Green Coverage!

Last week we saw a nice amount of green coverage in Charlottesville's local media. Monday's Progress asked "How green will officials make Albemarle County?" I found the article informative: it was exciting news to Betty that the Crozet library is the county's first project planed to meet the US Green Building Council's LEED standards (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design).

The Hook's article on the ins and outs and continuing saga of recycling in town and in the county was also welcome. I applaud Van der Linde's giant recycling facility and hope the local goverments can come together to make it a win-win for residents. My fear is that if lots of individual residents and individual businesses sign on for recycling service piece meal, then the incentive for a bigger county-wide effort will be lost. I believe we need to act as a collective on this one - that will bring the costs down for residents and bring in more recyclables in the end.

Again on Wednesday we see "A City of Trees, Trails" in the Daily Progress. What is a better use of our money than planting trees, which in return give us shade, cooler summers, cleaner air, less erosion and more beauty to admire. The goal for the tree canopy is 40%, a 6% increase. Modest, some could say, but lets applaud small changes that will make a difference in this community for generations to come. The city also plans on adding 10 more miles of trails!

Be proud of our local efforts here and encourage more green where that came from.

Best,
BWB