16 new public recycling bins are making their debut on Bethesda Row this month, thanks to Bethesda Green, Federal Realty, and the Bethesda Urban Partnership.

About two years ago, Bethesda Green began placing recycling bins in public areas in Bethesda like Veteran's Park, according to Dave Heffernan, a spokesman for Bethesda Green, a non-profit that partners with local businesses and spearheads sustainability programs in the community.  With the help of sponsorships from companies like Coca-Cola and locally-operated Honest Tea, the bins are now Bethesda fixtures.

The Bethesda Urban Partnership, a group that contracts with the county to conduct marketing and maintenance for downtown Bethesda, maintains the bins and transfers the material recycling stations.

"A lot of it is about public awareness of recycling," Heffernan said. Before Bethesda Green spearheaded the recycling bin project in Bethesda, some of the material that could be recycled in downtown Bethesda wound up in the trash can, Heffernan said. And while having the bins around doesn't mean that everything gets recycled, "It's part of an ongoing effort to educate the public and just make them a little more aware of the ways we can reduce, reuse and recycle."

Now, Bethesda Green has partnered with Federal Realty and BUP to place new bins on Bethesda Row, the commercial property in downtown Bethesda Federal Realty manages.

The program is aimed to "reduce the property's carbon footprint, by enhancing the recycling efforts," Deirdre Johnson, director of asset management for Federal Realty, wrote in an e-mail to Patch. "As part of this sustainable initiative, Federal Realty, along with the Bethesda Row community, is incorporating sustainable practices that go beyond the norm and bring about greener, healthier and more efficient environments for our retail and office tenants and their customers."

BUP will also be responsible for maintaining the bins on Bethesda Row, Heffernan said.

The program expands Bethesda Green's recycling bin program from public to private property, Heffernan said. The group hopes to reach out to the local business community and encourage them to sponsor the bins, Heffernan said. While Federal Realty purchased and installed the bins, the sponsorships will go to support Bethesda Green, Heffernan said.

More more information about sponsoring a bin on Bethesda Row, e-mail info@bethesdagreen.org.