Home > News Releases > 2012 > January > Rockville Encourages Residents, Businesses to Participate in Sustainable Maryland Certified Program

News Release

MEDIA CONTACT:
Marylou Berg, Communication Manager, 240-314-8105
    

Rockville Encourages Residents, Businesses
to Participate in Sustainable Maryland Certified Program

ROCKVILLE, MD, January 10, 2012 – Rockville is encouraging residents and businesses to contribute to the city’s sustainable future. Now is the opportunity to help Rockville in its efforts with the Sustainable Maryland Certified Program, a new initiative the Mayor and Council signed on to with support from the Environment Commission. 

Rockville is inviting everyone who lives and works in the city to participate in the new Rockville Sustainability Survey (www.surveymonkey.com/s/DNVHDZW) to make Rockville a greener, healthier and more livable community. The survey is anonymous and will take about 10 minutes to complete.

The Sustainable Maryland Certified Program is a new initiative of the University of Maryland and the Maryland Municipal League (MML). The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) gave funding to start Sustainable Maryland Certified.

The program is structured to build on the sustainability efforts Rockville has already achieved such as Tree City USA designations, community gardens, farmers markets, Let’s Move programs, the Green Power Community Challenge and partnerships with the Rockville Chamber of Commerce.

The program also adds several new elements, including health and wellness, community actions and community based food systems. 

By participating in this online survey, residents and businesses can:

• Share their ideas on what a Sustainable Rockville looks like to them and what the City can do to achieve this vision. Major topic areas include food, health and wellness, local economy, energy, greenhouse gas, natural resources and planning and land use.
• Help Rockville achieve certification through the Sustainable Maryland Certified (SMC) program and be recognized as a leader in sustainability and give Rockville a competitive boost in competition for future grants. 
• Help give Rockville a competitive boost for state and federal grants, and ultimately cut costs to the City. 

To learn more, go to www.rockvillemd.gov/sustainability.