Upcoming: Cleanups, planting, DC protest
Marylanders will be taking part in a variety of green activities this weekend.
TIDY UP: Volunteers will be helping to spruce up the city, as the 9th annual James W. Rouse Community Service Day, organized by the Parks & People Foundation, has been rescheduled to Saturday, Nov. 5, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Work will be done on a pair of projects - beautifying Dr. Rayner W. Browne Elementary School in East Baltimore, or tidying up some parks, a community garden and a vacant lot along Lombard Street in West Baltimore. Breakfast, lunch and a T-shirt will be provided. For more information, and to sign up, go here.
GREEN UP: Those looking to dig into going green at home can stop by Cylburn Arboretum, where they've extended their sale of spring-flowering bulbs for planting this fall. They have a special "deer proof" collection, plus lilies, crocuses, alliums, muscari and daffodils. That's from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 5. at the Vollmer Center. For directions, go here.
SPEAK UP: There's a big protest planned at 2 p.m. in Washington on Sunday, Nov. 6 at the White House. Environmentalists are hoping to persuade President Obama to deny US permits for a pipeline from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico to facilitate the export of oil from tar sands deposits in Alberta. They contend the extraction is environmentally destructive and would prolong dependence on climate-warming fossil fuels.
Maryland-based Chesaspeake Climate Action Network is helping to organize the rally, and Del. Heather Mizeur, a Montgomery County Democrat, is among the scheduled speakers. For more info, go here.
CLEAN UP: Sunday also is household hazardous-waste collection day in Baltimore County. From 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., county residents can bring everything from paint thinner and gasoline to old pool chemicals to unused prescription medicine and fluorescent bulbs to the Western Acceptance Facility at 3310 Transway Road in Halethorpe. No trash will be accepted that day. For more information about this and other drop-off centers, go here.
(Autumn scene, 2010 Baltimore Sun photo by Kim Hairston)
