Go Green! Alexandria Aims to Unite Local Environmentalists

Environmental and outreach group Go Green! Alexandria is hosting its launch party Tuesday evening to help take the area “beyond Recycling 101,” says founder and Executive Director Heather Schaefer.

“There’s a lot of great information out there, but a lot of it is redundant, and I want to take it to the next level,” Schaefer said.

The new group “will fill a void” in Alexandria, according to Shaefer. She’s a board member of Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment and with a recent move to Alexandria, she realized there’s not a an Alexandria equivalent to the ACEs.

Schaefer said she's looked for a cohesive "band of environmentalists" in Alexandria but has had trouble finding one. "I thought, 'why not start one myself'," she said.

Her group plans to host clean-ups, environmental issues forums and other educational events.

She’s a member of the Sierra Club, which recently , but points out that while it’s an environmental group with members, its goal is specific – to retire the Potomac River Coal Plant.

“The club is great but it’s not doing invasive plant polls and bringing a community together in terms of overall environmental issues,” she said. “The Mount Vernon [Avenue] group doesn’t do a lot of local outreach on other issues.”

Schaefer, who holds a day job as a securities and trading coordinator for Jones Day, says Go Green! Alexandria was born out of a love of the environment and a passion for bringing people in the community together to learn something.

“A lot of Alexandrians go to Arlington and Fairfax counties to be a part of these types of clean ups and other events and  that’s wonderful but if you live in a community it’s good to give back to that community.”

“If someone wants to pull English Ivy all day long  then go for it. Just do it in Alexandria,” Schaefer said.

The launch party is Mar. 29 at at 904 King Street from  7 p.m. to 9 p.m.