Use this page to find actions that your household has completed or plans to complete. Browse the categories on the left to find actions for the Power Saver, Green Leader, or Renewable Star Challenge.

Once you have signed in, you can click Add to My Challenge to add an action to your To Do List, Already Completed to mark an action as complete, or Not Applicable if the action does not apply to you.

Once signed in, you can rate each of the actions you have completed.
The highest rated action appear under the Most Popular Actions category.

ACTIONS

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    Green leaves denote the number of Green Points earned by completing the action and its relative environmental benefit.
    Hammers denote the relative amount of effort needed to implement the action. Hammers denote the relative amount of effort needed to implement the action.
    Dollar signs denote the relative cost of implementing the action.
    Free < $100
    $100-$500 $501-$2000
    > $2000
    A key denotes a renter-friendly action.
    Donate and purchase used items, participate in swapping, and/or borrow items
    You need to be signed in to add and complete actions.
    Add to my challenge Already completed Not applicable

    Approximately 12 million tons of textile wastes, including used clothing, shoes, blankets, and more, are generated each year in the United States. You can reduce the contribution of used, but perfectly usable, items to landfills by donating and purchasing used items, swapping, and borrowing whenever possible.

    Visit a local thrift or consignment shop to find used items like books, clothes, furniture, and toys that are inexpensive compared to new purchases. Find local thrift store locations at Frederick.com. Or check out online and printed resources such as newspaper classifieds for specific items.

    Donate or purchase overstocked, discontinued, and used building supplies, appliances, cabinets, windows, doors, tools, electrical items, furniture, and water fixtures at Frederick Habitat for Humanity ReStore.

    Consider swapping goods with friends and neighbors or online at swap.com, barterquest.com, or thredup.com.

    Learn more about the impacts of buying new “stuff” by watching the video “Story of Stuff.”

    May 01 Susan Kraus

    Twice a year, our office has a clothing, handbag, jewelry, book swap. The items that remain are donated to local organizations such as Select Seconds (that helps fund FMH initiatives)

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  • 2
    Green leaves denote the number of Green Points earned by completing the action and its relative environmental benefit.
    Hammers denote the relative amount of effort needed to implement the action. Hammers denote the relative amount of effort needed to implement the action. Hammers denote the relative amount of effort needed to implement the action.
    Dollar signs denote the relative cost of implementing the action.
    Free < $100
    $100-$500 $501-$2000
    > $2000
    Use salvaged, recycled, or renewable materials for home improvement projects
    You need to be signed in to add and complete actions.
    Add to my challenge Already completed Not applicable

    Why use building materials made from virgin materials when you can choose salvaged, recycled, or renewable materials, often for less money? Many second chance building material stores have salvaged and discontinued, never used items, such as appliances, mirrors, cabinets, furniture, sinks, lumber, paint, lighting, windows, doors, plumbing fixtures, and more. Local and regional second chance non-profits include Habitat for Humanity Restore, The Loading Dock, Community Forklift, and Second Chance.

    Products made from recycled materials, such as recycled bottle carpeting and recycled glass countertops, can help reduce the flow of waste into landfills. The use of renewable resources, such as bamboo and cork flooring, can also alleviate the demand for rare woods, vinyl flooring, and other nonrenewable products. Learn more about renewable materials for home improvement.

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  • 2
    Green leaves denote the number of Green Points earned by completing the action and its relative environmental benefit.
    Hammers denote the relative amount of effort needed to implement the action. Hammers denote the relative amount of effort needed to implement the action.
    Dollar signs denote the relative cost of implementing the action.
    Free < $100
    $100-$500 $501-$2000
    > $2000
    A key denotes a renter-friendly action.
    Compost at least 50% of your kitchen and yard waste
    You need to be signed in to add and complete actions.
    Add to my challenge Already completed Not applicable

    Composting is a beneficial way to use kitchen and yard waste that would otherwise contribute to a landfill. Instead, your nitrogen-rich kitchen scraps and grass trimmings mixed with sources of carbon, such as dead leaves and paper bags, can be turned into rich soil in a compost pile. Finished compost can then be used to enrich your garden soil. Learn more from our Tips for Green Leaders Composting Fact Sheet or check out this howdini video or an EPA GreenScapes video on composting.

    Attend a composting workshop with the Frederick County Department of Solid Waste.  The Department also sells compost bins for $25 available for pick-up from 9031 Reichs Ford Road.

    Learn more about compost bin types, including home-made bins and purchasable bins.

    Interested in composting, but don’t have a lot of outdoor space? Vermiculture, or vermicomposting, is a method of composting that uses worms to break down organic waste. Kept in a small bin indoors, the worms produce castings, a rich fertilizer for house and garden plants. Bins can be home-made or purchased. To learn more, check out this Worm Composting 101 video or How to Make a Worm Bin video.

    You can also leave newly cut grass on the yard after mowing as a type of composting. Known as “grasscycling,” this practice allows nutrients to be absorbed back into the soil so that your yard can stay healthy.

    May 01 Susan Kraus

    I maintain 2 compost containers. Previously I used to stop composting by end of fall. This past year, I continued all the way through the winter & that accumulated a lot! All turned out into the gardens.

    Apr 23 Stephanie Van

    I have a small compost container on my kitchen counter that is emptied out to my compost bin in the backyard every other night.

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