Big Green Bus @ GreenWheaton Gala

GreenWheaton, a nonprofit organization with a mission similar to Bethesda Green’s, is celebrating its first anniversary with a fundraising gala at Brookside Gardens Visitor Center, Tuesday, June 19.

Joining the festivities will be a special visit by the Dartmouth College Big Green Bus. In its 8th year, dedicated Dartmouth students are touring the nation visiting 24 states on a reused, veggie-powered Greyhound bus. This year the group is focused on “inspiring grassroots action to address environmental issues and encourage sustainability at the community level.”

The GreenWheaton fundraiser features local food, beer, wine, refreshments, green vendors, door prizes, and more! Tickets are $25 a person.  Register here.

Brookside Gardens Visitor Center, 1800 Glenallen Avenue, Wheaton, MD 20902

 

Mining grease for biodiesel fuel

BCC students get briefed about surveying Bethesda restaurants as part of the local biodiesel fuel research project.

Bethesda Green recently launched an exciting project in partnership with Montgomery County to research the disposal of waste vegetable oil from Bethesda restaurants.  It turns out that grease is a hot commodity for the production of biodiesel fuel, which could be used to power vehicles in the County fleet.

As a first step, Bethesda Green and the County developed a restaurant survey to estimate the total amount of grease available for possibly generating biodiesel locally and to improve the environmental choices restaurants have for disposing their waste vegetable oil.

BCC high school students have volunteered to help conduct the restaurant survey and recently dropped by Bethesda Green for a project orientation.  We’ll keep you posted on this important effort as it moves forward.

Restaurants wanting more information in general about the County’s Vegetable Oil Exchange program should go to www.montgomerycountymd.gov/veggieoil.

More information about the biodiesel program can be found on the Bethesda Green website.