DEP offers many volunteer opportunities for you to get involved with and take your environmental stewardship to a new level, while sharing your passion with your community!
Volunteering has a lot of advantages. The first is that you’ll be taking care of our planet, and it badly needs a little love. Volunteering for a cause you care about is a great way to meet like-minded people and make new friends.
There are several ways you can volunteer your time to help improve our community.
Plogging Challenge
Want to pick up litter in your own neighborhood on your own time? Join our plogging program! Volunteers receive free supplies to do neighborhood cleanups anytime. For more information and how to register, visit the plogging page.
Storm Drain Art
The Storm Drain Art program uses art to educate the public about the connection between our storm drains, streams and the Bay. So far, storms drains have been painted at high visibility areas such as the Kensington and Aspen Hill Libraries, the White Oak community center and a couple of private storm drains. All storm drain art must be done under the direction of the Department of Environmental Protection. For additional information about the Storm Drain Art program, email Stream.Stewards@MontgomeryCountyMD.gov.
Recycling
Recycling Volunteers participate in our Speakers Bureau, attend fairs and outreach events, support compost workshops or provide office assistance. Anyone in the County can become a recycling volunteer!
Adopt a Road
Montgomery County's Adopt A Road (AAR) program encourages residents and businesses in the County to participate in a community activity by keeping our roadsides litter free. This program is run by our sister agency, the Department of Transportation. Currently there are more than 1,000 volunteers who have adopted over 350 road segments, cleaning over 600 miles of road in an effort to Keep Montgomery County Beautiful.
P.O.W.E.R. High School Energy Internships
Peer Outreach With Energy Resources (P.O.W.E.R) is an internship for high schoolers. The Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection and Nature Forward (formerly Audubon Naturalist Society) partnered to create the Peer Outreach with Energy Resources (P.O.W.E.R.) Internship. In this one-year internship, teens from local high schools are trained to present fun, informative, and interactive presentations during the summer that educate young kids in Montgomery County (MoCo), Maryland about energy types, efficiency, and conservation. These presentations are held in local libraries and are themed to match Montgomery County Public Libraries’ (MCPL) annual Summer Reading Program theme. Visit the P.O.W.E.R. Montgomery website.
Intern with DEP
The Department of Environmental Protection has a limited number of unpaid internships available for students to help further enhance their skills and career goals. Internship assignments will be developed in an effort to combine the applicant's interests and goals with the Department needs. Our intent is to provide interns with real-world experience and training while at the same time obtaining much needed help on our most pressing challenges. The vast majority of our internships are suitable for undergraduate or Master’s students, but qualified high school students may be considered. Internships can be limited to a semester or year-round, except for the biological monitoring internships which are only in summer. View our Do's and Don'ts of applying for an internship.
