WHAT'S NEW!
No Mow April
Spring is right around the corner and that means young pollinators are emerging. The Mayor and City Council want us to do our part in creating a friendly place for young pollinators to grow. Approved February 27, 2023, Resolution No. 2-2023 allows residents to pass on mowing their lawn for the month of April. Residents can register for this free, voluntary program in-person at the No Mow April Kick-off Meeting at the City’s Laurel Municipal Center, 8103 Sandy Spring Road, on March 20th at 6:30pm, or on-line at www.cityoflaurel.org/green/no-mow-april. At our kick-off meeting residents will learn about the importance of protecting and enhancing pollinators, as well as pick up their yard sign, sign up for Bee City volunteer opportunities and sign up for the curbside organics recycling program. All residents are invited. Let's work together to help Laurel's pollinators thrive and survive!
2023 Calendar in Your Pocket!
Carry the City of Laurel’s 2023 calendar in your pocket when you download it via the Recycle Coach app.
Residents who sign up for the free app can access the full calendar on their phones. You can also get tips for setting green goals, a listing of holidays, tips on how to recycle right, schedule changes, reminders about special events and more all at your fingertips!
Click on the link to get started> https://www.cityoflaurel.org/green/recycle-coach.
America Recycles Day November 15, 2022
City of Laurel Becomes a Bee City - July 28, 2022
Released on July 28, 2022 - 1:16pm
Laurel Mayor Craig A. Moe and the City Council have unanimously passed a resolution to become a Bee City USA® affiliate.
Bee City USA is an initiative of the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, a nonprofit organization based in Portland, Oregon.
Bee City USA’s mission is to galvanize communities to sustain pollinators by providing them with a healthy habitat, rich in a variety of native plants and free of insecticides. Pollinators like bumble bees, sweat bees, mason bees, honeybees, butterflies, moths, beetles, flies, hummingbirds, and many others are responsible for the reproduction of almost ninety percent of the world's flowering plant species and one in every three bites of food we consume.
Mayor Craig A. Moe, said, “This resolution confirms that Laurel understands the importance of sustaining pollinators, and confirms our desire to make the City more pollinator friendly.“
“The program aspires to make people more PC-pollinator conscious, that is,” said Scott Hoffman Black, Xerces’ executive director. “If lots of individuals and communities begin planting native, pesticide-free flowering trees, shrubs and perennials, it will create large-scale change for many, many species of pollinators.”
As part of the City’s commitment to the Bee City USA designation, the Environmental Affairs Committee (EAC), along with the City’s Environmental Programs Manager, will hold a Sustainable Saturday event in September 2022 to highlight the importance of protecting and enhancing pollinators. The event will bring together many organizations that are involved in the City’s long-term sustainability plan.
EAC Committee Chairman Councilman James Kole will lead the volunteer force of the City’s Bee City USA initiative. The Committee will hold educational seminars, offer hands-on workshops to plant gardens throughout the City, and create Bee City USA signage for those residents sustaining a pollinator-friendly garden.
For more information about Laurel’s Bee City USA program, contact Michele Blair, Environmental Programs Manager at [email protected], or 301-725-5300.
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For more information about the City of Laurel’s Green initiatives, visit www. cityoflaurel.org/green
For more information about Bee City USA, visit https://www.beecityusa.org/
For more information about the Xerces Society, visit https://xerces.org/
For information about four simple ways to help pollinators, visit https://xerces.org/bringbackthepollinators/
Laurel Highlighted in Bigbelly Blog! - June 24, 2022
Bigbelly recognized the City’s innovative ways to reach out to residents while encouraging recycling and litter control in their June 22nd edition of Beyond the Bin. Read it for yourself at the link here.
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FoamStream Demonstration - June 9, 2022
Laurel's Department of Parks and Recreation held a demonstration for the Mayor, City Council and public on Thursday, June 9th.
At this demo, they learned of a new organic tool in the City's toolbox that keeps chemicals out of Laurel’s ecosystem, all the while killing unsightly overgrowth in our garden beds.
The City of Laurel is the first municipality in Maryland to start using the FoamStream system that is an eco-friendly, cost-effective product that checks off all the boxes for sustainability.
FoamStream originated in the United Kingdom and it uses 99.5% water and .5% plant oil and sugars to get rid of weeds. But how does it kill weeds? The active ingredient is HEAT. The system heats up to a temperature of 180 degrees.
This product is safe for use around people, pets and water.
Planet | People | Prosperity
Welcome to the City of Laurel’s Green Living page: A hub for residents and businesses to explore and support Laurel’s sustainability initiatives, track progress, and get involved!
- View the presentation of our Phase I Sustainability Framework Study completed by the city and partners Cadmus and Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments.
- Discover ways to get involved, be heard, and make a difference!
- Check out what Laurel is already doing to become more sustainable.
- Find and support local businesses that share our mission.
Mission Statement
The City of Laurel defines sustainability as meeting the environmental, social, and economic needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. As such, the City of Laurel is committed to moving its operations and the community towards a more sustainable future that considers the following:
Planet - practicing responsible environmental management and conservation.
People - embracing social equity, fairness, health, and wellness.
Prosperity - supporting local businesses and local economic growth.
Laurel’s Environmental Milestones
The City of Laurel has a long history of being environmentally conscious. It has been designated a Tree City USA since 1993, created an Environmental Affairs Committee in 2003, has been a Sustainable Maryland Certified City since October of 2015. Most recently, Mayor Craig Moe established the first Department of Environmental Programs.
In 2017, Mayor Craig A. Moe and the Laurel City Council joined leaders across the state and country in signing the “We Are Still In” initiative to continue to uphold commitments to the Paris Climate Accord.
“I think it’s important that we continue to honor all the environmental safeguards that the agreement put into place,” Mayor Moe says. “We take our obligation to protect the environment very seriously in the City of Laurel and we don’t plan to stop now.”
The “We Are Still In” initiative is the work of a national coalition which is focusing on how to maintain the Paris Climate Agreement and mitigate the effects of global warming.
- 1993 Designated a Tree City, USA
- 2003 Established Environmental Affairs Committee
- 2007 Laurel debuts single-stream recycling
- 2015 Earns Sustainable Maryland Certification
- 2017 City of Laurel pledges to uphold Paris Climate Accord commitments
- 2019 Piloted Organics recycling program (composting)
- 2021 Created Department of Environmental Programs
- Mayor Moe issues Executive Order eliminating single-use straws and stirrers
- Presented Sustainability Framework Study with CoG & Cadmus
- 2022 Ordinance No. 1977 takes effect, prohibiting disposable plastic bags in retail establishments
Informational Videos
Tip It or Toss It!
We Want to Hear from YOU!
Do you want a more bike friendly Laurel? More accessible recycling options? Expand our curbside organics collection? What does One and Done really do? How can we reduce methane gas emissions – heck, what is methane gas? Do you want to support Green businesses in Laurel? We have complied a list of local businesses that support at least one or more of the City’s sustainable goals.
What can we all do to improve life for our residents, businesses and our environment in Laurel?
Explore the Green Living website, learn how Laurel is moving toward a more sustainable future, and get involved. There are many opportunities for residents and businesses to have their voices heard - join one of the City’s committees, volunteer in one of the City’s clean up days, planting days or recycle events.
Subscribe to Laurel's Monthly Green Living Updates!
Sign up to get notifications about new sustainability initiatives and find out how well the City is doing meeting its goals.