National Recycling Day, also known as America Recycles Day, is coming up on Nov. 15, and the cities of Bellaire and West University Place are each hosting community events for residents looking to dispose of materials.

What to expect: Bellaire’s Environmental Sustainability Board and Public Works Department are slated to host a Drive-Thru Recycling Drop-Off Event on Oct. 10, per a September news release.
The event will be held from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. at the city’s public works yard located at 4337 Edith St., Bellaire.

More details: West University Place officials are holding the city’s Biannual Recycling Event on Nov. 7, according to a Sept. 30 community announcement.

Hosted at the city’s public works facility located at 3826 Milton St., Houston, the free event will take place from 9 a.m. to noon and will be open to West U residents only. Proof of residency will be required to participate, officials said.

Whisk Matcha Bar celebrated its grand opening on May 30 following a brief soft opening period earlier in the month, officials confirmed.

What's special about it: The sleek, traditionally-themed cafe specializes in premium matcha and other tea blends sourced directly from Japanese farmers. All drinks are hand-whisked to order with rotating specials throughout its menu, according to information from its social media.

What they offer: With matcha as the cafe's focal point, patrons can try its most popular beverages, including the Matcha Cold Whisk, Double Matcha and Strawberry Matcha Latte.

Before you go: Tea lovers can visit Whisk Matcha Bar at 4001 Bellaire Blvd., Houston.

• 4001 Bellaire Blvd., Houston

The nonprofit Houston Parks Board is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, HPB President and CEO Justin Schultz said.

The history: Founded in 1976, the group works to expand, improve and protect parks and green space in the Houston region by building, renovating and managing projects. Over the past 50 years, the board has invested about $500 million in parks and green space using public, philanthropic and corporate funding.

Also of note: The parks board typically works on about 50 projects at any given time, including more than 170 miles of connected trails. Moving forward, Schultz said the board has three main priorities:

• Adding 50 miles of trail to the existing network

• Investing in about 180 of Houston's neighborhood parks

• Building the Hill at Sims and MacGregor parks

Need to catch up on Community Impact’s coverage from this week? Check out these trending stories across the southern portion of the Greater Houston area from Sept. 28-Oct. 2.

• Fort Bend ISD adjusts final day of 2026-27 school year

• Good Vibes Coastal Cantina and Good Vibes Coastal Kitchen close the same day

• New curated antique shop celebrates grand opening near West University Place

• 12 businesses recently opened in Katy and Fulshear

• Houston ISD to potentially cut, relocate teachers amid enrollment-driven budget evaluation

• San Jacinto College extends biotechnology partnership

Texas school districts using the state-developed Bluebonnet Learning curriculum saw slightly better year-over-year achievement last school year than other districts, according to Texas Education Agency data released Sept. 30.

What's happening: During the 2025-26 school year, 619 of Texas' 1,200 public school districts opted in to implement at least one of the three Bluebonnet curriculum programs—elementary math, secondary math and elementary language arts.

On this spring's State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness exam, districts using the state-developed math materials saw student improvement that was 0.6 percentage points higher than students in other districts, while districts that implemented the reading materials performed 0.2 percentage points higher on the STAAR than other schools.

What they're saying: The TEA said the gains in student achievement are an "encouraging sign of early progress."

Zeph Capo, president of the Texas American Federation of Teachers, a statewide educator union, disagreed, calling the results "rather paltry."

"It may take a few more years to determine if this is a valid trend or simply an anomaly," Capo said in a statement.