The Bethesda Green gala on Thursday recognized individuals, businesses, communities and non-profits that are making a difference when it comes to environmental sustainability.

Seven recipients, selected from a pool of 85 nominees, were awarded the Bethesda Magazine "Green Champion" Awards at the event.

The honorees included:

• Bethesda’s The Landon School
• Bethesda "green" business Geostellar
• The Chevy Chase-based Audubon Naturalist Society's GreenKids program
• North Bethesda IT services company JBS International
• Poolesville non-profit Calleva Outdoor Adventures
• The City of Rockville
• “Zero-energy” home designer John Spears

Learn more about the "Green Champions" at Bethesda Green's website.

“We want to lift up and spotlight these individuals, organizations and community groups that are doing the kinds of things that are really helping the environment,” Dave Heffernan, Director of Communications for Bethesda Green, told Patch last week. “We want to publicize what they’re doing and hope that they will inspire others in the community to do some of the same sorts of things.”