Green initiative to kickoff next week in downtown Bethesda

Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2008

Green initiative to kickoff next week in downtown Bethesda

by Bradford Pearson | Staff Writer

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Bethesda will soon be a greener place to live, thanks in part to a new county plan that includes bringing recycling bins, more bicycle racks and an ambitious program to convert used restaurant frying oil into biodiesel to the downtown.

The ‘‘Bethesda Green” initiative is set to be launched at 3:30 p.m. Jan. 23 at the Bethesda Theatre in downtown Bethesda.

The steering committee for Bethesda Green includes members of the County Council, departments of Economic Development and Environmental Protection, representatives from the Greater Bethesda Chevy-Chase Chamber of Commerce, as well as Seth Goldman, founder of Bethesda-based Honest Tea, and representatives from other area businesses.

Goldman originally proposed the idea of a Bethesda ‘‘green zone” at the opening of Honest Tea’s new downtown Bethesda headquarters in September.

The Sustainable Business Network of Washington and The Livability Project, two groups dedicated to helping create environmentally sustainable local economies, are helping Bethesda Green with the initial implementation of the plan.

‘‘No one needs to be told that the current way we do business isn’t going to work,” said County Councilman George Leventhal (D-At Large) of Takoma Park, co-chairman of the Bethesda Green Steering Committee. ‘‘We’ve got to make some changes.”

At the Jan. 23 kickoff, the steering committee will unveil the project, and ask for community support.

‘‘We really have no idea how big this project could be,” Leventhal said. ‘‘It’s really dependent upon how much the community wants to help.”