazette - August 2021