Green Teams from across Frederick County gathered to share recent successes and challenges in their communities the second county-wide Green Team Summit, with this year's theme of Municipal/County Interactions driving the conversation.

Lisa Orr, the County's sustainability program coordinator, discussed the Green Homes Challenge program and the Neighborhood Green stormwater initiative, both of which provide resources to homeowners. David Whitaker, the chief of comprehensive planning, discussed the new Livable Frederick initiative, a progressive approach to regional planning that will incorporate resiliency, adaptation, equity, systems thinking and community engagement.

Some recommendations that emerged during the course of the conversation included:

Waste Reduction: Scale up and streamline recycling, improving outreach and education in order to increase participation from 15-20%, implement a multifamily homes and business recycling

initiative.

Energy: LED streetlight retrofits, Solar Coop, community solar and solar for municipalities.

 

Sustainable Purchasing: Bulk purchasing, understanding what procurement contracts municipalities can piggyback off of,  coordinate with the MWCOG Environmental Buyers Committee, sustainable cooperative purchasing contracts specifically for toilet paper, LED lights, and solar panels (like the Prince George's Energy Collaborative model).

Stormwater: Increased funding for municipal stormwater projects that complement county-state regulation requirements, incentives for SW BMPs on residential property, increased water conservation.

Natural Resources: Municipalities should be able to access the County's tree canopy assessments at the municipal level.

For more information on the 2nd Frederick County Green Team Summit, including presentations and additional resources, check out our Summit overview.