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County Celebrates Green Initiatives

In Albemarle County, Virginia, residents learned a good lesson in civics recently: If enough people speak up, the government might just listen.

Community members and environmentalists let their Board of Supervisors know that they wanted to see better stewardship of the land and natural resources, during strategic planning sessions at which the county developed its long-term vision.

The result? A greenroof for the County Office building; four hybrid vehicles for the county fleet; two green forums to discuss such issues greenways, local food production, green transportation and stormwater management; and close to $400,000 set aside to purchase 30,000 acres of conservation easements over the next few years.

The county is also studying the greenroof it planted a year ago to see just how much it saves in energy costs and reduced runoff to determine whether to provide incentives to developers who do the same. The efforts have earned Charlottesville a place among the top “green” cities in the South, even though residents say they still lack such basics as a curbside recycling program.

No doubt the Supervisors will be hearing from residents some more on that one.

To read more about Albemarle County’s greenroof and greenroof projects in other locations, click here.

To read more about this and other environmental health issues, go to: www.environmentalhealthnews.org, www.ourstolenfuture.org, or www.healthandenvironment.org