baltimoresun.com

December 1, 2011

Going Gaga over recycling

 

Digging back through emails piled up in my inbox, I want to share some "good news" - this recent announcement of the winners of the 10th annual "Rethink Recycling" contest sponsored by the Maryland Department of the Environment. 

The grand prize this year went to Amber Robinson from Digital Harbor High School in Baltimore for her portrait of Lady Gaga, made from soda bottle caps, utensils, and compact discs.  Pictured above with her work, she won an iPad 2, one of several prizes donated by sponsoring businesses and institutions.

Twenty-nine different high schools across the state displayed 65 entries in the contest, which challenges Maryland students to use recycled materials in creating sculptures. 

Environment Secretary Robert M. Summers praised the students and teachers for doing their part to promote recycling by "turning everyday trash into beautiful works of art."

"If not for the creativity and energy of these students, the materials used to make these sculptures would have ended up as trash that pollutes our air, land and water," he said.  According to MDE, current recycling efforts have reduced waste going into landfills and to incinerators by 40 percent.

Other winners in various contest categories included:

Crystal Blackwood, South Carroll High School, Carroll County, for building a towering giraffe  from records, compact discs, PVC pipe, and cardboard.

Margaret McGill, C. Milton Wright High School, Harford County, for creating an anglerfish out of compact discs, nails, and light bulbs.

Olivia Borum, South Carroll High School, Carroll County, for designing a miniature dress made of reused puzzle pieces and buttons.

Lauren Johnson, Smithsburg High School, Washington County, for crafting a great blue heron from chicken wire and zip ties.

To see more photos of the prize-winning recycled art, go here.

I'll be thinking of the sculptures crafted by these creative high schoolers every time I haul my recycling bin to the curb!

(Photo Amber Robinson and grand-prize winning Gaga sculpture, courtesy MD Dept of the Environment)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 9:44 AM | | Comments (0)
        

September 30, 2011

Weekend events: Solar Decathlon, home tours, stream cleanup

 

So if the sun manages to stay out, this weekend promises to be a great one for solar enthusiasts, or for folks just curious about incorporating renewable energy and efficiency into their homes.

The Solar Decathlon runs through Sunday on the National Mall in Washington, where a house designed and built by University of Maryland College Park students and faculty holds a narrow lead in the international competition among 20 teams to create solar-powered houses that are affordable, energy efficient, attractive and easy to live in. 

The UM entry, WaterShed, which includes solar and a green roof, among other features, won the architecture contest Wednesday.  The overall winner in the weeklong Department of Energy contest will be declared on Saturday, Oct., but the entries are open for public viewing through Sunday.  For more, go here.

Meanwhile, solar buffs in western Maryland have put together a tour this weekend of 26 homes featuring solar energy or other green building techology.  Homes are open for inspection from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, with the lineup varying each day.  For more, or a free guide, go to www.mdgoesgreen.org

Finally, if you'd like to do something with your hands, join the Friends of Patapsco Valley Heritage and Greenway on Saturday to help remove trash along Herbert Run in Arbutus.   Cleanup is from 9 a.m. to noon.  Meet in the parking lot behind the Arbutus volunteer fire station, 5200 Southwestern Boulevard.  To register, go to www.patapscoheritagegreenway.org/eventcal.html

(Baltimore Sun photo: Photovoltaic panels on roof of UM's WaterShed house, by Algerina Perna)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 8:00 AM | | Comments (2)
        

June 10, 2011

Bernie's wading in again - guess what he'll see

 

Some people just won't give up - and the Chesapeake Bay is the better for it.  Sunday brings the annual Patuxent River wade-in, begun 24 years ago by former state Sen. Bernie Fowler. Fowler, who spent decades as a Calvert County commissioner and then state senator, recalls standing chest-deep in the Patuxent as a young man in the 1950s and being able to see his feet on the river bottom while netting blue crabs.

In 1988, amid growing concern about the river's decline from nutrient and sediment pollution, he waded in again to see how far he could get before losing sight of his white sneakers. He only reached about 10 inches deep that time. He's made an annual pilgrimage into the river since then, in what's become a signature rite of the Chesapeake - and a testament to his persistence in the protracted struggle to restore the bay.

The wade-in attracts bay lovers and politicians galore.  Last year he was reportedly joined by more than 100 people. Once held at Broome's Island where Bernie used to crab, the wade-in's been moved to Jefferson Patterson Park, 10515 Mackall Road in St. Leonard. It starts at 1 p.m., and it's a great event, full of cameraderie and encouragement by Bernie and others to keep up the decades-long fight to restore the Patuxent and the Bay.

For those who can't make it, there's a way to wade in vicariously - by guessing how deep he'll get. The state Department of Planning is sponsoring a "guess-the-depth" contest. Last year, 21 people guessed everywhere from 20 inches to 41.5 inches. I was one of the more pessimistic, as I recall - it looks like I guessed 21.2 inches. Only one person, a John from Harford County, came within an inch of Bernie's actual depth - 34.5 inches.

Feel free to try your hand again this year. There's no prize for winning, just the bragging rights for knowing how clear the Patuxent is this year.  For more info, go here.

Meanwhile, it's not clear when Bernie will be able to see his sneakers in shoulder-deep water again. He's gotten up to 44.5 inches in 1997, but the water's gotten murkier since then. Last year's depth was an encouraging rebound - coming amid a renewed push to restore the bay.  We'll see if it's clearer still this year, even as there's been pushback lately against some of the new cleanup initiatives. Bernie sure would be relieved to know after all this time that his beloved Patuxent is clearly headed in the right direction.

(PHOTO: Bernie Fowler, right, wades into Patuxent with friends. 1992 Baltimore Sun.  CHART: Depths at which Bernie lost sight of his sneakers, by year.)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 6:36 PM | | Comments (0)
        

November 30, 2010

Green contest yields rain garden blitz


 

Talk about racing for the green! It seems 83 Ellicott City residents jumped at the chance to win a free rain garden this fall, and 20 lucky winners saw them installed rapid-fire - not in 80 seconds, as the time-lapse video above depicts, but in just 10 days.

As Erica Goldman explains in Chesapeake Quarterly's BayBlog, the "win a rain garden" contest was staged by Howard County as part of a larger effort to demonstrate that doing a lot of stormwater retrofits, bioretention cells (aka rain gardens), and stream restoration projects in one small watershed could have a noticeable effect on water quality. All the entrants lived around Red Hill Branch, which drains into the Patuxent River.

Funding for the contest came from the county and the state's Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays 2010 Trust Fund. The rain garden installations were overseen by Amanda Rockler of the Maryland Sea Grant extension program, with help from county engineers and experts from the nonprofit Center for Watershed Protection in Ellicott City.

Twenty rain gardens are a start, but thousands upon thousands are needed to help the Chesapeake Bay.  It'll be interesting to see if this contest spurs a new suburban lawn ethic, with homeowners vying to outdo each other in putting in the biggest, greenest rain garden on the cul de sac.

Video by Joe King, by permission Maryland Sea Grant.

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 9:36 AM | | Comments (0)
        

October 26, 2010

Local Sears store excels in energy-saving contest

Who says being runnner-up is anything to be ashamed of? A Glen Burnie Sears store has come in second nationally in the Environmental Protection Agency's first energy efficiency contest for commercial buildings, reducing its energy use by nearly 32 percent over a year. Not too shabby.

Out of more than 200 retail stores, offices and institutional structures that entered EPA's National Building Competition, the Sears at Marley Station Mall on Ritchie Highway came in just behind a 10-story dormitory at the University of North Carolina in the race to be declared the "biggest energy loser."

"We're damn pleased with our store really taking a lead and coming out and doing something special," said Michael E. Brown, director of environmental sustainability for Sears Holdings Corp., based in Hoffman Estates, Ill.  And while the company really really wanted to win the contest, Brown takes solace in noting that "we did beat J.C. Penney," which placed third with a store in Orange, CA reducing its energy use by more than 28 percent.

The 14-year-old Glen Burnie store slashed energy use through a combination of lighting retrofits and good old-fashioned diligence on the part of its staff.  Putting in new, more efficient lighting accounted for perhaps half of the savings, Brown said, but the other half came from things like turning off lights when leaving storerooms, adjusting building temperatures and applying weather stripping  to cut down on heat losses.

"A large part of it really has been these things every person can do," he said, praising the leadership of the store's energy team, pictured here.  "Sound discipline - the same things I do in my house." 

The store's managers and 170 "associates" didn't just go around unscrewing light bulbs or turning the thermostat down willy-nilly.  They did the commercial equivalent of a home energy audit, scanning the 198,000 square foot structure with a thermal imaging camera to spot drafts where warmed or chilled air was leaking.   And the lighting retrofits improved illumination in the store while cutting down on the number of lamps needed.

Cutting energy costs by nearly a third is a big deal in these tough times, especially for retailers.  Brown said EPA estimates that every 10 percent reduction in energy use is equivalent to a one percent boost in sales.

The Glen Burnie store's achievements will provide tips and inspiration for the other 928 Sears stores and more than 1,300 Kmarts now run by Sears, according to Brown.  "Really, more than anything, what we found is this is an awesome way to engage our associates (aka employees)," he said.

For more on the EPA contest's 14 finalists, go here

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 10:00 AM | | Comments (0)
        

October 25, 2010

Picture a green Baltimore

On Tuesday, Oct. 26, with your help, The Baltimore Sun plans to chronicle a day in the life of Charm City's denizens - through the eyes (and lenses) of its readers.

If you've got a camera or a cell phone that can take pictures, we want to see what you see that day - the places you go, the people you meet, the experiences you have.  Whatever looks interesting on Oct. 26, we'd like you to snap a picture and send it to us.  We'll publish some of the best at baltimoresun.com/entertainment

For fans of B'more Green, I'll make a special appeal to capture the environment around you, whether outdoors or in.  Gone fishing, or walking the kids in the park?  Recycling at home or office?  See some colorful fall foliage, migrating birds or some sparkling water?  Snap it  and share the myriad ways in which we interact with the world around us.

So on Tuesday, Oct. 26, send in your visual slice of B'more to pictures@baltimoresun.com

(Baltimore Sun photos by Jed Kirschbaum and Llloyd Fox)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 12:30 PM | | Comments (1)
        

August 6, 2010

Color her green - local student helps Crayola go solar

 

You know school's just around the corner when crayon manufacturers start sending you press releases. Green beanies off to Katie Gerczynski, a 2nd-grader from Glen Burnie, who was chosen by Crayola to be part of its "Green Team," seen above.

Katie and nine others were tapped from among all the kids who entered Crayola's "How I Dream in Green" coloring contest last spring. Entrants were asked to draw their vision for making their homes, schools or communities greener.  Her offering was called "How I Can Make the Earth Smile."

The crayon maker honored Katie and the other kids this week by summoning them to its Easton, PA headquarters, where they were on hand for a dedication of the company's new 15-acre solar array. Crayola says the 26,000 panels should provide enough power to make 1 billion of the 3 billion crayons it produces annually. What about when the sun's not shining? Color me blue then.

(Photo courtesy Crayola)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 9:56 AM | | Comments (0)
        

July 15, 2010

Count dolphins in OC - or guess the tally from here

It's mid-July - time to count dolphins!  What better excuse to head "downy oshun"?  If you're in Ocean City already or headed there for the weekend, join the National Aquarium's marine animal rescue staff on the beach Friday (7/16) morning for their annual tally of dolphins swimming by just beyond the breakers.

Teams of staff and volunteers will be stationed on the beach in Ocean City and at Assateague State Park.  Another team will be aboard a Coast Guard boat offshore.  Anyone who wants to help should be at the beach by 9 a.m., either at 40th or 130th streets.  Bring binoculars if you've got 'em.

The count is just a snapshot and far from scientific, but the aquarium says the data collected do help marine biologists learn about and keep track of the dolphin population that migrates along the mid-Atlantic coast.  It's also an opportunity for participants to learn more about these amazing animals.

Those of you stuck at home or work, don't despair.  You can still participate in the aquarium's dolphin count contest!  Just guess how many will be spotted tomorrow and text "count" and your figure to 30644 by 1 p.m. (message and data rates apply).   The three closest guesses each win a pair of free tickets to the aquarium. 

Last year, the total spotted was 344 dolphins, the most in over a decade, according to aquarium spokesperson Molly Sheehan. Official count and winners to be announced on the aquarium's blog.

(2007 photos courtesy National Aquarium)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 3:48 PM | | Comments (3)
        

May 25, 2010

Have or want an eye-catching, eco-friendly garden?

 

Got a good looking garden or landscape that is also easy on the planet? The Chesapeake Conservation Landscaping Council wants to see it.

The group, which promotes conservation-based gardening in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, is sponsoring a contest that opens for applications June 1 and closes in September. Winners announced in November (not sure of the prizes yet.)

"This is a chance to showcase gardens and landscapes that please the environment as well as the eye. Novice gardeners, students, schools, businesses and professionals are all welcome to enter," according to the group.

Click here for more information.

And in the meantime, if you want to create such a conservation-oriented garden or landscape, the group has some tips:

Continue reading "Have or want an eye-catching, eco-friendly garden?" »

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 7:00 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Contests, Tips
        

April 29, 2010

Weekend event: Pull - and eat - that weed!

 

Want to help a local park and acquire a new taste at the same time? Try the 11th annual Garlic Mustard Challenge Sunday (May 2) at Patapsco Valley State Park in Baltimore County. 

The event features individual and team contests, plus non-competitive pulling of garlic mustard, the herb imported from Europe long ago that has proven incredibly invasive. Volunteers get together every spring to curb the weed's spread and have some fun in the process. Over the past decade, they've yanked more than four tons, but there'll be plenty more to find on Sunday.

Besides weed-pulling, there'll be a "chef challenge," where cooks compete to produce tasty dishes including garlic mustard. And there'll be a poster contest for kids, educational exhibits about the Patapsco Valley ecosystem and its history, live music, scavenger hunt, bubble-gum blowing (?) and more.

You must register by Friday to enter the mustard-pulling or cooking contests. To do so, go here.

It's from 1 to 4:30 p.m. at the Avalon/Glen Artney Area of the Patapsco Valley State Park. Entrance is off US Route 1 at 5120 South Street in Halethorpe. Go to Pavilion 104.  For more about this or other park-related activities, go here.

(2008 Baltimore Sun photos: Patapsco Challenge, by Algerina Perna; garlic mustard, by Chiaki Kawajiri)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 9:51 AM | | Comments (0)
        

April 5, 2010

Got a recipe? It's Locavore Monday at the Sun

We got a copy of "Dishing Up Maryland" in the mail, and in the spirit of the book, we want to give it away to a reader with the best local recipe.

That means a recipe that incorporates the most local foods, that is the most creative use of local foods or that has such a wonderful story behind it that we can't resist. It's spring, and a seasonal recipe would be nice, but we won't hold you to that.

If you missed the story about the book, Lucie L. Snodgrass collected recipes from around the state, incorporating local foods such as crabs, oysters, watermelon and other produce. There are some pretty good looking photos in there of the food, too.

So, do you have a recipe handed down from generation to generation? Have you made up your own dish with local foods? Send us the recipe and tell us the story behind it.

We'll pick a winner, publish your recipe and story and send you the book -- then you'll have to report back on what you made and how you liked it.

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 7:00 AM | | Comments (1)
Categories: Contests
        

December 8, 2009

Recycle those cans, Baltimore to sponsor contest

 

Get out those yellow containers and fill 'em up. Mayor Sheila Dixon and Baltimore Public Works are sponsoring a contest called the RecycleMORE Community Tonnage Competition.

Communities can register from Wednesday to Dec. 28 for a chance to win an appreciate day block party. Recycling will be tracked from January 1 to March 31 and winnders will be announced during the Mayor's Spring Cleanup Day, on April 17.

To register, call Tonya Simmons, the Bureau of Solid Waste's recycling coordinator, at 410-396-4511. Completed registrations forms can be faxed or emailed to 410-545-6117 or tonya.simmons@baltimorecity.gov.

And while we're on the Cleaner, Greener topic, the city is also offering communities the chance to compete for RecycleMORE 1+1 Program Partner Grants. For more information on these, call Hope Williams, at the Cleaner Greener Baltimore Initiative, at 443-984-3961 or hope.williams@baltimorecity.gov.

Baltimore Sun file photo

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 7:00 AM | | Comments (1)
Categories: Contests
        

November 23, 2009

Meatless Mondays: Sweet potato gratin

This week's meatless recipe is a decadent dish from "Vegetarian Suppers From Deborah Madison's Kitchen." If you can't indulge this week, when can you?

Sweet-Potato Gratin With Onions and Sage

Yield: Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons oil plus a little for cooking dish

1 large onion, chopped into 1/2 -inch dice

2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage or 2 teaspoons dried

3 medium sweet potatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds), thinly sliced

1 large handful of fresh parsley leaves, chopped

1 plump garlic clove, finely chopped

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

3/4 cup grated Gruyere or smoked mozzarella cheese (divided use)

1 to 2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese (divided use)

1 cup cream or half-and-half, warmed (milk won't work)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil a 2-quart gratin dish and put a moderately large pot of water on to boil. Put 2 teaspoons of oil in a skillet over medium heat and add the onion and sage. Cook, giving them an occasional stir, until soft and golden, about 12 minutes.

Meanwhile peel the sweet potatoes, then slice them as thinly as you can manage. Salt the water, then drop them in. Allow the water to return to a boil, which may take a few minutes. Boil for a minute or until the potatoes are partly tender when pierced with a knife, then drain. Toss them with the onions, chopped parsley and garlic.

Scoop a third of the potato mixture into the prepared gratin dish and even the potatoes out. Season with salt and pepper. Add half the Gruyere and grate a little parmesan over the mixture. Repeat making one or two more layers, covering the last with a dusting of parmesan.

Pour the warm cream over all. Cover with foil and bake in the center of the oven for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking until the potatoes are soft and the gratin has browned, another 25 minutes of so. Let the gratin stand a few minutes before serving.

If you have a favorite vegan or vegetarian dish, email us with the recipe, source (if it's not your own) and photo (if you have one), and we may feature it in future posts. If we choose your recipe, we'll also send you a book related to vegetarian or green eating.

IStock photo

Posted by Kim Walker at 6:30 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Contests, Food
        

October 14, 2009

Picturing Maryland's best nature

This egret has reason to dance.  The photographer who snapped this stunning picture, My Phuong Nguyen of Burtonsville, took overall top honors in a photo contest run by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

More than 300 photographers entered nearly 1,500 images in the annual competition, spread over six categories.  "Egret Dancing" won first place in the bird category; another Nguyen picture, "Water Dripping on Bleeding Heart," also secured top honors in the wild plant group.

Winning photos are to be published in DNR's quarterly magazine, as well as in the department's 2010 calendar.  To see the rest of the winning photos, go here.

(Photo by permission MD Department of Natural Resources)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 11:00 AM | | Comments (1)
Categories: Contests
        

October 8, 2009

NASA wants to take student project to the moon

By the third decade of this century, NASA expects astronauts to  be living and working on the moon. And that means they'll need a steady supply of water. Now, getting one liter of the stuff in space costs $20,000. 

That's the cost of transporting a kilogram of supplies such as water to the International Space Station. Getting it to the moon will be even more costly. (NASA's even sending a rocket to punch a  crater into the moon in search of water.)

So, NASA is asking students to figure out how to manage the water issue with its Waste Limitation and Management of Resources Design Challenge.

So, if you're a fifth through eigth grader and have up to five classmates, get designing and testing that water recycling system.

The top three teams will win awards and the first place team will receive an all expense-paid trip to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

They're looking for teams of up to six students and one teacher or mentor. They'll need to  submit proposals and results to NASA for evaluation by Feb. 1. Teams can be based in U.S. schools, science museums or science centers. Home school groups are also welcome.

The winners will be announced in May. 

The students who end up in Florida, will learn about NASA missions, get behind-the-scenes tours of launch facilities and learn about future aerospace and engineering careers.

NASA is hoping the competition will not only help solve a problem but bring some attention to science, technology, engineering and math disciplines that the space agency depends on.

For information about the contest and learn how to apply, click on this NASA site

Baltimore Sun file photo of a full moon over E. Lafayette Avenue in Baltimore/Karl Merton Ferron

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 6:00 PM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Contests
        

September 30, 2009

The benefits of being a fan

fans400.jpg

A few weeks ago we launched our Facebook page, where you can get B'More Green updates automatically.

If you're not a fan yet, now is a good time to become one. Once we reach 150, we will pick one of our fans at random and send him or her The Whole Green Catalog, 1,000 Best Things For You And the Earth. Come on, don't be shy!

(AP photo)

Posted by Kim Walker at 12:00 PM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Contests
        

September 29, 2009

And the winner is ...

frosty400.jpg

Wow, we sure got a variety of responses to our call for eco sins. Glad to know I'm not the only one who struggles.

As promised, we are rewarding one of our commenters with an eco-friendly pampering kit. Bonnie, who tells us she does many things to reduce her carbon footprint, but can't resist cranking the air conditioner on a hot Baltimore summer day, was chosen from our random drawing of names. Congratulations!

Her comment got me thinking about getting ready for the cooler weather. Last winter, my heat was constantly running, but I was still covered in a wool sweater jacket, and occasionally a winter hat, to keep warm inside. I'm debating whether to replace my drafty windows or just cover them in plastic. Has anyone purchased energy efficient windows that qualify for the tax credit? Was it money well spent?

(AP photo of frosty windows)

Posted by Kim Walker at 4:30 PM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Contests, Going Green
        

August 14, 2009

We picked a winner and it's Susquehanna State Park

There were so many great entries into the parks contest. I just couldn't pick.

B'More Green editor Kim Walker stepped in and decided on Leslie, who wrote a wonderful tale about how Susquehanna State Park in Havre de Grace eased her transition back to Maryland and came to be an important part of her life. Read the full post here.

The other entries, such as the one on the family that visits Rocky Gap State Park in Cumberland from Michigan and the couple that married in Mariner Point Park in Joppatowne, were really good. And touching. I'm going to make an effort to visit those parks soon. And Rick, who hiked Half Dome in Yosemite National Park, I'm impressed. I got most of the way there once.

So, I hope everyone will keep the stories coming about good parks to visit. And we'll have another contest soon. If you have suggestions for a good green contest, let me know that, too.

Thanks again for playing.

Baltimore Sun photo of Susquehanna State Park/Jed Kirschbaum

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 6:12 PM | | Comments (2)
Categories: Contests, Parks
        

August 13, 2009

Prize for best park story -- deadline approaching

Don't forget the contest! Deadline is tomorrow.

We're giving a prize to the someone who tells us the best story about a park. Why do you love it? It can be a local, state or national park.

I said in the last post that you didn't need to hike Half Dome -- and then someone said he did and loved it. Locally, Patterson Park and Herring Run have gotten a votes. So, no limits.

The prize is a Blue Q stainless steel water bottle.

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 4:59 PM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Contests
        

August 11, 2009

Tell us about your favorite park

In honor of the fee-free weekend at the National Parks, we are having a park-themed contest.

Tell us which park is your favorite and why you love it so much. It doesn't have to be a national park. It can be a state park or a local park.

Tell us about your first trip, your last trip or all of your trips to this park. Why is it so great? And the story doesn't have to be long or involve climbing to the top of Half Dome or anything.

We'll pick a winner on Friday. The prize is a new Blue Q stainless steel water bottle that you can take with you on the next park visit.

Blue Q bottles have no BPA like some hard clear plastic water bottles and the company gives 1 percent of its sales to support global clean water initiatives.

So, get writing.

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 2:23 PM | | Comments (12)
Categories: Contests, Parks
        

June 5, 2009

The greenest of the green

This is Maryann here, sometimes blogger, all-time community coordinator and, for today, impartial judge for Meredith's best re-use contest.

There were some interesting suggestions offered, and even a little bit of debate, but one clear winner stood out. It seemed to be an overwhelming favorite, both among readers and us newspaper types.

So who was it? Are you dying to know?

Continue reading "The greenest of the green" »

Posted by Maryann James at 1:06 PM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Contests
        

June 4, 2009

Prize for best idea, don't forget

 

It's the last day to send in your ideas for reusing items -- most creative reuse wins a prize from The Sun.

The bar has been set high, but we could use some more before we pick a winner tomorrow.

I've heard about using the two-liter soda bottle bottoms as orange juicers, using Sun newspaper bags to pick up poop and other good stuff. What else?

Photo from stock.xchng

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 8:11 AM | | Comments (2)
Categories: Contests
        

June 1, 2009

Most creative reuse of an item wins a prize!

 

 

Reuse the cardboard center from the roll of paper towels to store plastic bags? Reuse the cottage cheese container for leftovers?

You can do better than that. Tell us your most creative reuse of an item and win a prize from The Sun.

Send them in this week, and we'll have our panel of greenies (the people who sit around me) pick the best one. We'll announce the winner Friday and mail you your prize.

Photo from stock.xchng

 

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 3:44 PM | | Comments (10)
Categories: Contests
        
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About the bloggers
Tim WheelerTim Wheeler reports on the environment and Chesapeake Bay. A native of West Virginia, he has focused mainly on Maryland's environment since moving here in 1983. Along the way, he's crewed aboard a skipjack in the bay, canoed under city streets up the Jones Fall from the Inner Harbor, and gone deep underground in a western Maryland coal mine. He loves seafood, rambles in the country and good stories. He hopes to share some here.

Contributor Christy Zuccarini has been blogging about the local DIY craft scene for a year for Baltimoresun.com. She brings her pespective on all things handmade to B'More Green, where she will highlight projects you can do yourself as well as crafters who are integrating sustainable methods and materials.
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