From the EVP’s desk: Environmental stewardship in the Village

With one of the largest expanses of greenspace in Montgomery County, Montgomery Village is home to not only a diverse population of human residents, but also diverse wildlife and plant and animal habitats. As such, part of our collective responsibility is to be environmental stewards and help care for and maintain our greenspace for years to come.

The Environmental Protection Agency calls environmental stewardship “the responsibility for environmental quality shared by all those whose actions affect the environment.” It can encompass a variety of activities including planting trees, reducing pollution, creating community gardens, planting/replanting trees, restoring degraded areas, using sustainable products and more. The Montgomery Village Foundation (MVF) Board of Directors approved an Organizational Green Plan that addresses a number of these topics and incorporates them into its Strategic Goals each year during the budgeting process. As an organization, MVF strives to keep the community at its best for all residents. In addition, all residents can help maintain the community.

One of the easiest ways for everyone to contribute to the overall health of our community and remain great environmental stewards is to be conscious of trash and debris at parks and amenities, in your neighborhood, and curbside on your pickup day(s). When enjoying the outdoors and events and facilities, grabbing that stray piece of trash and putting it into a receptacle is much appreciated. We have staff in the parks everyday emptying the receptacles, but if you see any receptacles that are overflowing, please let us know at 301-948-0110! It is important that we all maintain our common spaces to a high standard for all to enjoy.

And while trash collection in individual neighborhoods is privately contracted through your homes corporations, condominium associations or apartment complexes, helping to keep loose trash to a minimum is a concept that we all can subscribe to. Each association has varied pickup days and times, but the common rule is to keep trash bagged and in a secure, lidded trash can at all times (and it’s the law). Placing loose trash bags out for collection on the ground invites “wildlife,” but in a manner that is not attractive and not the habitat we should strive to support. When it comes to large items that don’t fit inside of your regular trash can, most association contracts include free bulk pickups from the contractor. You simply need to arrange in advance for the pickup and then place your items out at the designated time.

What about all of the stuff that just gets dumped on community property? In these cases, your local association has to pay for an additional cleanup from the contractor. This means spending your assessment dollars to clean up something that could have been arranged for free. And spending on extra trash means either cutting other resources or increasing your local assessment for future budgets. On top of all that, it becomes an eyesore to look at while the contractor arranges the pickup, and it can continue to invite unwanted wildlife.

At the end of the day, we are all responsible for doing our part to help keep our community looking clean. We can have all the aspirations, plans and implemented ideas for new plantings, solar panels, restoration areas and electric vehicles, but if we are not consistently working together to maintain something as common and achievable as “good trash hygiene,” then we are already lacking as environmental stewards. I appreciate the greenspace that I see around the Village on a daily basis and hope you do, too. So, let’s work together to keep it that way for our enjoyment and the enjoyment of all our neighbors.