Burke Connection

There’s always someone dressed in a bug costume, walking around community gatherings to highlight an environmental cause and at Supervisor

Dan Storck’s Environmental Expo, it was Fairfax resident Adria Bordas in what appeared to be some kind of bee. “I’m not a bee,” Bordas said, “I’m the spotted lantern fly, a new invasive insect.”

She perused the cafeteria at Walt Whitman Middle School where there were informative displays from the Dyke Marsh, forestry, Clean Fairfax, Plant NOVA Natives, air quality, recycling and others to inform the residents of Mount Vernon what they can do to help the environment. There were electric vehicles out front, workshops in other rooms and a television showing Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth,” in the lecture hall.

The spotted lantern fly is an invasive species that came to this area from Pennsylvania in a shipment of landscape stone, and the costume looked uncomfortable, but the message was important, Bordas said. The fly feeds on trees and fruits, spreading mold along the way. The costume was created by a grad student at the University of Maryland. “I don’t mind, I just want to get the word out, a costume like this draws the folks in,” she said.

Early on, Storck took to the podium to welcome the attendees. “Learn, engage and act, how do we change the trajectory we’re on?” he asked. “Do something more then talk about it,” he said.

Tami Entabi was talking about invasive plants that have taken over some parts of the landscape. Ivy, dandelions and kudzu are a few culprits, and some date back to the revolutionary days. “The British loved their flora fauna and brought it here,” she said. “Bamboo is another one,” she pointed out, but to some environmentalists, bamboo is a great material for flooring, they say. “They’re complicated,” Entabi said of these contradictory elements.

Ali Althen is part of the Office of Environmental and Energy Coordination, a new office created at Fairfax County “responsible for leading the country’s cross-organizational development and implementation of effective environmental and energy policies, goals programs and projects,” their information stated. This office was created in July 2019 and their three areas of focus are energy analysis and management; climate and resilience planning; and community engagement. They were handing out energy saving light bulbs, and have a thermal camera homeowners can borrow to detect cold air leaks.

Although Storck considers the whole Mount Vernon District to be ground zero of climate change signs since they are so close to the Potomac River. The Friends of the Dyke Marsh are on the front line too, and showed an old aerial photo of the Dyke Marsh compared to now. There is “ a major restoration going on,” said Dorothy McManus, one of the friends. “In theory, the breakwater is going to be redirecting the flow and hopefully result in the build up of silt,” said Ned Stone, another friend who was manning their table. Erosion and excavation has caused the Dyke Marsh to go from 1800 acres in 1940 to 53 acres in 2010, and it loses about two acres a year, their pamphlet said.

Bobby Monacella sported a “Moms Out Front,” tee shirt, and had an idea about school buses. “We’re pushing to turn the entire fleet to electric by

2020,” she said.

The Energy Masters group focuses on low income families who may not be able to afford the energy efficient lifestyle that comes with being environmentally responsible. Susan Peters, an Arlington resident, manned their table and talked about their mission where they come into a home, replace light bulbs, insulate pipes and seal the cracks around the windows and doors. “We spend about 1.5 hours in each apartment doing these improvements,” she said. They are funded by grants in Arlington and Alexandria from private companies.

Lessons learned at the expo “is an opportunity for us all,” Storck added.