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Montgomery County Council proclaims Earth Month, highlights DEP achievements and local events
Summary
The County Council and Transportation & Environment Committee proclaimed Earth Month 2026 and assembled local environmental leaders to outline county efforts including tree planting, composting, and trade-in rebates for gas leaf blowers. The Department of Environmental Protection listed recent accomplishments and promoted events.
Natalie Fani Gonzalez opened the April 14 County Council meeting with a call to "recommit ourselves to environmental sustainability," introducing a Transportation and Environment Committee proclamation recognizing Earth Month 2026.
Council Vice President Al Wynn urged residents to use Earth Month to focus on stewardship and invited the public to Greenfest on April 25 at Black Rock in Germantown. "It really underscores how beautiful this planet is, but how fragile it is also," he said.
Councilmember Kate Stewart noted Montgomery County’s local ties to the origins of Earth Day, saying the county is well placed to "double down and recommit" to climate and sustainability goals.
Director Macedonia, who identified herself as director of the county Department of Environmental Protection, summarized recent DEP accomplishments. She said the county has planted 18,000 trees through the Tree Montgomery program, provided more than $350,000 in trade-in rebates to replace gas-powered leaf blowers with electric models, and composted more than 3.5 million pounds of food scraps through commercial programs. The director also invited residents to DEP events this month and to the agency’s online calendar at MontgomeryCountyMD.gov/DEP.
Community organizations represented at the proclamation included Bethesda Green, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Nature Forward and local advocates who described ongoing work on food rescue, farming, waste reduction and local conservation. Woody Woodruff of Red Wiggler Care Farm thanked the council for recent support for farmers; Randy Drury of Clifton Park Baptist Church described food-rescue and composting activities that serve thousands of households.
The council read and adopted a proclamation noting the 56th anniversary of Earth Day, the county’s 2017 climate emergency declaration and its climate action plan goals (an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2027 and 100% by 2035). The proclamation calls on residents to take action to reduce their carbon footprints and was signed by the members of the Transportation and Environment Committee.
The proclamation and remarks highlighted ongoing county programs and urged residents to participate in DEP events during Earth Month. The council then moved on to the next agenda item.
