Green Mountain View
Have you heard of Green Mountain View? They’re a group concerned citizens who encourage our community and City Council to become more sustainable. That’s what we all want—a more sustainable Mountain View.
I first became familiar with Green Mountain View when I saw them at the Mountain View Art & Wine Festival last year. They were the official Green Team for the festival. That particular festival was the cleanest festival in years. Green Mountain View collected and sorted all of the recyclable items and the trash and put everything into the proper containers for Recology (formerly Foothill Disposal) to take away. Although the festival wasn’t any “greener” than any of the past festivals, it was much cleaner. This next Art & Wine Festival on Sept 11 and 12 promises to be just as clean, and also greener. This will be the first time that the festival will be composting. That’s right! The food vendors will be required to use compostable food containers instead of the usual Styrofoam and plastic. This is a monumental project that Green Mountain View and the Chamber of Commerce will be doing for the community.
Green Mountain View doesn’t normally work collecting recycling and trash at community events; they just did it for the Art & Wine festival so that the community would become familiar with the organization. Talk about community recognition! Now that we all know who they are and they’ll be the first group that we think of when we have questions about keeping our community green and more sustainable.
Some of the projects that they’re currently working on are the “Drive Less Challenge” where residents are encouraged to log their trips that are not “single gas-driven trips.” Our community will be competing against Menlo Park, Palo Alto, and Burlingame. So get ready to walk, ride your bike, carpool with your neighbors or take the train. The challenge is the first 2 weeks after Earth Day. Visit the Drive Less Challenge page for more details. If the community gets used to using alternative methods of transportation maybe we can do it everyday and not just during a challenge. I’m thoroughly prepared to participate in this battle and kick some serious peninsula butt on those other cities.
GMV also helps local schools become greener by encouraging Green Teams in each school. The teams include students and parents. Another project is for Water Reclamation. GMV helps residents with water-wise tips and organizes workshops on the subject. And they also are involved in educating our community about bring their own bags instead of opting to use the plastic bags at grocery stores.
GMV has only been around for about 1 year and in that short period of time they have introduced themselves to the community and gained a great deal of credibility. They’re always looking for residents who would be interested in joining them with any of their ongoing projects. If you have a passion for the environment and want to get involved in this organization, or if you’re just curious and want to know more, please visit the Green Mountain View website.
Tagged with composting, Green Mountain View, Recycling
If you volunteer for Green Mountain View at the Art & Wine festival you get an awesome Green Mountain View T Shirt. Wearing it is the perfect way to show your community spirit and environmental conciousness!
Create a Vibrant, Walkable Mountain View
Tuesday, March 16, 6:00pm-7:30pm
Community Center at Park Place (851 Church Street)
The Mountain View community is invited to take part in an informal event to learn about local and regional efforts for sustainable land use planning. This event has been brought to you by the Loma Prieta Chapter of the Sierra Club, the Coalition for Sustainable Planning, Greenbelt Alliance, and the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. Nathan Tuttle from Prometheus will be on hand to answer questions from the community regarding the Minton’s Development. For more info & to RSVP, email Megan.Fluke@SierraClub.org.