About
GreenFest is Howard County's largest celebration of Earth Day. The event aims to connect residents with the resources that local businesses, non-profits and government provide to help anyone be a good steward to the environment.
GreenFest 2024
10901 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia, Maryland 21044
Saturday, April 13 from 10AM - 3PM
This year boasts over 80 vendors and 13 sponsors! Join us for our native plant sale, workshops, demonstrations and more!
Getting Here
Bike
Choose a "green" mode of transportation this year! Bike HoCo is partnering with GreenFest to provide a free bike corral for visitors and volunteers. The corral will be located in the putting green in front of the SET building. If the journey is too far to cycle, consider bringing your bike to an outlying parking lot and biking to the corral.
Bus
There are three RTA buses that serve the Howard Community College campus: 401, 404 and 414. Download the Transit app for real-time date.
Driving
Consider carpooling with other GreenFest attendees! Parking is available throughout the HCC Campus. For driving directions, please visit the college's website.
Workshop Schedule
Compost Bin Q&A (10:00am)
Workshop Room 209
10:00am
Compost Bin Q&A, University of Maryland Extension Master Gardeners
Get how-to advice from Howard County Master Gardeners. Learn how to feed your garden organically, recycle your kitchen scraps and yard trimmings and improve your soil's health!
Residents who pre-registered for a free compost bin can pick up their bin during the workshop.
Repurposing Leftovers (11:00am)
Workshop Room 205
11:00am
Repurposing Leftovers, Karen Basinger, University of Maryland Extension Service
Tired of eating leftovers? Feel guilty about throwing leftovers away? This presentation will give you ideas on turning leftovers into new meals, and at the same time, decrease food waste going to the landfill.
Howard County Green Awards (12:00pm)
Workshop Room 211
12:00pm
Howard County Green Awards, Bureau of Environmental Services, Howard County Executive Dr. Calvin Ball, Howard Community College President Dr. Daria J. Willis
Celebrate the winners of our 2024 Green Awards and Coloring Book Contest!
[The Green Awards include two categories for nomination. The Business Recycling & Waste Reduction award recognizes Howard County businesses for their efforts during the previous calendar year. The Green Community Leadership award recognizes a Howard County-based community group or organization that demonstrates efforts, project or programs that help protect Howard County's natural environment and preserve its resources.]
[The Coloring Book Contest was open to third, fourth and fifth graders in Howard County. Contestants submitted drawings of how they reduce, reuse and recycle at home or at school. Winning designs will be printed and distributed at GreenFest.]
Let's Save That Tree: Effective Methods to Control Vines on Trees (1:00pm)
Workshop Room 205
1:00pm
Let's Save That Tree: Effective Methods to Control Vines on Trees, Eric Walker, Columbia Association
Our urban forest patches are under serious threat from non-native invasive vines. Thick infestations of English ivy engulf trees, porcelain berry covers native vegetation like a green blob, Asiatic bittersweet chokes trees to death. Impacts from these invasive vines are numerous, readily observable, and generally well-understood. However, controlling these invasive vines for long term survival of native trees can be very difficult. Have you ever wanted to remove invasive vines from a tree and thought- how do I do this and where do I begin? This presentation reviews current research-based methods and provides practical strategies to save trees from being killed by these destructive vines.
[Eric Walker is the first Conservation Landscape Specialist for the Columbia Association, where they are working to limit the impacts of non-native invasive plants in Columbia, MD. Prior to working with the Columbia Association, spent 16 years working with invasive plants for the National Park Service, King County Noxious Weed Control Program, and private landowners in the Western U.S.]
Introduction to Rain Barrels and their Maintenance (1:00pm)
Workshop Room 209
1:00pm
Introduction to Rain Barrels and their Maintenance, Radhika Wijetunge, Hoard County Bureau of Environmental Services
A rain barrel can help reduce stormwater runoff and conserve treated tap water. Learn how to install and maintain a rain barrel on your downspout.
Low-Cost Indoor Composting: DIY Bokashi Bucket (2:00pm)
Workshop Room 205
2:00pm
Low-Cost Indoor Composting: DIY Bokashi Bucket, Amanda Wang, Clarksville Youth Care Group
Learn about the importance of reducing food waste and three different composting methods, with a focus on the Bokashi Composting Method. Then watch a demonstration of how to build a Bokashi Bucket.
[Amanda Wang is a Girl Scout of Central Maryland, President of Clarksville Youth Care Group, and a junior at River Hill High School. This workshop is part of her Girl Scout Gold Award project to advocate for environmental sustainability. The buckets are provided by Clarksville Youth Care Group, which is sponsored by a Howard County YEP Grant.]
Outdoor Activities
Native Plant Vendors
Visit our native plant and local farm vendors in Parking Lot B!
Lauren's Garden Service & Native Plant Nursery
Olympus Nursery Specialty Seedlings
Food Vendors
Enjoy some tasty treats from our food vendors!
Julie's Deeelicious Punch and Funnel Cakes
Kappa League - CMD Alumni Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. (inside SET)
Document Shredding
Document shredding will be held in Parking Lot A from 10am - 2pm. Please note that trucks may fill before the designated end time. Residents may bring up to three bags or boxes of paper to be shredded.
Sports Equipment Donation
Do you have sports equipment no longer being used? Keep them out of the landfill and into the hands of local kids!
Look for Leveling the Playing Field's tent in Parking Lot B to donate!
For a list of acceptable material, scan the QR code or visit the LPF website.
Indoor Activities
Repair Café
Do you have items in your house that need fixing or mending but you don't know how to fix them yourself?
Bring your broken items to the Transition Repair Café at GreenFest! Volunteers will evaluate and fix as many of them as they can and offer their expertise on items that are too large or not possible to bring in. Please register your items prior to the event. Please reach out to makerspace@cei.earth if you have any questions.
Wildlife
Meet some local birds, reptiles and turtles in our Wildlife Room!
A special thanks to Echoes of Nature and the Mid-Atlantic Turtle & Tortoise Society (MATTS) for bringing these wonderful critters to GreenFest!
Giveaways
Rain Barrel Giveaway
Registration has filled!
Howard County residents can help reduce stormwater runoff with the help of a rain barrel – they collect and store runoff from roof downspouts, and this water can be reused for lawns and gardens, reducing the use of potable water.
This year, 40 rain barrels will be given away at Greenfest. Prior registration and online training is required.
Registration opens on April 3, 2024!
Compost Bin Giveaway
Registration has filled!
The Howard County Master Gardeners will be available to answer any questions about composting and gardening. They will be distributing 25 backyard compost bins. Prior registration is required.
GreenFest is just one of many opportunities to pick up compost bins and learn how to make your own soil amendment. Visit our Backyard Composting page and download this year’s calendar to attend a demonstration.
Registration opens on April 3, 2024!
Trees for Bees
The focus of Howard County Bee City’s Trees for Bees giveaway is to bring awareness to the importance of native trees and shrubs for pollinators, especially in Spring. Species offered in our giveaway support native bees, butterflies, and other wildlife by providing pollen, nectar, food, and shelter, while also bringing the beauty of native plants to your outdoor spaces. Tree and shrub species that are native to the Chesapeake Bay region also help combat climate change by sequestering carbon, they aid in reducing stormwater runoff, and improve the water quality in our local streams.
Howard County residents can begin reserving trees on April 1st at 12pm, with pickup at GreenFest, April 13th at Howard Community College. The link to reserve trees will be updated at the link below and shared on Bee City social media pages. Please follow the link for more details.
Lightbulb Exchange
Visit the Lightbulb Exchange table at GreenFest to exchange used conventional lightbulbs (incandescent and CFL) for free, energy-efficient LED bulbs (A19 shape) during the event. LED lightbulbs have about a 10-year lifespan and are up to 80 percent more efficient than conventional lightbulbs.
All types of incandescent and CFL bulb shapes will be accepted for exchange, except for tube lights. Up to four lightbulbs may be exchanged while supplies last.
The GreenFest lightbulb exchange is an extension of the partnership between Howard County’s Office of Community Sustainability and the Howard County Library System. Lightbulbs can be exchanged year-round at all Howard County library branch circulation desks and at the front desk of the Roger Carter Community Center in Ellicott City.
Questions before the event can be emailed to the Office of Community Sustainability at ocs@howardcountymd.gov.
Raffles
Enter to win the GRAND PRIZE raffle. This year's prize will be a hydroponic grow kit! Visit the Welcome Table to pick up a raffle and drop it off at Table 206 upstairs.
GreenFest Sponsor, Upcycled will also be raffling off their coasters made from 100% recycled bottle caps! See the flyer for details.
DIY Indoor Composting Buckets
Sponsored by Howard County Youth Engagement Program! (YEP!), Clarksville Youth Care Group students plan to give away 150 free DIY Indoor Composting Buckets. Preregistration is highly recommended.
Please fill out the form CYCG DIY Bokashi Bucket Request Form. The reserved buckets need to be picked up by 12pm at table #6. Buckets are available on a first come, first serve basis after 12pm. Workshop in room #205 at 2pm.
Check here for more information.
Thank you, Sponsors!
GreenFest History
GreenFest 2023
2023 GreenFest
Thank you to all who attended GreenFest this year, and special thanks to all of our vendors, workshop hosts, and sponsors who helped make our return a success.
Highlights from the event:
- Over 1,000 attendees
- 20,000 lbs of documents shredded
- 50 rain barrel giveaways
- 50 compost bin giveaways
- Over 80 vendors
- 15 sponsors
- 276 old light bulbs collected (122 CFLs and 154 incandescent) and 216 LED light bulbs distributed
- 22 broken items repaired (including several pieces of jewelry, clothing, fanny packs, a scale, Christmas lights, vacuum cleaners, a bicycle, stuffed animals, headphones, camera, and lamps)
- 143 golf balls, 112 softballs, 43 golf clubs and other sports equipment collected for kids in under resourced communities
See the photos here.
Previous Years
Fun at Previous Howard County GreenFest Events
Master Gardener Program
- Master Gardeners
- Bay-Wise
- Ask a Master Gardener
- Composting
- Pollinators
- Grow It! Eat It!
- Watershed Stewards Academy
- Home and Garden Information Center
Howard County Master Gardeners are volunteers, trained by the university, providing horticultural education services to individuals, groups, and communities including government agencies, neighborhood associations, non-profit organizations, historic sites, schools and youth groups, senior citizens and garden clubs. Master Gardener programs and services are available free of charge to all Howard County residents and community groups. For more information on our services or becoming a Master Gardener check out our website.
Our mission is to educate residents about landscape practices that protect the Chesapeake Bay and our local waterways. By changing a few simple practices, together we can help keep our Maryland water healthy.
Are you Bay-Wise? Test your knowledge of these Bay-Wise principles by using the Bay-Wise Yardstick to see how you measure up.
- Controlling Storm water Runoff
- Encouraging Wildlife
- Protecting the Waterfront
- Mowing properly and Watering Efficiently
- Managing Yard Pests
- Mulching and Recycling
- Fertilizing
- Planting Wisely
Home consultations to assist homeowners with their landscaping problems will resume once the threat from the Corona virus is past. In the meantime, please refer to the resources on our webpage.
Ask a Master Gardener-Plant Clinic is a program where Master Gardener volunteers, in conjunction with the University of Maryland Extension, provide information to home gardeners at the county libraries and other events throughout the county.
Compost is a dark and crumbly material produced by the natural decomposition of leaves, kitchen food scraps, and other organic materials. Why compost at home?
- Reduces waste: Yard and food waste that can be composted make up around 25% or more of trash to landfills.
- Improves soil: Compost helps break up clay and attracts earthworms that aerate soil.
- Retains moisture: Slows run-off from rain by holding three times its weight in water. Incorporate compost in the soil so you water less.
- Reduces need for fertilizer: Compost provides nutrients for your plants, trees, lawns and shrubs.
How you can help pollinators:
- Provide food – Plant natives
- Provide water sources (and puddling areas for butterflies)
- Provide shelter
- Safeguard pollinator habitat
- Control invasive plants
- Reduce pesticide and herbicide use
The Grow It! Eat It! campaign is a joint venture between The Maryland Master Gardener program and the Home and Garden Information Center - to provide education and encourage Marylanders to learn how to start and maintain successful food gardens.
Spring is here and it’s the perfect time to start a home garden! With the current COVID-19 crisis we are all a bit stressed and could really use the therapeutic benefits and productivity of food gardening. Here are just few of the many benefits to growing your own food:
- Fresher & More Nutritious - Fruits and vegetables that ripen naturally in the garden and are consumed within days of harvest have more nutrients than store-bought vegetables.
- Save Money - A seed packet of basil costs as little as $.99 and contains hundreds of seeds. One small bunch of basil in the grocery store can cost 3x as much.
- Greater Variety - Food gardening provides the opportunity to try plants and varieties that aren’t available in markets.
- Less Environmental Impact - We minimize our food's environmental impact when we grow it at home.
- No Pesticides – Growing food at home means you have total control of how the plant is grown and cared for. It’s a simple way to guarantee your food is organic when you don’t use pesticides.
The Howard County Watershed Stewards Academy is a cooperative effort of the University of Maryland Extension and Howard County to increase the number and diversity of trained volunteers who have the knowledge and skill required to enhance the health of our local streams, rivers, and lakes. Watershed Stewards work with neighbors to provide best storm water management practices.
We are not accepting requests for neighborhood and homeowner inspections while we limit personal contact to help minimize the impact of the Corona virus. We will resume when it is advisable; hopefully soon. Stay safe.
The Home and Garden Information Center (HGIC) develops and delivers science-based, sustainable gardening and integrated pest management education for better human and environmental health. HGIC partners with the University of Maryland Extension Master Gardener Program to provide educational resources to the volunteers as well as digital resources through our website and the Maryland Grows blog.