collection begins

The town of Chapel Hill will hold its annual leaf collection beginning Monday through late February.

Residents may place loose leaves and pine straw that are free of limbs and debris at the curb. Leaf piles should not block roadways, bike lanes, sidewalks, fire hydrants, water meters, mail boxes, storm drains and utility boxes, or interfere with sight distances at intersections. Rake leaves as early in the season as possible.

Another option is to place leaves in 30-gallon brown paper yard waste bags or yard waste roll carts or other rigid containers for year round curbside collection (on Thursdays for residents with Monday garbage service and on Friday for residents with Tuesday garbage service). Please note that crews won’t collect yard waste in plastic bags, because most plastic bags are not compostable and do not comply with yard waste disposal requirements at Orange County Landfill. You can buy yard waste roll carts for $47 each from the Public Works Department.

Residents may request delivery of leaves for gardens or compost piles by calling Public Works at 919-969-5100. Leaves provide important nutrients to the soil. You can pile them around trees, put them in an out-of-the-way spot on your lot, or compost them with other yard waste and vegetable peelings. Call 919-968-2788 for information on composting and purchasing composting bins.

Call 919-969-5100 or visit townofchapelhill.org/leaves for updates on the collection schedule in your neighborhood.

Energy-saving incentives

now available in Carrboro

Carrboro homeowners may be eligible to receive additional cash incentives for energy upgrades due to a partnership between the Town of Carrboro WISE program and Duke Energy.

Duke Energy customers can receive up to $425 to improve the efficiency of their homes and their duct system through sealing air leaks and adding insulation to the attic and duct system. Combine the new $425 incentive with the $200 incentive for HVAC upgrades, and homeowners could receive up to $625 for completing work that will help save money on energy bills.

WISE participants can receive up to $1,650 for a comprehensive energy assessment and home energy upgrades. These upgrades may range from increased attic insulation to installation of high efficiency HVAC equipment. Combine this with Duke Energy incentives, and homeowners could receive more than $2,000 for saving energy in their homes.

For additional information about the WISE program, go to wiseprogram.info.

For additional information about the Duke Energy Smart$aver program, go to bit.ly/PGgGKK.

Free lecture to look at

anti-Muslim prejudice

The Teaching and Learning Center and the Center for the Global Learner at Durham Technical Community College will co-sponsor a presentation by Maleiha Malik, law professor at King’s College, University of London, entitled “Anti-Muslim Prejudice in the West” at 11 a.m. Thursday.

The event is free of charge and is open to all DTCC employees and students, as well as members of the community, and will be held in the Multi-Purpose Room of the Phail Wynn, Jr. Student Services Center from 11 a.m. until noon.

Malik’s presentation explores the long-standing rhetoric that causes some to misunderstand present-day manifestations of Islam between European and American Muslims. Malik stresses that anti-Muslim prejudice is a form of cultural racism that presents Muslims as “barbaric others” through racialization of their religious culture, and it seeks to exclude American Muslims from full participation as equal citizens in the social, economic, and political life in the United States.

The talk will also examine the political mobilization against European and American Muslims that has been systematically organized through links between the United States and European political actors and institutions.

For a map of the Durham Tech campus, go to durhamtech.edu/html/aboutdt/campusmap.htm