sec-stories-corey

SERVING MARKETS, INVESTORS AND THE ENVIRONMENT
A series about SEC employees and their work away from their desks

Keeping The Community Green: Reducing Waste in Montgomery County

Facilitating capital formation may be one of the pillars of the SEC’s mission, but staff members are facilitating another kind of capital during their off hours: Volunteer work, complete with some good, old-fashioned sweat equity.

For one SEC employee, that investment has been a passion in work that is aimed at leaving a better environment to future generations of Montgomery County, Maryland residents.

Paula Jenson, who works in the Division of Trading and Markets, may not have an environmental sciences background, but the passion she has cultivated for the field during her time with the Montgomery County Solid Waste Advisory Committee has given her unique community insights.

“When you think about what the normal household contributes to the waste stream every week and the recycling stream every week, it is a huge, huge amount,”
– PAULA JENSON

What initially drew Jenson to the cause was the challenge that amount of waste collected presents.

“When you think about the amount of waste that is going somewhere, you have to figure out where it is going,” she said. “Back in the 70’s, 80’s, even before that, it was going in the ground. We have gotten a lot more sophisticated. Now things are done very, very differently and it’s important because as we look forward to what we are giving our children to inherit, we want to be the best that we can.”

Paula Jenson picture

“It’s an amazing challenge. The fact that you have counties such as Montgomery County that are meeting that challenge every day is absolutely fascinating to me,”
– PAULA JENSON

For Jenson, working with a committed group of community members with a common goal provides an opportunity to give back.