Electric Car Owners are Charging Up in Various Places Throughout the DC Metro Area

Joyce Breiner Charging her Nissan Leaf at Bucca Di Beppo in Gaithersburg, Md

February 22, 2012

Gaithersburg, Md

By: Alex Stavitsky-Zeineddin

Bucca di Beppo Italian Restaurant in Gaithersburg, Md, is attracting electric vehicle owners.   If they eat a meal at Bucca, they can get a free electric charge for their car.

“ We are happy to do what we can do help people with their energy savings” said Mark Ehrli, Bucca di Beppo’s regional manager.

Joyce Breiner of Poolesville, Md, bought a Nissan Leaf electric car in December 2011 and is part of a group electric vehicle owners that like to have a meal at Bucca di Beppo while refueling her car’s battery.

The electric vehicle (EV) is becoming a popular alternative to the hybrid car and the regular gas car as more people decide that they want to reduce their carbon footprint and reduce their dependence on fossil fuels.

Breiner, deputy executive director of  Poolesville Green, a local environmental non-profit,  found the Bucca di Beppo charge station on an application called Plugshare for smart phone users. This essential tool maps out private and public plugin stations throughout the United States, including the DC Metro area.  Users can add their own private or public station location address along with a review and necessary information about what kind of charger is available; a 120 volt standard outlet (can take up to 8 hours to fully charge a car),  EV plug 240, or Quick Charge (480v CHAdeMO) station.

The US Department of Energy website also provides state and municipal charging sites as well as private and utility owned charge sites throughout the United States.

Breiner explained that her husband, David Yaney, a Phd electric engineer, is the one who most often drives the car because he commutes from Poolesville to Germantown for work.  She says that the electric car does well for commuters that are also doing city driving because the battery charges up with the stop and starts.  “Electric cars are cars for geeks,” Breiner said.  ”In order to maximize the amount of distance with the battery charge, the driver must think about how they are driving in order also charge the battery. “   How one drives the car improves the charge on the battery and makes a difference as to how many miles one can go without having to charge ones car.  Breiner says that other factors such as temperature also make a difference as to how far one can travel on a fully charged battery.

Breiner and Yaney took advantage of a federal $7,500 rebate tax for purchasing an electric car and additional $2,000 Maryland excise tax rebate that also gives electric car owners an HOV sticker so that they can travel even as a single passenger in the HOV lanes.  An additional $400 Maryland tax rebate is offered for home chargers as the car does need to be charged back at home.

According to the Nissan Leaf website information, Chevy Volt, and Tessla Motors, these vehicles can be driven from 100 to 300 miles before needing to be re-charged. The high end Tessla electric cars, made here in the US, say that the model S holds a charge for up to 300 miles.

All these different electric vehicles are made to order and are available on the different car company’s websites. Ford Focus 2012 Electra is taking online orders as well. On average, it takes two months for the cars to be made and delivered. The Nissan Leaf dealership in Rockville Maryland said seven Leafs were delivered in December 2011, two in January 2012, and one so far this month.

Breiner says that she and her husband have already saved $200 in gasoline costs during the month of January.  Also, their EV keeps detailed information about how much electricity they have generated and expended in each drive that is then provided to them as an email through the Nissan Leaf smart phone application to their smart phone.  Breiner and Yaney can keep meticulous track of driving habits and how they effect their energy battery consumption.  Maintenance is no longer about oil changes but rather about tire rotations and having the battery maintain its charging capacity.

Meanwhile, new charging stations are popping up in all the DC Metro region and groups such as The Electric Vehicle Association of Greater Washington DC serve as a great resource and support for experienced and new EV owner’s alike.  According the EVA’s website, Dulles Airport will be opening up eight new charging stations alone in the coming days.

Going Meat Free on Mondays

January 30th, 2012

Gaithersburg, Md

Editorial by:  Alex Stavitsky-Zeineddin

Today is the first day that my family and I are consciously not eating meat on a Monday.  I packed my boys mushroom pizza slices in their lunch boxes along with a yogurt, tangerine and fruit rollup. I plan to eat a butternut squash soup I made for lunch and then cook a Spanish omelette for all of us for dinner tonight.

My boys reminded me today that it is Meatless Monday, so they are on board too. I just left a message on my husband’s cell to remind him not to eat meat today too.

Vegan food coach Caroline Cherry provided an African Stew recipe today and Denise Clark, a friend and excellent cook, shared a Confetti-Stuffed Buritto recipe.  They are listed under Recipes on the right margin of this website.

Please let me know if you too tried to eat meat free today and what you cooked. Please share any vegetarian recipes by emailing me at founder@greengaithersburg.com.  I will post your recipes next Monday. 

Eat Less Meat and Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

January 23, 2012

Gaithersburg, Md

By: Alex Stavitsky-Zeineddin

Meatless Mondays is a growing trend followed by individuals, the famous, chefs, even countries, all desiring healthier diets and wanting to reduce their carbon footprint.

Sid Lerner, a marketing expert in New York City, coined the concept, Meatless Mondays, in 2003.   Mr. Lerner was diagnosed with high blood pressure and coronary heart disease.  He was advised to eat less meat and eat more vegetables to improve his general health.

Mr. Lerner decided to educate himself and the rest of the world about the benefits of eating less meat.  He teamed with up with John Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School for Public Health and formed the non-profit, Meatless Mondays.  The campaign that evolved calls for “eliminating meats from meals one day per week to encourage people to explore healthy dietary alternatives and increase awareness of the toll meat consumption takes on our health and the environment.”

Mondays was selected as the day to not eat meat because research proves that Mondays are the best day for anyone to start anything new and to stick to it.

Today, a total of 30 Public Health Schools advocate this concept.  San Francisco followed by Washington D.C. passed resolutions to have “meat free” Mondays so as to create awareness of the health benefits of eating vegetables and fruits, and to bring awareness of the environmental impacts of abstaining from meat.  Croatia, France, England, Japan, Canada, and Belgium are a few of the countries where a meat free day is also catching on.

Sid Lerner, now in his eighties and in good health, still comes into the Meatless Monday headquarters in Manhattan to oversee this non-profit ideal.

How does eating less meat reduce one’s carbon footprint?  The 2009 United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded that meat production creates more greenhouse gases than transportation does. According to Nobel Prize winner Dr. Rajeendra Pachauri, chair of the  UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the production of one kilogram of beef (2.2 pounds) creates as much carbon dioxide emissions as driving an older car for 200 kilometers or 124 miles.

GreenGaithersburg.com will be posting vegetarian recipes on Mondays by local vegan coach Caroline Cherry, local good cook Denise Clarke, and the non-profit Meatless Monday’s weekly recipes to make it easier to cook non-meat dishes.

If you would like to contribute your own vegetarian recipe, please email founder@greengaithersburg.com.

Environmentalist of the Month Improves Your Watershed and Water Quality

Jennie Howland with trash collected from Muddy Branch cleanup

Gaithersburg, MD

January 20, 2011

By: Alex Stavitsky-Zeineddin

Jennie Howland is improving the local environment she lives in.   Over the past year, Ms. Howland has helped set up and run the Muddy Branch Alliance, a new non-profit in Gaithersburg, Md. engaged in educating the public about water quality issues.  She serves on the Muddy Branch Alliance board of directors.  Ms. Howland is only 25 years old.  She is looking for a full time job in the environmental sector.

Ms. Howland grew up in Gaithersburg.  “ I always played outside, rode bikes, and explored the woods. I also attended outdoor summer camps. My parents always sent me outside once I finished my homework.“

Spending time outdoors, then a trip to the Chesapeake Bay in 4^th grade that explained water pollution and quality, influenced Ms. Howland’s interest in science.  She studied a lot of Biology at Wootton High School, and then was accepted at Mount Holyoke College, a prestigious private liberal arts school, the first all women’s college in the U.S.   Ms. Howland studied Biology there, thinking she wanted to be a vet, but then decided to transfer to University of Maryland to study Environmental Sciences where she earned a B.S. in Environmental Science and Policy.

“Environmental Sciences is the study of biodiversity and conservation biology. One scientifically measures the changes in plants and animals over time due to changes in the environment” said Ms. Howland.  ”The ongoing debate is preservation versus conservation.  Because everything does change, do you try and conserve nature or slow down the outside environmental factors that create the change?”

These questions lead Ms. Howland to be interested in environmental policy.  Upon graduating from college, Ms. Howland interned for the Sierra Club’s Maryland chapter, a lobbying organization based throughout the United States.   There, she learned lobbying skills and helped plan different events.

Though Ms. Howland worked on the plastic bag bill, stopping hydrofracking, and other campaigns, Ms. Howland missed the hands on aspect of environmental work. This is what led her to helping establish a local watershed group, The Muddy Branch Alliance.

“ For me clean water is very important. I wanted to get involved in a local watershed and there wasn’t one directly in the area that I live. I went to the Clean Water Summit and met Paul Hlavinka who was also concerned about water quality issues in the area.”  Ms. Howland and Mr. Hlavinka soon decided, with others, to establish the Muddy Branch Alliance in the spring of 2010.

“ We want to bring attention to clean water, the Muddy Branch creek area.  The idea is that kids and people should enjoy clean water in the creeks.  Ms. Howland points out that all water run off from people’s lawns, from roads, all winds up in the creeks and then into the Potomac and becomes part of our drinking water. Water that has phosphates, fertilizers, pesticides, all runs into the local water sources.

Ms. Howland spends a lot of her free time setting up events, speakers and watershed cleanups along with writing grants for the Muddy Branch Alliance.  Currently, her paying job is at Starbucks. “ I am applying to jobs that are environmentally related and hoping that I can find a job in this field soon” said Ms. Howland.

When asked what Ms. Howland’s first environmental concern is, she said“ the biggest issue is where we get our energy. We are so dependent on fossil fuels and this source of energy will eventually run out. We need greater cleaner energy sources; there is not enough research or exploration. Fossil fuels are an unhealthy pollutant that contributes to water pollution. Pollution winds up in the water, it is all tied together.”

Kentlands Community Garden Plots are Available in a Lottery

Pierre and Sebastien Planting in the Kentlands Community Garden

Gaithersburg, Md

January 6, 2011

EDITORIAL By: Alex Stavitsky-Zeineddin

Kentlands Residents interested in a community garden plot, come participate in the lottery for the nine plots available on Tuesday, January 10, 2012 at the Kentlands Clubhouse at 7:00 pm.

This garden took a tremendous amount of time and effort to become part of the Kentlands landscape.

A group of designers, journalists, doctors, lawyers, got together and worked  through numerous garden designs, various Kentlands committees, and then gathered sponsors to make the place and space called the Kentlands Community Garden.

The initial plot owners and volunteers in the community actually leveled the land where the plots are today. The plots were built, the beds were filled with donated soil and  the path between the beds was laid with donated pebbles.

We all created and built what we hope will be loved and used by you for years to come.

My family and I have learned so much about the seasons with our garden plot. My sons Pierre and Sebastien know now that it is time, before the final spring frost, to start the early spring crops from seeds. They know when it is time to plant and they also know that they need to add compost so as to provide nutrients to the soil that we plant in. They know that we can get water from the rain barrels in the garden versus turning on the hose to water our plot.

We also have learned what vegetables grow better than others in the plot due to the amount of sun they get and also by observing some of our fellow community gardener’s more experienced ways of planting and spacing their own vegetables.

After two years of having access to a garden plot, I know now that I actually can talk from experience as to what grows and doesn’t versus reading it in a book or online. Through this experience I am more connected to the earth itself and the seasons.

For non-Kentands residents looking for a plot to cultivate, the City of Gaithersburg is looking into the possibility of a community garden in the city limits. Asbury retired community in Gaithersburg as well as the Prince of Peace Lutheran Church have community gardens for their members. Montgomery County  also runs a community garden at Emory Grove  in Gaithersburg with more than 60 plots.  Leisure World in Silver Spring, Md has a huge community garden that brings hours of enjoyment and creates community there as well.

Remember, you can also make a raised bed in your own back yard.

My hope is that anyone and everyone have a place to grow vegetables and herbs,whether in the Kentlands or somewhere else. This process will connect you to your environment and meanwhile provide you with vegetables, herbs and fruits tended by your own hands.

Watch a video  I  shot and produced about the Kentlands Community Garden. Happy gardening!

It’s the Law, Bring a Bag When You Shop

Video: Courtesy of Montgomery County

January 4, 2012

Gaithersburg, Md

By: Alex Stavitsky-Zeineddin

Montgomery County shoppers, don’t forget that you will have to pay five cents per plastic bag you use at the stores starting January 1st, unless you bring your own reusable bag.  Use your own bags and you will reduce the circulation of plastic bags, thus lessening the amount of  bags that find their way into streams, rivers, and the oceans.

Estimates vary widely as to how many plastic bags are made per year, anywhere between a billion to a trillion, but the truth is that the vast majority of these bags are not biodegradable and can take up 500 to 1,000 years to decompose into tiny bits of plastic. There are two major patches of floating plastic and debris out in the oceans, The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and The Atlantic Garbage Patch. They are not going away.

Montgomery County, Md, is one of a few counties in the United States that has passed this law that is designed  to improve the environment by cutting the use of plastic bags.  Washington D.C. enacted the same law January 1, 2010 and has reduced plastic bag litter be an estimated 65%, according to Montgomery County.

Though there are other cities and counties in the United States as well that have enacted laws to reduce the use of plastic bags, this legislation is not without its critics.  Two websites, Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection and Plasticbaglaws.org provide lists of cities, counties and various states that have enacted similar plastic bag laws or have considered a law but did not enact it.

For example, in Montgomery Counties’ own debate before enacting the bag law, the  American Chemistry Council, a group representing plastic bag manufacturers, were against the new law.

ACC argued that the tax would cause higher grocery costs for  County residents as they will have to pay the five cents per bag used, that most reusable bags were made in China, and that up to 100 jobs in Maryland could be lost that are tied to reusing plastic bags and making them into other products. They also cited a study that showed reusable bags could cause cross contamination issues and that consumer education was needed to keep reusable bags sanitary.

Shoppers will still get perishable items, prescription drugs, or carry out food from restaurants in paper bags as these items are exempt from the new law.

So take your cloth, recycled plastic, nylon bags when you shop, and know you are doing your part to waste less and improve the quality of your water sources by reducing the number of plastic bags out there.