Greenbelt lived up to its name on Friday, October 9 when the city’s sustainability efforts were recognized as best in the state by the Sustainable Maryland certification program.
“It’s in the name, so we have to make sure we’re in the game,” Mayor Colin Byrd said.
The initiative, which was created in 2011 as a collaboration between the Environmental Finance Center and the Maryland Municipal League, works to help Maryland’s 157 municipalities develop sustainability programs through trainings and financial incentives. Municipalities can then earn points toward a sustainability certification. In the past nine years, 40 municipalities have earned sustainability certifications, and 79 have registered for the program.
Of the 11 newly certified and recertified sustainable cities, Greenbelt set a record for most points gained since the start of the program with a total of 795. Points are broken up across eight different categories ranging from community action to natural resources.
The application took three months to prepare and involved extensive documentation for each specific sustainability action, said Greenbelt Sustainability Coordinator Dr. Luisa Robles. Both John Lippert, chair of the Greenbelt Advisory Committee on Environmental Sustainability, or GreenACES, and Kevin Carpenter-Driscoll, the city environmental coordinator, helped Robles with the application.
As Sustainable Maryland has grown, there has been an increased interest in requiring policy changes to match sustainability efforts, a change that Byrd, who is city council liaison to GreenACES, feels strongly about on both the city and county level.
“I support the policies and practices that I think would make the city more sustainable,” he said, noting he was to speak at a Prince George’s County Council meeting about the benefits of the reduction of pesticide use.
“We’re institutionalizing these sustainable practices,” Robles said. “If it’s codified in policy, then if someone leaves, those actions still happen.”
The team reiterated ongoing sustainability projects throughout the application and highlighted goals the city has met since the past awards cycle, like the implementation of a sustainable land care policy, efforts to preserve Greenbelt’s tree canopy and the calculation of the community carbon footprint.
Over the next three years, further sustainable efforts include the establishment of a solar farm to offset Greenbelt’s electricity consumption, a buy-local campaign and a food scraps drop-off program to increase citywide composting. Additionally, the city will apply for a Bee City USA certification, continue to promote residential energy savings and conduct a Community Barriers and Benefits Assessment to help better understand how Greenbelt residents interact with the city’s sustainability efforts.
“The number one thing people can do is to be informed on what the best practices are,” Robles said.
She encouraged Greenbelt residents to peruse the city’s sustainability framework, located on the GreenACES webpage (greenbeltmd.gov/government/boards-committees/green-aces), to familiarize themselves with current efforts and actions that still need to be addressed. Then, Robles said, send her an email and she can direct residents on how to help Greenbelt according to their interests.
Numerous innovative projects are detailed in the report, which can be found at
sustainablemaryland.com by clicking on the Participating Communities link.
This certification is a reflection of the hard work and dedication to sustainability and the environment throughout the various city departments, by councilmembers and committee members and by the residents of Greenbelt. Department of Public Works Director Jim Sterling phrased it well when he said, “Needless to say, this is a reflection on all staff, the Green Team and the city council. It is years’ worth of work and continued efforts on all things sustainable. Public Works is proud of all of our initiatives and efforts that make up this award.” Every Greenbelter should brim with pride at the achievements accomplished to pursue a sustainable environment for residents now and into the future.
Byrd also recognized the community’s role in Greenbelt’s sustainability efforts.
“As much as I applaud the city as an entity, I want to applaud our residents,” Byrd said. “Everyone did their part.”
Julia Arbutus is a University of Maryland graduate student in journalism reporting for the News Review.