San Mateo Promotes Green Living

Published: February, 2009 

The Green Bag Lunchtime Lecture Series is hosted by RecycleWorks, a county program offering resources and technical assistance to residents, businesses and schools interested in green practices, and co-hosted by the County of San Mateo’s Employee Green Team, which promotes sustainability within the county workplace.

The idea was to teach people how to be greener and inspire them to do more, without taking up a lot of their time, explains Lillian Clark, Resource Conservation Programs Manager for RecycleWorks.

Free time is something that none of us has a lot of to spare, so convenience is a big issue, she adds. These lectures are designed to be about an hour. In that hour, you get a lot of good information. And, if you want to learn more, we can tell you where to go.

The turnout for the first Green Bag lecture on January 14, which featured local chef and author Laura Stec discussing the relationship between what we eat and the environment, was modest. About twenty people showed up, most of whom were county employees.

Clark expects attendance for Green Bag to grow over the coming months, however, based on the success of RecycleWorks’ other lecture series. The organization also offers ongoing classes on sustainable gardening, composting and green building. Since the composting class began a few years ago, enrollment has increased tenfold and annual sales of compost bins, which the County subsidizes, have tripled.

Of course we would have liked to see more people come to the first lecture, but these things happen little by little, Clark says. The way we look at it is, even if you only reach one person, you’ve made progress.

Topics planned for future Green Bag lectures include green spring-cleaning, green transportation, water conservation, energy conservation and green holiday ideas.

There’s so much that people can do, Clark says. It’s just a matter of getting the information to them.

What’s interesting is how fast these ideas catch on, she adds. Once someone recognizes the positive impact of making a relatively minor change to their day-to-day practices, they always want to know, ‘What else can I do?’

Clark’s answer to that question is, Tell everyone you know. It doesn’t do any good for us to constantly preach to the choir, she explains. So we’re always looking for creative approaches to outreach, and ways to reach new audiences, so that people can help spread the word for us. If you heard President Obama’s inauguration speech, he talked about being an involved member of your community. That’s a strong theme right now. In this case, take what you’ve learned, go out into your community and motivate others.