Green News & Events, 9/12/2011

by Dan Rudt

MoCo Residential Energy Efficiency Rebate Program Accepting Applications

Interested in upgrading your home to improve comfort, reduce energy costs and even boost long-term home value? Montgomery County, using a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, is offering a one-time program to help you pay for the costs of these improvements. The Montgomery County Residential Energy Efficiency Rebate Program offers incentives to homeowners for energy efficiency improvements such as insulation, heating and cooling systems, and appliances. Owners of single family properties and condominiums can apply for up to $3,000 of funding per applicant. The minimum rebate size is $500 (typically a $2,000 to $3,000 project). In order to be eligible, each applicant must have an energy audit from an auditor participating in the Maryland Home Performance with ENERGY STAR or a utility (e.g., Pepco, BG&E, Potomac Edison) audit program. Homeowners are encouraged to use these funds in concert with other incentives available from utilities, the Maryland Energy Administration and others. Detailed information on the program, audit requirements, application, as well as links to other sources of funding is located on the website www.mcenergyfunding.com.

U.S. Homes Using Less Power

The Associated Press reported on September 7 that American households are consuming energy at a slower rate now than in the recent past, and the rate is expected to continue falling. The AP attributes the slowdown in consumption to several factors. Among them is the widespread use of energy efficient light bulbs, government programs (e.g., the Montgomery County energy efficiency rebate program in the article directly above), energy efficient new homes and energy conservation brought on by the poor economy. Energy experts, according to the AP article, expect household energy use to continue falling for years to come.

State Board of Education to Hear Appeals to Save Nick’s Organic Farm

The Maryland Board of Education decided on August 30 that 32 Potomac residents who filed complaints against the Montgomery County Board of Education have a right to be heard. The local board, which owns the land that Nick Maravell has farmed organically since 1980, agreed earlier this year to lease the Brickyard Road property to the County, which said it will work with a private recreation provider to turn the organic farm into soccer fields. The state board may take up the matter at their next meeting on October 25.

Maryland Clean Energy Summit Moves to Baltimore

Sorry about that, Bethesda. The 2011 Summit, originally scheduled for the Marriott North Bethesda Conference Center in late August, has been moved to the Hilton Inner Harbor in Baltimore. The new dates are Thursday, October 27 through Saturday, October 29. The program includes a free consumer trade show on Saturday 8/29 from 9:30 am – 2:30 pm. The Summit was postponed and moved because the Bethesda North Conference Center sustained damage caused by the August 23 earthquake.

Upcoming Green Events

Sustainability: Definitions and Implementation, Montgomery County Civic Federation meeting, Monday, September 12, 7:45 pm. County Council Building – 1st Floor Auditorium, 100 Maryland Avenue, Rockville. Speakers: Jennifer Bitting, Environmental Engineer, Dept. of Homeland Security; Doug Weisburger, Sustainability Programs, Montgomery County Dept. of Environmental Protection, Eric Coffman, Senior Energy Planner, Montgomery County Dept. of Environmental Protection, Councilmember Roger Berliner, Chair, County Council Committee on Transportation, Infrastructure, Energy and Environment. More information.

Trans-Atlantic Symposium on Cleantech Innovation and Federal Contracting, Thursday, September 15, 8:00 am – 2:00 pm. Johns Hopkins U., Montgomery County Campus. Networking and information event for renewable energy, energy efficiency and sustainable transportation firms in the U.S. and Switzerland. The day includes a live video conference with PlanetSolar, the world’s largest boat powered exclusively by high-efficiency solar cells, which is on its first round-the-world voyage.

Bethesda Green Education, Outreach and Marketing (EOM) Group Meeting – Newcomers Welcome! Thursday, September 15, 4:00 – 5:30 pm. This team of volunteers meets once every month to discuss Bethesda Green’s marketing and communications needs.

Savor Local Flavor: Four Course Dinner and Discussion with Chef Tony, Monday, September 19, 7:00 – 10:00 pm. Chef Tony’s, 4926 St. Elmo Avenue, Bethesda, MD 20814.  This is the third in the series On the Farm; Around the Table, connecting farmers, food and community in three meals. More information here.

Sustainable Office Seminar, Tuesday, September 20, 8:00-11:00 am, at Bethesda Green. Five sustainable office specialists offer concepts and practical tips to help people thrive in their office and make their company a “Best Place to Work.” Register here. For more information contact: sustainable.office.alliance@gmail.com.

U.S. Dep’t. of Energy Solar Decathlon,  Friday, September 23 – Sunday, October 2, West Potomac Park, National Mall, Washington, D.C.  Competing collegiate teams (including University of Maryland) exhibit cost-effective, energy-efficient, and attractive solar-powered houses designed, built and operated by the students.  This free event includes tours of the solar homes, consumer workshops and award ceremonies for the winning teams.

2011 Bethesda Green Gala, Wednesday, October 5, 6:00 – 10:00 pm, Round House Theatre. The gala recognizes Bethesda Magazine’s Green Award winners for their inspiring work in the environmental community. This promises to be an evening of sharing and connecting as a community where we celebrate our greener future. More information.

 

Support Green Paper Studio

We recently heard that Green Paper Studio, a Creative Parties’ venture owned by our good friend and Bethesda Green sponsor Tracy Bloom Schwartz, was nominated by Forbes Magazine for their “Boost Your Business” promotion. The winner gets $100,000. Please go to http://boost09.perfectprize.com/voting/ and vote. You will have to confirm your vote via email. They will give you instructions. Also, go to http://www.forbes.com/byb/2009/semi/boost-your-business-contest-09-green-paper-studio.html to see the 30 second video!

Good luck Tracy.  We’re all pulling for you.

 

Bethesda Green at Team Obama House Party

RSVP now for this Sunday’s Team Obama Earth Day House Party with Bethesda Green Executive Director Dave Feldman scheduled as a featured speaker.

Sunday, April 19, 2009 2:00 PM in downtown Bethesda

For directions and to register for the House Party, please visit:

http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gptwcc

 

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

On the day we celebrate Ireland and all things green, it seems appropriate for Bethesda Green to claim a bit of a holiday as well.  So, today, we toast our supporters, volunteers, and friends.  Thank you all — Bethesda Green would not exist without  you.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!  Erin Go Bragh!

 

It’s back — a fresh look at recycling

A few weeks ago, we posted our new ad created in kind by Bethesda newcomer Rick Kourchenko with Nasuti + Hinkle Creative Thinking.  For a number of reasons, we pulled down the post until the March/April issue of Bethesda Magazine in which the ad appears hit the newsstands.  The ad features an image of a bottle topped with a light bulb socket with copy that reads: “Recycling 1 glass bottle saves enough energy to power a 100-watt light bulb for 4 hours.  And a six-pack takes it around the clock.”

Some people love it . . . others, not so much.  But it does get a reaction, and that, as Nasuti co-owner Woody Hinkle would tell you, is what advertising is all about.

The ad appears on page 126, opposite the cover of Bethesda Magazine’s premier issue of Business, its third “magazine within a magazine.”  As always, thanks to publisher Steve Hull for the generous donation of space and to the folks at Nasuti who pull it all together.

 

Bethesda Green joins Go Green America Expo

Bethesda Green is pleased to announce its association with the upcoming Go Green America Expo, March 28-29 at the Montgomery County Agricultural Center in Gaithersburg, an event expected to attract over 10,000 visitors.
 
Visitors from around the DC Metropolitan area will:
·         Learn about new green products, services, resources, and technology
·         Shop in the Green Marketplace
·         Be inspired by many remarkable speakers, including authors and politicians
·         Enjoy delicious organic food
·         Expect fun activities for children.
 
As the leading community-based green nonprofit in the Washington area, Bethesda Green was asked to take an important role in this event.  We are creating an Eco-Community, an aggregation of local green businesses, nonprofits and government programs that will showcase the best of what a community has to offer (like our Be Green Showcase last year at the Hyatt Regency Bethesda). 
 
On Friday, we sent an email blast to our friends and sponsors, soliciting participation in the Eco-Community.  Less than five minutes after the email was sent, we received a response from our good friend Tracy Bloom Schwartz, owner of Creative Parties and her newly launched associated business, Green Paper Studios.

Home of Creative Parties and Green Paper Studios, across the street from Bethesda Green at the corner of Cordell and Woodmont Avenues.

We want to thank Tracy for being the first business to respond and commit to joining our Eco-Community.  If you’re interested in getting more information about participating in the Bethesda Green Eco-Community, send a note to info@bethesdagreen.org.

 

Communicating the green message

For those who want to adopt a more green lifestyle, perhaps no other question gets asked more than, How do I go about doing that?  And, depending on who you ask, you’ll no doubt get a range of answers from the misinformed to a litany of tasks untenable to all but monastic green monks.

With that in mind, a recent blog entry by Joel Makower of GreenBiz.com caught my eye.  Excerpting from The State of Green Business 2009 (which you can download for free after answering a short survey), Makower touches on consumers’ struggle to decipher among all the green claims of virtually every product and service in the market today.  Consumers understandably get confused.  As Makower states, “Given the lack of definitions, just about anything can be claimed as “green” — or “greenwash” — further muddying the waters.

My own take on all this, one I believe Makower shares, is that egregious forms of greenwashing should be called out, but any efforts to move in the right direction are welcome.

For communicators and organizations like Bethesda Green, our challenge is to first inform ourselves as best we can, then make that information available to the interested public.  We hope we’re putting in place the means to communicate the green message to our Bethesda Green audience — through this blog, the website, and numerous upcoming events — and welcome your ideas and insights that we can share with others.