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At the second annual GreenFest on Saturday, residents visited with vendors selling energy-saving products and promoting recycled goods and Prince George's County officials to learn how to help improve the environment and what the county is doing to reduce energy usage.
The event, held at Prince George's Community College in Largo, was founded last year and organized by County Councilman Thomas Dernoga (D-Dist. 1) of Laurel.
"The local environment is critical for every one of us, and it's important to help educate the public about what they can do," he said.
Dernoga said the council hopes to bring more green jobs to the county through construction jobs and more green planning and buildings. The new Vansville Elementary School in Beltsville is the first school in the county to be silver certified in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, a designation for environmentally sustainable construction.
He said he would also like to see the council pass a green residential tax credit, which would give residents a credit for using alternative energy sources, such as geothermal and solar energy, to heat their homes.
Dernoga aide and GreenFest organizer Alex Hirtle said it is important for the county to think long-term about the impact of green jobs, stating that every dollar spent in efforts to go green will save three dollars over time. "We want to make sure we're not penny-wise and dollar-short. We have to look into the future, 10 years down the road."
Carole Barth, an environmental planner with the county's Department of Environmental Resources, and co-worker Deborah Weller demonstrated how pollutants can make their way into the water supply using a miniature model of a watershed.
"All these little decisions that we make every day add up," Barth said. "They impact both the pocketbook and our recreational facilities."
Another booth run by the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission encouraged residents not to pour their grease down the sink or toilet, but rather put it in a can and toss it out with the trash. Grease is the leading cause of backups, according to Theresa Bond, a WSSC community outreach representative.
Sharon Hatcher, a volunteer with Community Forklift, an Edmonston-based nonprofit that resells used construction supplies, used donated materials from Community Forklift in her office in Hyattsville, where she works as a business and financial consultant.
The nonprofit accepts donations and then resells them for use in new constructions and home improvements.
"We encourage deconstruction over demolition, which reduces waste and diverts it from landfills," said Hatcher.
