“Conserve, conserve, conserve,” said Predinger, a resident of the Beech Tree community near Weston Parkway.

Her unofficial motto stems from a desire to reduce waste and preserve the environment, she said. As part of her efforts to live “green,” Predinger said she is an active member of The Freecycle Network, located at freecycle.org. The nonprofit group provides members a forum through which they can donate or exchange goods for free with other people in their communities.

“It’s good for me because I just love seeing stuff put to good use,” Predinger said of her reason for joining the grassroots network.

But Predinger’s efforts to reduce her impact on the environment didn’t begin there. Ten years ago, she agreed to get involved with a startup program with the Town of Cary called the Block Leader Program.

According to the town’s Web site, block leaders are “citizens who volunteer as grassroots environmental educators to increase their neighbors’ awareness and understanding of our ... water conservation, pretreatment of waste water, stormwater and solid waste and recycling programs.

Block leaders do not solicit anything from their neighbors, nor do they enforce town ordinances, the Web site states. Rather, the neighborhood leaders distribute information each spring about Cary’s various water and recycling programs.

It’s a cause to which Predinger remains committed and one that led to special honors on Thursday for her and dozens of other Cary residents. About 80 volunteers take part in the Block Leader Program, covering about 6,000 homes, according to Marie Cefalo, Town of Cary water conservation coordinator.

Roughly half of those volunteers were present during a Town Council meeting in the council chambers as Mayor Harold Weinbrecht and Cefalo honored participants in the program for their commitment to the cause.

“The town’s success in environmental initiatives is attributed to the high caliber of its representatives,” Weinbrecht said.

In addition to Predinger, about two dozen other participants in the program, which was revived in 1998, received a certificate of thanks from the town for their service. The block leaders were also treated to a reception in their honor at the Page-Walker Arts & History Center.

Annette Lew and Ed Thompson were among those 10-year honorees. Lew, of Overview Lane in the Farmington Woods subdivision, said her decision to join the Block Leader Program came naturally.

“When someone asked me to volunteer to be a block leader, I said ‘Why not,’” Lew said. “I figured it would be an easy transition since I had already been involved in other efforts like recycling.”

Both Lew and Thompson said participation in the program also provides a reason to meet new people. “It makes for a good opportunity to meet your neighbors,” said Thompson, a resident of Vickie Drive in the Greenwood Acres subdivision.

“You get to see the neighborhood kids and people walking their dogs. It causes you to chat a little more with the people around you than you normally would.”

Cefalo, who helped revive the program when she was hired in 1998, said the community volunteers have been invaluable to the Town of Cary.

“The value of the program is that we have people at the grassroots level who know details about our water supply and consumption and who know about some of our technologies and habits,” she said. “While we don’t expect them to necessarily hold audience with their neighbors, if they’re in a conversation and the topic of water conservation comes up, they’re a very good resource on behalf of the town.”