Neighbor Talks: Environmentalism at Home
Zoom sessions with our neighbors presenting information and answering questions on varied environmental topics.
Click the buttons below for information on the Neighbor Talks session of your choice:
Click the buttons below for information on the Neighbor Talks session of your choice:
Lawns & Beddings
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Learn about best practices in lawn care and suggestions for installing lawn alternatives & garden beds within and next to your lawns. See the powerpoint slide presentation below.
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Click this pdf for a comprehensive list of steppable and bedding plants for our region.
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Electric Vehicles: Use and Charging
Here are the PowerPoint slides. The overall Agenda and Basic Information is below:
The slides below are a more detailed discussion by Casey Henderson:
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Food Waste Composting Methods and Resources
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During our October 2022 Neighbor Talks session, we discussed the benefits of leaving food waste out of our trash and turning it into compost. Various methods, do's and don'ts, county programs, and resources were presented, followed by a Q&A and discussion of chat questions. The recording of the session and the PowerPoint presentation are below:
What do you do with banana peels, coffee grinds, and vegetable peelings?
Reduce the trash that goes to the incinerator, reduce greenhouse gases, reduce odors in your kitchen trash bin, and help create rich compost. Win-win all around!
Separating food trimmings is just another step in recycling waste. Once you try this, you'll see that it reduces the odor from your trash can, since food waste is going into a dedicated bin with a lid!
Purchase a countertop bin with a lid to collect trimmings as you prepare food.
Then, 1. Put your trimmings in an outdoor food waste compost bin like this:
Montgomery County requires the use of a bin that is off the ground and has a sealed lid to discourage rodents and odors. This type of bin is different from the types used for composting yard trim. Adding food waste to an open yard trim compost pile is illegal in the county.
OR 2. Bring your food scraps to MOM's Organic Market at the corner of Randolph Road and Nebel Street, which has a bin on the sidewalk to the right of their entrance doors.
If you prefer, you can also put your food scraps in the freezer in a compostable bag, then take it out when you're ready to put it in your outside food waste compost bin, give it to a private company collection, or take it (free!) to MOM's Organic Market.
OR 3. Another option: hire a private composting company to collect your food scraps, for a monthly fee. They will deliver compost for your garden.
Dedicated Food Scraps Recycling Collectors
Compost Cab, 202-695-2020
Compost Crew, 301-202-4450
EnviRelation, 202-465-4802
Key Compost, 240-608-0283
Organic Agriculture Recycling, LLC, christopher_br@hotmail.com, 240-898-7284
Organic Waste Haulers, 301-755-9286
What can you compost? LOTS! Check out the attached guide.
Montgomery County promotes home composting of food waste, https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/SWS/foodwaste/index.html
Reduce the trash that goes to the incinerator, reduce greenhouse gases, reduce odors in your kitchen trash bin, and help create rich compost. Win-win all around!
Separating food trimmings is just another step in recycling waste. Once you try this, you'll see that it reduces the odor from your trash can, since food waste is going into a dedicated bin with a lid!
Purchase a countertop bin with a lid to collect trimmings as you prepare food.
Then, 1. Put your trimmings in an outdoor food waste compost bin like this:
Montgomery County requires the use of a bin that is off the ground and has a sealed lid to discourage rodents and odors. This type of bin is different from the types used for composting yard trim. Adding food waste to an open yard trim compost pile is illegal in the county.
OR 2. Bring your food scraps to MOM's Organic Market at the corner of Randolph Road and Nebel Street, which has a bin on the sidewalk to the right of their entrance doors.
If you prefer, you can also put your food scraps in the freezer in a compostable bag, then take it out when you're ready to put it in your outside food waste compost bin, give it to a private company collection, or take it (free!) to MOM's Organic Market.
OR 3. Another option: hire a private composting company to collect your food scraps, for a monthly fee. They will deliver compost for your garden.
Dedicated Food Scraps Recycling Collectors
Compost Cab, 202-695-2020
Compost Crew, 301-202-4450
EnviRelation, 202-465-4802
Key Compost, 240-608-0283
Organic Agriculture Recycling, LLC, christopher_br@hotmail.com, 240-898-7284
Organic Waste Haulers, 301-755-9286
What can you compost? LOTS! Check out the attached guide.
Montgomery County promotes home composting of food waste, https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/SWS/foodwaste/index.html
Home Energy Conservation and Indoor Air Quality |
On June 2, Jeremy Martinich gave a presentation and answered questions about practical tips and advice on home energy audits and indoor air quality.
CLICK HERE for the recording of the zoom call.
Below are Jeremy's PowerPoint slides, with a downloadable file version below the slideshow.
CLICK HERE for the recording of the zoom call.
Below are Jeremy's PowerPoint slides, with a downloadable file version below the slideshow.
| session_3_slides_home_performance_6-2-22.pptx |
Creating and Maintaining a Native Plants Garden. A Presentation by the creators of the Pike & Rose Native Plants Demonstration Gardens. May 11.
co-sponsored by the Greater Farmland Garden Club
A Special Presentation and Q&A with Kate Ries from Clinton-Ries Landscape Architects,
designers of Pike & Rose native plants gardens and the grounds of American University.
Kate discussed design principles, the aesthetics of using native plants, plant selection process, the new Market Street garden “in progress,” as well as practical advice on installing and maintaining your native plants garden.
co-sponsored by the Greater Farmland Garden Club
A Special Presentation and Q&A with Kate Ries from Clinton-Ries Landscape Architects,
designers of Pike & Rose native plants gardens and the grounds of American University.
Kate discussed design principles, the aesthetics of using native plants, plant selection process, the new Market Street garden “in progress,” as well as practical advice on installing and maintaining your native plants garden.
A wealth of information - homegrownnationalpark.org
Get a list of native plants for our locale - nwf.org/nativeplantfinder
and extension.umd.edu/resource/recommended-native-plants-maryland/
and environment@greaterfarmland.org
and Here's a list of plants that support specific caterpillars, butterflies, and native moths
Want to identify and remove invasive plants? Here's a guide and list:
https://extension.umd.edu/resource/invasive-species/
Get a list of native plants for our locale - nwf.org/nativeplantfinder
and extension.umd.edu/resource/recommended-native-plants-maryland/
and environment@greaterfarmland.org
and Here's a list of plants that support specific caterpillars, butterflies, and native moths
Want to identify and remove invasive plants? Here's a guide and list:
https://extension.umd.edu/resource/invasive-species/
Going Solar, was presented by four of our neighbors who have installed solar systems with differing capabilities and financial options. Here are their summarized experiences/presentations:
Bradley Snyder has just recently installed a purchased Tesla system:
Casey Henderson has a purchased non-Tesla system with battery backup, installed in 2019:
Dan Schwartz contracted with a community solar farm system for lower bills, without installing panels on the house. He shared the website neighborhoodsun.solar/how-it-works, which has up-to-date information on how community solar farms work and the choices available to us in our region.
Green Burial Resources |
In lieu of a Neighbor Talks session on green burials, we joined a zoom seminar, held in February 2023, by a Maryland organization. There were several speakers, including the owners of two local green cemeteries. For complete resources, go to greenburialmaryland.org. The Zoom session was recorded and is below:
Homegrown National Park Project |
Kicking off our 2024 program, we screened a fascinating and inspiring video from the founder of homegrownnationalpark.org, Doug Tallamy, with a discussion afterwards. Mesmerizing for adults and school-age children.
“... what if each American landowner converted half of his or her yard to productive native plant communities? Even moderate success could collectively restore some semblance of ecosystem function to more than 20 million acres of what is now ecological wasteland. ”
“Every square inch of planet earth has ecological significance, even where we live, work, and play. If we landscape these areas with plant function as well as aesthetics in mind, we can create viable habitat where humans are, not just where humans are not.”
Small efforts by many people can restore pollinators and diversity.
“... what if each American landowner converted half of his or her yard to productive native plant communities? Even moderate success could collectively restore some semblance of ecosystem function to more than 20 million acres of what is now ecological wasteland. ”
“Every square inch of planet earth has ecological significance, even where we live, work, and play. If we landscape these areas with plant function as well as aesthetics in mind, we can create viable habitat where humans are, not just where humans are not.”
Small efforts by many people can restore pollinators and diversity.
View the video by clicking below:
