Green Gaithersburg.com is a multimedia website
dedicated to informing you about environmental issues in
Montgomery County, MD and beyond.
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Learn how your environment has an impact on you.
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Read about sustainability.
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Find out what local businesses and your neighbors are doing to lower their carbon footprint.
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Learn about alternative energy sources.
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Find out how food consumption, what you eat and where, impact your health and the environment.
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Find out what people in other countries are doing about similar environmental issues.
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Meet an “environmentalist of the month”
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Read stories written by kids on the environment.
GreenEventsCalendar lists local environmental activities and events.
Links takes you to schools and government agencies working on sustainability, energy and environmental issues.
Under Green Businesses/Non- Profits you will find local DC metro green businesses and non-profits that are engaged in green business practices, selling environmentally sound foods and products or providing services that take into account the environment, as well as CSA (community supported agriculture) farms, community gardens, organizations and individuals that teach environmental stewardship, LEED certified architects, green businesses and non-profits, sustainable fisheries and restaurants, to name a few.
Ride Share links directly to ride share and carpool opportunities in the DC Metro region.
Green Jobs lists jobs in the energy and environment sector in the DC Metro area.
Green Gaithersburg.com founder, Alex Stavitsky-Zeineddin, moved to Gaithersburg Maryland in 2004, establishing the Kentlands Community Foundation’s GO GREEN group. This group has educated the community at large about environmental issues and established the first organic community garden in the Kentlands, one of the oldest new urbanist communities in the United States.
Stavitsky-Zeineddin spent more than 10 years with Associated Press Television and Worldwide Television News as a news editor, producer and reporter.
She covered breaking news stories in the US and overseas, while also spending quite a bit of time in conflict zones such as Bosnia, Kosovo, Rwanda, Zaire, Albania,Haiti and Iraq. As a news editor based in DC, she made daily editorial decisions for Latin America and managed the TV bureaus’ staff based in the region.
She is dedicated to providing accurate and independent news about your environment.

Naomi Bloch, Partner and Blogger, Green Gaithersburg.com
Hi! My name is Naomi Bloch and I moved to Montgomery County with my husband and our three kids from Southern California twenty-three years ago – a decision we made after three years of extensive research.
As our kids advanced through school I was active in many of the usual things, like leading scout troops and helping out with the after-prom parties. By the time our youngest went off to college, I moved out into the community and into the world of political activism.
I became a grassroots volunteer in 2004 for John Kerry, heading Montgomery County for Kerry, which then lead to me working on the state steering committee and becoming a Kerry delegate to the 2004 Democratic Convention.
These activities lead to me being asked to work on Duchy Trachtenberg’s campaign for the Montgomery County Council in 2006. She was elected to the Montgomery County Council as an At-Large member.
After that election I decided to find a way to return to my life-long interest and concern for the environment. I happily joined the staff of Amicus Green Building Center, in Kensington. We sometimes refer to Amicus as the “Home Depot” of green and sustainable building materials. I was thrilled to be learning so much about all that is happening in the arena of “going green” while also helping our customers to “go green” in healthier and more sustainable ways in their own homes and businesses.
Two years into Councilmember Trachtenberg’s four-year term, Duchy asked me to join her staff as her Community Liaison. I accepted her offer and it was my personal pleasure to be her representatives throughout all of Montgomery County at various community meetings and events. Being on her staff also gave me a lot of insight into all the incredible programs and services this county has to offer its residents!
Due to all of my various community-related experiences over these past several years, I now know so many people in various levels of service to the community, so I am really looking forward to this new opportunity to help further and deepen the community conversation for being more environmentally responsible via Green Gaithersburg and beyond!
You can reach me at naomi@greengaithersburg.com
Dale McCarthy is a retired Montgomery County, English teacher and former curricula writer for an educational foundation in Baltimore who enjoys sharing a love of learning with students of all ages. She resides in Montgomery County with her husband, Dennis, an IT professional at a downtown non-profit. She and Dennis, along with the late, Carl Henn, an area environmentalist, started, with the help of dedicated volunteers, an organic community garden in Rockville’s King Farm. Dale was instrumental in getting needed permits and negotiating the terms of land use for the garden. One of her main objectives was teaching children, ages 5 – 13, how to grow their own organic vegetables. Through this endeavor, children learn composting techniques as well as gardening do’s and don’ts as well as the difference between “good” bugs and “bad” bugs.
You can reach me at Dayle@greengaithersburg.com

Ruthzaly Weich, Contributor
Hi, My name is Ruthzaly Weich. My husband, Mike, and I made Gaithersburg our first home as a family seven years ago and are looking forward to living here for many years to come. Both Mike and I graduated in ’06 with degrees in the same field and were fortunate to find jobs at the same firm – Duany Plater-Zyberk & Co (DPZ). I worked at DPZ for 6 years as an architectural designer and town planner. and was fortunate enough to work throughout the US, Canada, UK, the Middle East, Caribbean, Central and South Asia and the Pacific. Now, my latest and greatest calling is motherhood, and I’ve decided to make that my full time occupation. So far it has been the best decision I have ever made!
As an active member of my community, one of my green projects was to help design the Kentlands Community Garden. The garden received the 2010 City of Gaithersburg Environmental Award for providing options for those interested in growing their own produce within their community. I learned a great deal from this experience. In addition, I volunteer as a City of Gaithersburg Historic District Commissioner for which I am honored to serve in protecting the history of our dear town.
To me, sustainability is a way of life, and I’m all about ‘walking the walk’. The main reason for my enthusiasm around sustainability is my spiritual beliefs. I find that it is my responsibility to uphold God’s creation and be the best steward I can be. I’m trilled at the opportunity to be a part of Green Gaithersburg. I look forward to sharing my viewpoints based on my fields of expertise, my interests and reactions to what is transpiring around us. My hope is that my experiences in the fields of Architecture, Planning and even motherhood can help initiate nourishing conversations.

Sebastian Rowland
Contributor
Sebastian Rowland moved to Gaithersburg, Md 10 years ago, though he took a stint to attend college in Philadelphia. While at University of Pennsylvania he studied ecology and covered environmental regulation for the newsblog, RegBlog. Sebastian has worked on fracking issues for the Natural Resources Defense Council and campaigned for President Obama in Northern Virginia.
He looks forward to keeping Montgomery County informed about environmental efforts in the community.
You can reach me at Sebastian@greengaithersburg.com
I’m Judy Lillibridge, a writer and recent college graduate with a lifelong interest in sustainability and greener living, whether that be arguing policy at an environmental conference or growing food in my own home. I’m currently employed as a librarian for NOAA, working with technical writing for environmental satellites. Though I’m a Bethesda native myself—and newly-minted member of Bethesda Green—I hope to help the green communities in the DC area come together to become a positive force for change.
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