Today is America Recycles Day, promoting reduction and reuse of waste rather than landfilling or burning it. 

There are events planned locally and across the country - a Severn school, for instance, is staging a contest  to see who can build the biggest tower with catalogs and magazines collected for recycling.

While Maryland's counties and municipalities are recycling 39 percent of their solid waste, according to the state Department of the Environment, there's still room to do more.  Howard County, for instance, recently launched a pilot program to compost food scraps, one of the first localities on the East Coast to do it, though it's established in some West Coast communities already.  The county estimates that nearly a quarter of its waste now consists of food scraps.

Baltimore city's not ready to go there yet, but it did kick off a new foam recycling effort just this month, targeting another big waste component, by volume if not weight. City residents are invited to collect clean #6 polystyrene foam plates, cups, egg cartons and the like and bring them to the dropoff center at 2840 Sisson St. from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. 

(Howard County family saves food scraps for composting.  Baltimore Sun photo by Barbara Haddock Taylor)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 8:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

"Take two walks and call me in the morning."  Could that be a new mantra from physicans for whatever ails us?

On Saturday, Nov. 12, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., local pediatricians will be at Herring Run Park in Baltimore to promote nature and outdoor exercise as prescriptions for fending off chronic diseases like diabetes and obesity.  Among them will be Dr. Maria Brown, of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, whose nature-therapy effort was featured last year in the Baltimore Sun.

The event is sponsored by the Greater Baltimore Child and Nature Collaborative.  Free and open to the public, it will feature nature hikes, bicycling tours, a healthy cooking demonstration, wildlife expo and more. Those families or individuals who complete a prescribed set of activities are eligible for a free prize while supplies last.

(Dr. Maria Brown; 2010 Baltimore Sun photo by Barbara Haddock Taylor)

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Film maker Josh Fox will be on hand this evening (11/1) at the Enoch Pratt Free Library downtown for a free screening of his controversial documentary "Gasland" chronicling problems with "fracking," the widely used drilling technique for extracting natural gas.

The film, which came out in 2010, was nominated for an Oscar and won an Emmy and several other awards. The oil and gas industry contends the movie contains errors and distortions, assertions which Fox rebuts.

It will air at 6 p.m. in the 3rd floor Wheeler (no relation) auditorium at the library, 400 Cathedral Street.  Afterwards, there'll be a discussion led by Fox.  The event is sponsored by Baltimore Green Works.  For more information, go here.

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 9:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

With Halloween just around the corner, the Washington-based green group Environment America is sponsoring a spooky-themed cleanup of the Anacostia River on Saturday (Oct. 29), as well as a teach-in of sorts on the woes afflicting the Chesapeake Bay.

Volunteers will be picking up trash in Bladensburg Waterfront Park, 4601 Annapolis Road in Bladensburg, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Folks are encouraged to dress up in costumes, though also to wear clothes and boots they don't mind getting grungy.

Not one to miss a chance to talk policy, Environment America plans to use the event to tout "10 scary problems" plaguing the bay.  Among them:

- Chickens outnumber people 1,000 to 1 on Maryland's Eastern Shore, the group says, and poultry growers on the Delmarva Peninsula generate upwards of 1 billion pounds of manure annually;

- The "dead zone" that forms each summer in the bay, where fish and shellfish can't get enough oxygen in the water, stretched from Baltimore Harbor to the Potomac River, covering a third of the bay;

- The state has lost more than 75 percent of its wetlands

And so on.  Not sure whether they're scary, or just depressing.  The event's co-sponsored by the American Public Health Association, which is holding its annual meeting in DC over the weekend.

(Flotsam on the water at Bladensburg Waterfront Park, summer 2011)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 8:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Chesapeake Bay, Events, Volunteer
        

The second annual Clean Energy Summit blows into B'more today, rescheduled and relocated here after the earthquake in August damaged the Bethesda hotel where it was supposed to be held.  That 'quake may have been an omen.

There'll be a lot of talk at the Hilton Inner Harbor on Friday about solar and wind power, electric vehicles, biofuels, public policy and more.  There's lots happening on those fronts, but plenty of uncertainty and uproar, too. 

Construction is under way on Maryland's first utility-scale solar array in Emmitsburg, for instance, and the state was recently recognized as one of the top 10 states in promoting energy efficiency.  But in Washington, cost-cutting pressures cast a shadow over funding for clean energy, and there's even talk among at least some Republican lawmakers of cutting off tax incentives for virutally all forms of energy, including solar and wind, nuclear and even at least some breaks for oil and gas. 

Despite the federal policy turmoil, more and more businesses and homeowners are looking for clean energy, installing more efficient lighting and solar arrays, among other things.  To help stoke that interest, the summit winds up Saturday with a free consumer show.

From 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., the public has a chance to drive a Chevy Volt and learn more about solar hot water and photovoltaics, geothermal heating and cooling, the new generation of cleaner woodstoves and - perhaps most important of all - how to go about financing the upfront costs that can ultimately lead to lower utility bills.

For more info, go here.

(Wind turbines on Backbone Mountain near Oakland MD.  2010 Baltimore Sun photo by Kim Hairston)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 12:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

An autumn potpourri of things happening this weekend:

Trees: It's autumn, ideal time to plant a sapling. Baltimore County is having a big tree sale from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday.  The costs range from $20 - $30. The event will be held at the Baltimore County Center for Maryland Agriculture, 1114 Shawan Road.  For details, go here. 

Stream cleanup: The Friends of Gwynns Falls/Leakin Park plan to clean up the stream that flows through the park's Winans Meadow, from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday. There's plenty of debris to clear from the tropical storm flooding last month. Gloves will be provided. Meet at the parking lot of Winans Meadow at 4500 Franklintown Road, 21229. For additional information, call 410-566-2230.

Park reopening:  When you're done planting trees or clearing stream debris, why not head over to Robert E. Lee Park and check out the $6.1 million facelift it got while closed the past two years?  There's a new bridge, a new half-mile boardwalk across wetlands and a new dog park (though you'd better keep your pooch on leash, and clean up after him or her!)  It officially reopened today (Friday, Oct. 14), but there'll be activities Saturday as well.  On Lakeside Drive, near Falls Road.  For directions, go here.

(Walking dogs on at rehabilitated Robert E. Lee Park. Photo by Noah Scialom)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 4:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

A little housekeeping announcement: The hearing this evening in Annapolis on whether to cut back the catch of menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay and elsewhere along the Atlantic coast has been moved to a new location.

The session, scheduled to run from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., has been moved to Calvary United Methodist Church, 301 Rowe Boulevard. Plans had been to hold it in Department of Natural Resources headquarters, but I'm guessing the prospect of a big crowd prompted officials to seek larger meeting space.

With the Atlantic menhaden stock at a record low level after being overfished 32 of the last 54 years, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is weighing whether to clamp down. A decision may be made in November. The commission voted in August to seek public comment on a range of options, from doing nothing to cutting the catch by up to 45 percent.

Unless you're a fisherman, menhaden may not be on your radar. They're not on anybody's dinner table, but the oily fish is a prime food for striped bass, or rockfish, which is a favorite among anglers and restaurant patrons alike.  They also serve another vital ecological role in the bay, as filter feeders. 

Its lack of table appeal notwithstanding, the little fish have been heavily harvested over the years to provide feed for farm animals and farmed fish, and their oil's extracted and sold as a heart-healthy food supplement.

Cutting the menhaden catch is opposed by Virginia, home to the last large-scale commercial menhaden fishing fleet on the East Coast. Omega Protein's vessels operate out of Reedville, which almost entirely on the size of its menhaden catch has the second highest commercial fish landings of any port in the United States.

But cutting menhaden catches also could hurt Maryland's commercial fishermen, as it's caught for bait to  catch other fish and especially blue crabs.  The state's watermen aren't happy about the prospect of yet another restriction on their livelihood - ergo the likelihood of a big turnout tonight.

(AP file photo)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

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 | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

Who says drinking water is dull? "Dam Jam 2011" on Sunday Oct. 2 aims to change that.

The daylong celebration at Cromwell Valley Park of Baltimore's drinking water reservoirs features live music, food, historical reenactors, wildlife on display and activities for kids, plus t-shirts and tattoos.

What more could you ask for? Oh, yeah, and there'll be a guided tour of Loch Raven Dam, with background on the history and inner workings of the region's three reservoirs.

Musical acts include Mosno Al-Moseeki, the "3rd World Rocker," Feinwood Jammgrass and Jeremiah Clark, who performs "alt-country Americana." City and county employees and local conservation groups will be on hand to present info on the importance of the region's waterways and what people can do to protect them.

Cosponsored by the city of Baltimore, Baltimore County and the Towson Arts Collective, the event runs from 10 a.m. to 4 pm.

Admission is free, and attendees are urged to bring chairs, blankets and picnic baskets to spend the day. The park is at 2175 Cromwell Bridge Road. For more information call, 410-396-500 or email kurt.kocher@baltimorecity.gov

(Patuxent Publishing Photo: Loch Raven dam, by Brian Krista) 

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 6:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

This weekend brings more attention to the Baltimore area's water ways, with some stream cleanups scheduled Saturday followed by a fun fund-raiser for the region's watershed watchdog.

Last Saturday marked the 26th annual International Coastal Cleaunup, with volunteers clearing beaches and stream banks of debris and trash. This Saturday (9/24), there are a few more pickups planned, including of Bread and Cheese Creek in eastern Baltimore County, and of Stony Run in Baltimore city as it flows past Wyman Park near the Johns Hopkins University Homewood campus.

The Bread and Cheese cleanup is from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. starting around 1401 North Point Road. Gloves and trash bags provided, as is lunch. E-mail clean_bread_and_cheese_creek@yahoo.com or call 410-285-1202 to sign up!

The city event organized by Friends of Stony Run goes from noon to 4 p.m., and includes tree planting as well as trash pickup. Trash bags provided, but bring gloves and wear long sleeves, pants and rugged shoes. Look for signs at Tudor Arms & Craycombe to take the path down to the site for tree planting. For the trash cleanup, enter by the Remington Avenue Bridge and work north.

That same afternoon (9/24), Blue Water Baltimore is having its 4th annual Trash Bash fund-raiser from noon to 5 p.m. at Nick's Fish House, 2600 Insulator Drive 21230. Cost is $55 and includes seafood, drinks, live music, silent auction and electric boat tours of the Middle Branch. For more, go here.

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 8:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Saturday (Sept. 17) brings the 26th annual International Coastal Cleanup, a worldwide event organized by the Ocean Conservancy, when volunteers haul trash and debris from streams and beaches.

Maryland has its share of pickups planned, and there'll be no shortage of debris this time, what with the winds and flooding we've had the past few weeks. The state's shoreline could use a good housecleaning. 

Fort Smallwood Park in Pasadena and Stony Run in Baltimore are among the local cleanups on tap. To find a site near you and sign up, go here.

(Volunteer picks up trash on shore at Middle Branch Park. 2010 Baltimore Sun photo by Kim Hairston)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 6:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Happy Park(ing) Day! For those not familiar with it, this is a day when artists, activists and creative business people transform curbside parking spaces into mini-parks and spaces for exhibiting art and socializing.

It was begun in 2005 in San Francisco by Rebar, an art and design studio there, but has gone global since. Last year, there were  more than 800 conversions in more than 180 cities in 30 countries on six continents. It's meant to get people thinking about "re-imagining the possibilities of the urban landscape," as Rebar's Matthew Passmore has been quoted.

Some Baltimore groups and businesses are getting in on the act. The Reservoir Hill Improvement Council is converting teachers' parking spaces at John Eager Howard Elementary School into a "composting kitchen," where students can learn how to build real and edible compost boxes. That's at 2100 Brookfield Ave. from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The city's landscape architecture and design firms seem to seizing the opportunity to strut their stuff - or just to engage in a little Friday whimsy. They include:

Ayers Saint Gross, which will unveil a temporary "sculptural shade structure" made almost entirely from plastic bottles collected from the harbor and around the city. It'll be in a pair of adjoining parking spaces at the corner of Broadway and Thames Street in Fells Point. It'll be up from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

EDSA, Inc., which plans an exhibit exploring how society might adapt to apocalyptic events like earthquakes and hurricanes. Its spot will be on Commerce Street just north of Pratt Street, across from the Baltimore World Trade Center.

Floura Teeter, which will convert three spaces in front of its downtown office at 306 W. Franklin Street into an "urban garden designed to showcase sustainable food preparation using local, seasonal ingredients." This will be Floura Teeter's third Park(ing) Day observance.

Mahan Rykiel Associates, which is making two parking spaces in Hampden on the Avenue (832-836 West 36th Street) into a "pop-up, outdoor, dog friendly café." That'll be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For more on Park(ing) Day, go here.

(Shannon Early blows bubbles into passing traffic while relaxing in Floura Teeter's greened parking spaces downtown. 2010 Baltimore Sun photo by Kenneth K. Lam.)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 6:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Hundreds of scientists, activists and government officials from around the world have gathered in Baltimore's Inner Harbor to compare notes on cleaning up the planet's troubled coastal waters.

From the Cheapeake Bay to the Seto Inland Sea in Japan, near-shore waters suffer similar insults - too many nutrients from sewage, fertilizer and air pollution, overfishing and habitat degradation.

What's quickly apparent from sitting in for a short while this morning on the four-day global summit is that progress in the uphill battle of restoring stressed and degraded ecosystems depends on one's perspective.

This 9th international conference on Environmental Management for Enclosed Coastal Seas (EMECS) has drawn a sizable contingent from Japan, and several speakers have touched on the devastation wrought earlier this year by the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck the island nation's northeastern coast.

Many conference participants got an up-close look at a much less disruptive natural calamity oer the weekend because they arrived in Baltimore just before Hurricane Irene reached here. Indeed, several sessions planned Sunday morning were postponed in anticipation of the storm.

The Inner Harbor got off light this time, compared with the flooding brought by Tropical Storm Isabel in 2003.  Indeed, at the conclusion of a talk outlining the challenges of managing coastal seas, Dr. Motoyuki Suzuki, chairman of Japan's Central Environmental Council, flashed up before-and-after photos of the Inner Harbor taken from the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront Hotel, where the summit is meeting. The images showed that the storm had not harmed any of the structures along the waterfront, prompting the speaker to say, "Beautiful!"

But the photo taken after the storm had passed showed a swath of caramel-colored water streaming out from Pier 6 by the concert pavilion - where the Jones Falls empties into the harbor.  Evidently the storm washed signfiicant amounts of dirt, harmful bacteria and probably other pollutants down storm drains into the falls and ultimately the Inner Harbor.

It's storm-water runoff like that - every time it rains, even lightly - that's one of the biggest hurdles to making the harbor fit for human contact.  Not the harm wrought by a a tsunami or a truly destructive hurricane, to be sure, but beneath the surface not exactly beautiful, either.

The conference, hosted by the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science and the Maryland Department of the Environment, meets here through Wednesday.

(2006 Baltimore Sun photo by Robert Hamilton)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 2:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

What's a little rain and wind when you have toxic wastes eating a hole in your basement?

A tropical storm may be bearing down on us, but Baltimore city is NOT canceling its drop-off of household hazardous wastes Saturday (8/27) from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute parking lot at Falls Road and Cold Spring Lane.  The event is run by the Department of Public Works Bureau of Solid Waste.

City residents can drop off oil-based paints, pesticides, herbicides, car and household batteries, drain cleaners, gasoline, pool chemicals and many other items. Latex paint can be dried up and the cans put out for regular trash collection.

Do NOT bring trash, acids, asbestos, ammunition, fire extinguishers, industrial or medical wastes, or radioactive materials, including smoke alarms with a radioactive symbol.

Residents must show proof of city residency - a driver's license, telephone bill or tax bill - and are asked to use the Cold Spring Lane entrance to the school parking lot. For more, go here.

(Baltimore Sun file photo)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 4:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

The 2nd annual Charm City Garden Tour rolls out Saturday, Aug. 13, offering a chance to see some of Baltimore's lushest community gardens and sample some locally sourced refreshments at a post-tour garden party.

The tour begins and ends at the Whitelock Community Farm, which figured prominently in a recent Baltimore Sun story I wrote about the greening of Reservoir Hill. The farm is at 940 Whitelock Street, and the tour runs from 2 p.m to 5 p.m., with the garden party from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.  Stick around, and you can catch the open-air movie showing at Reservoir Hill's German Park at 8:30 p.m.

The event is sponsored by Community Greening Resource Network, the UME Baltimore City Master Gardeners and Parks & People Foundation.

A bus tour already is sold out, but space is still available for a bicycle tour covering the same route, which makes stops at gardens in Mount Washington and Park Heights as well as Reservoir Hill. The cost is $15 a head, and cyclists are required to bring their own bike and strongly encouraged to wear helmets.  To reserve a spot, email charmcitygardentour@gmail.com or call 410-448-5663 ext 128.

(Newington Avenue in Reservoir Hill. Baltimore Sun photo by Gabe Dinsmoor)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 4:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Update: Full story can be found here. 

A city official is defending allowing the Baltimore Grand Prix to cut down trees along the Inner Harbor race course, saying organizers have agreed to replace those trees nearly four times over, more than tripling the downtown's tree canopy in the process.

Beth Strommen, director of Baltimore's Office of Sustainability says she negotiated a deal with organizers of the Labor Day weekend street race, in which they got to cut down fewer than half the trees they originally wanted to remove to improve spectators' views of the racing.

Only 50 trees are to be cut down along the race course on West Pratt and Light streets, said Strommen - not the 136 that Lonnie Fisher, assistant Grand Prix general manager had told The Baltimore Sun on Monday.  Strommen, who spoke by telephone while vacationing in New Jersey, said she could not explain the discrepancy, but said she had confirmed the city's agreement with the race by phone Tuesday.

News of the tree cutting has upset some residents, who contend that it violates the city's forest conservation code (Article 7, Natural Resources) and is at odds with the city's sustainability plan, which calls for doubling Baltimore's tree canopy by 2037.  

Critics have begun circulating an online petition calling for a halt to any more race-related tree cutting until the plan is fully aired and each tree to be removed identified, as required by city code. Petition drafter Dave Troy contended in an email that the plan for cutting and replacing trees because of the race was "haphazard" and "shoved down the throat of the public without due process."

Strommen said the deal she'd negotiated with race organizers hasn't been announced yet because it has yet to be finalized, reviewed by city lawyers and signed.   But it calls for planting 59 replacement trees in the race corridor, she said, and another 135 trees are to be planted in already empty sidewalk "pits" for trees elsewhere in downtown. 

Continue reading "City: Grand Prix to plant many more trees than it cuts " »

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 6:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (38)
        

Who says stream cleanups can only be done in spring and fall? The Jones Falls is due for a little tidying Saturday (July 16), organized by Baltimore Youth Environmental Response and the city's Office of Sustainability.

Volunteers are to meet at 1 p.m. at 1813 Falls Road, just outside Baltimore Bicycle Works. Bags, gloves and refreshments will be provided. And around 2:30 p.m., they'll wrap the cleanup to discuss future goals and activities for the youth-led environmental group. You can RSVP and learn more about RSVP on Facebook.

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 8:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Hundreds of people flocked to the Maryland Department of the Environment yesterday, but not for the usual reasons.

Instead of applying for permits or responding to pollution violation notices, they were there for a more upbeat reason - to promote and learn about new ways to control pollution washing off city and suburban streets and parking lots.

More than 360 people registered for the department's first-ever "Clean Water Innovations Trade Show." Three dozen exhibitors were on hand to tout everything from green roofs and floating wetlands to the latest in storm-drain retrofits.

State Environment Secretary Robert M. Summers said the expo grew out of a forum on sustainability held by Gov. Martin O'Malley earlier this year. The state is applying new storm-water pollution control regulations on all new construction and redevelopment, and is beginning to require better controls in existing communities as well.

Summers asserted in remarks to the assembled vendors, local officials and others that the state is a leader in sustainable growth, in less-polluting development techniques and the green economy. But he also acknowledged "a lot of challenges going forward," including regulatory and technical hurdles.

The latter point was seconded by Erik Dalski of Highview Creations, which has installed green roofs in New York and Boston and is branching into Maryland and the Washington area now. One of the company's more interesting projects in these parts is a green roof planned for a new barn near Annapolis.

Dalski said there seems to be "a lot of red tape" here governing green infrastructure, and local officials he's met with still seem hesitant to try new things like green roofs.

Summers suggested such red-tape complaints ought to ease under a recent initiative announced by O'Malley to streamline regulations and "fast-track" permitting.

(Barry Chenkin, founder of Aquabarrel, discusses his products at Clean Water Innovations Trade Show at MDE headquarters. Photo by Jay Apperson, MDE's Office of Communications)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 11:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

When we talk about old-growth and virgin forests, we often think of the massive redwoods and sequoias out West. The eastern United States was heavily logged in the 19th and early 20th centuries, so that the trees we see in this part of the country today are relative youngsters - decades rather than centuries old.

But not everywhere. Remnants remain of the forests that practically blanketed the East when European settlers arrived. Some are on steep slopes, in deep ravines or other remote, hard-to-reach places. Others are relatively easy to get to.

One's right here in Maryland - about 40 majestic acres of largely untouched eastern hemlocks and white pines at Swallow Falls State Park, near Oakland in Garrett County.

Joan Maloof, a biology professor at Salisbury University, has made a career of studying trees and forests. She's passionate about old growth and is working now to develop a network for protecting them. She's written a first-person guide to some of these overlooked pockets of biodiversity and wonder.

Among the Ancients, Adventures in the Eastern Old-Growth Forests takes the reader to one stand in each state east of the Mississippi River. Maloof recounts their history and the people who've fought to preserve them, and she details their current condition. Some are pristine, others threatened and abused. Maloof reflects in her chapters on the values of forests.

"Imagine an organism that can live three times longer than the longest-lived human," she concludes in her chapter on Swallow Falls. "We need to recognize that in trees, and honor it."

She gets personal as well, describing how the old woods touch her and shape her own outlook on life. Her visit to Cook Forest State Park in southwest Pennsylvania, for instance, makes her imagine she's one of the seven dwarves in the cartoon classic "Snow White."

She writes: "...the chipmunks were scampering along beside me, the birds were chirping and hopping on the trail in front of me, and patches of moss were glowing green from teh slender beams of light that made their way through the canopy far overhead. I felt almost as if I had been drugged. I was so filled with joy I had a cheek-splitting grin on my face."

If you'd like to meet the author, Maloof will give a reading at the Barnes & Noble at 1819 Reisterstown Road in Pikesville on Wednesday (July 13) at 7 pm.  To hear her now, tune in here to listen to an interview public radio's Marc Steiner did with her recently.  And you can read more of Joan Maloof's insights and observations on her blog here.

(Cover photograph courtesy Ruka Press)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 9:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Sunday is the 9th annual Tour Dem Parks, the yearly bike ride through Baltimore’s parks and neighborhoods.

With the heat easing off, it's a great chance to enjoy the city's green gems, like Carroll, Leakin, Patterson, Clifton and Druid Hill parks. There's a choice of routes to match riders' abilities, from a 12-mile "family" jaunt up and down the Gwynns Falls Trail to the 64-mile Metric Century that's for serious road warriors indeed.

There are rest stops at Patterson, Herring Run, Druid Hill, and Leakin parks, with complimentary snacks, Gatorade and water, plus toilets or port-o-johns and even bike mechanics to help keep you rolling. And when you finish, there's a barbecue and live music at Carroll Park to wind down.

Cost is $20 for children 15 and younger, $40 per adult. Even though it's fun, it's also a fund-raiser, okay? The money goes to help gussy up the parks, print trail maps, create rain gardens and the like. For more on that, go here.

Rides start in Carroll Park, 1500 Washington Blvd, and run from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Go here to register in advance. If you'd rather not ride but want to be part of the scene, they're looking for volunteers to staff registration and rest stops.

(2008 Tour Dem Parks, Baltimore Sun photo by Algerina Perna)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 12:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

If you're like me, you probably have a few old or broken cell phones lying around your house - maybe even a 1980s dinosaur like the one pictured here. 

I could never bring myself to throw them away, figuring they'd just wind up in a landfill or even incinerated. So they're sitting on a shelf or in a box somewhere.

Now, here's a chance to get those unwanted phones recycled, and make a little cash in the process. From Friday (6/10) through Sunday (6/12), everyone who brings two old cell phones to Mondawmin Mall will be given a $10 gift card.  You can go green and get some green in exchange.

The event is sponsored by General Growth Properties, owner of Mondawmin and other area malls, in partnership with Cathy Allen, a West Baltimore resident who dubs herself the "Green Ambassador."  Among her efforts to green the urban environment, she's campaigning to plant trees in every public elementary school in the city.

Remember, you need to turn in TWO old cell phones to get a gift card. The swap will be taking place at Center Court at Mondawmin, 2401 Liberty Heights Ave. from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, and from noon to 6 .m. Sunday.

For more, go here.

(Baltimore Sun photo by Barbara Haddock Taylor)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 10:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Capt. John Smith, the early English explorer, inspired waves of European settlement and centuries of human use of the Chesapeake Bay when he described its shores in 1606 as a "fruitfull and delightsome land." How abundant is the bay today, and what lessons are there in looking back?

On Wednesday, June 8, from 7 - 9 p.m. at the Village Learning Place in downtown Baltimore, Henry Miller of the Maryland Humanities Council will discuss the history of the Bay's use by humans. Miller is director of research for Maryland's state museum at St. Mary's City, the state's first English colony and seventeenth-century capital.

Miller's overview of human consumption of the bay is free and open to the public, and light food and refreshments will be served. The Village Learning Place is at 2521 St. Paul St. For more, go here.

(17th century-style shallop off Annapolis as it reenacts 1608 bay exploration of Capt. John Smith, 2007 Baltimore Sun photo by Kim Hairston) 

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 10:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

With study after study showing that Maryland's Smart Growth laws and policies have been ineffective at curbing sprawl, the O'Malley administration has a new-old remedy: a state development plan.

PlanMaryland, it's called. Drafted by the state Department of Planning, the 188-page document is meant to fulfill a 40-year-old law never acted upon that calls for the creation of a state growth plan.

It was released last month, and state planners are holding a series of "open-house" style forums this spring and summer to get public reaction. The next one is Thursday May 19, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Long Reach High School in Columbia, 6101 Old Dobbin Lane.

With upwards of 5.8 million people living on the state's 6.2 million acres, the population is projected to grow nearly 15 percent over the next 20 years, adding another 900,000 residents.

PlanMaryland doesn't propose any radical changes in direction - it calls for concentrating growth in towns, cities and "rural centers," whatever those are, where infrastructure already exists or is planned. It also calls for preserving environmentally sensitive and rural lands. Its third primary goal is more amorphous - "sustainability", defined as ensuring quality of life while preserving those natural and cultural resources that distinguish Maryland as a place.

The plan proposes a collaborative new planning effort for state and local governments to designate the places where they believe growth should occur and where land should be shielded from development. And it proposes tweaking state policies and funding formulas to better focus government spending on highways, schools and other infrastructure on those areas designated for growth.

Continue reading "Smart Growth redux: State airing new development plan" »

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 10:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

CHAI, the housing and community development agency for The Associated, the federation of Jewish organizations, will be offering a tour of its new green building in northwest Baltimore Tuesday May 17, along with discussions on incorporating sustainability in new and existing structures.

The building, at 5809 Park Heights Ave., has been awarded a silver LEED certificate by the U.S. Green Building Council. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.

"See the Green @ CHAI" will be from 4 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. For more, go here.

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 11:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Ecologist and author Sandra Steingraber will be in town Wednesday May 18 to talk about her new book, Raising Elijah - Protecting Our Children in an Age of Environmental Crisis. 

Currently scholar in residence at Ithaca College in New York, Steingraber has explored in her writings the links between the environment and health.

Her first book, Living Downstream, An Ecologist's Personal Investigation of Cancer and the Environment, used her own experience as a cancer survivor to examine the environmental links to cancer.

In a later book, Having Faith: An Ecologist’s Journey to Motherhood, she tackles fetal toxicology in the context of her own pregnancy. She's the mother of two.

Her latest work, Raising Elijah, strives to connect parenting to public policy on the environment. She links many childhood health issues, such as asthma and developmental problems, to environmental factors, including air quality and chemical contamination.

She'll speak at 7 p.m. at the Enoch Pratt central library downtown. Her talk is part of the Sustainable Speakers series presented by the library in partnership with Baltimore Green Works. For more, go here.

(Photo by Dede Hatch, courtesy Sandra Steingraber)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 10:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

It's spring, so there's something green to do every weekend, if not every day. Here are just a few:

BALTIMORE CITY - Roland Park is staging Seven Generations, its second annual weekend-long celebration of sustainability. On Saturday, May 14, there'll be a native plant sale, green expo and garden tour, among other things. Sunday features a "ciclovia" of pedaling, jogging or strolling down Roland Avenue from Northern Parkway to Cold Spring Lane.  Events start around 8 a.m. each day, and last into afternoon. Go here for more.

TOWSON - The Rotary Club of Towsontowne is staging an ECO-fest, a rain barrel and compost bin sale, on Saturday, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Towson United Methodist Church, 501 Hampton Lane.  Looks like it's going to rain, so better get a rain barrel while supplies last.  For more info, go here.

EASTERN SHORE - The 11th annual Great Worcester Herp Search needs volunteers Saturday to help scour the woods and fields for turtles, snakes, frogs and salamanders. Last year, searchers tallied 204 reptiles and amphibians, including box and snapping turtles and five-lined skinks.  The search kicks off 9 a.m. at Furnacetown off Route 12 near Snow Hill with a pre-hunt training session. Pack a lunch, sunscreen and rain gear, of course.  For directions, go here.

(Guiliana Cascio holds a box turtle found near Showell.  Photo courtesy Maryland Coastal Bays Program)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 4:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Want to know what's being done to make Baltimore more bicycle-friendly? This evening (Monday, April 18) is your chance to find out, and help get it in gear.

As part of Green Week, there'll be an update on bike-related activities at Johns Hopkins University's Homewood campus.  Nate Evans of Baltimore's Department of Transportation will present the latest on bike lanes and other bicycle improvements in the city.   May is the Bike Month Challenge, for instance. 

Alison Dewey of the League of American Cyclists also will talk about what it would take for Baltimore to gain "bicycle friendly" status under her group's rating system.  And there'll be a discussion about starting a bike-sharing program here like the one in DC.

The update will be from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Great Room at Levering Hall, between the west and south gates to Homewood campus. There's metered parking on Wyman Drive and $6 parking in the South garage. Bike parking, of course, is available on campus. Beverages and light refreshments will be served.

(Bicyclist commuting along Hanover Street. 2005 Baltimore Sun photo by Kenneth K. Lam)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

It's that time of year again.  The 8th annual Baltimore Green Week begins April 16 and runs through the 23rd.

The weeklong series of events, lectures and volunteer opportunities leading up to Earth Day is focused on sustainable living. It kicks off with Ecofest, an outdoor festival from noon to 5 p.m. April 16 in Druid Hill Park.

Yoga classes, bike rides around the reservoir and flower arranging lessons are among the activities offered by local producers and organizations. There'll also be food and activities for kids.

Ecofest and Green Week are put on by Baltimore Green Works.  For more, go here.

(Photo courtesy Baltimore Green Works)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 10:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

For those who like a bracing swim - or who were too chicken to take the Polar Bear Plunge right after New Year's - here's another, slightly less frigid, chance to wade in for a good cause.  Supporters of the Marshy Point Nature Center in Baltimore County are holding their 5th annual "Popsicle Plunge" on Saturday (March 5).

The waterfront park on Dundee and Saltpeter creeks encompasses nearly 500 acres of wetlands and woodlands, and it's a great place for hiking and bird-watching. The center at 7130 Marshy Point Road holds festivals, summer camps, weekend canoe trips, discover hikes and demonstrations, and every 5th grader in Baltimore County schools visits Marshy Point as part of the EcoTrekkers environmental education program.

Because the shoreline at Marshy Point is mostly marsh and protected wetlands, the plunge will actually be held on the beach in the Hammerman area of Gunpowder Falls State Park - across Dundee Creek. It costs $20 to register for the plunge, but you get a free T-shirt with just $40 in pledges, and there will be other prizes for costumes and the most pledges raised, as well as food, games, activities and exhibits.

The whole shebang kicks off at noon, with the plunge at 2 p.m. All proceeds benefit the Marshy Point Nature Center Council. For more information, contact Marshy Point Nature Center at 410-887-2817 or visit http://www.marshypoint.org for forms  And for directions to the plunge site at Gunpowder, go here.

(Photo courtesy Marshy Point Nature Center Council)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 8:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Remember when thousands of blackbirds mysteriously dropped from the sky in Arkansas on New Year's Eve? Here's a chance to help scientists understand what's happening with those and all the other birds across North America: join the annual Great Backyard Bird Count this week.

For four days starting Friday, Feb. 18, thousands of volunteers across the United States and Canada tally and report the birds they see and hear in the wild, in neighborhood parks or in their own backyards. The collective observations give ornithologists a "snapshot" of what's happening with bird populations.

Now in its 14th year, the count has detected ups and downs in some species.  For instance, American crows, once regularly among the top four or five most frequently reported species, have become less common since 2003, when West Nile virus spread across the US.  Scientists noted 50-75 percent drops in crow populations in states after the mosquito-borne disease hit.

Last year, nearly 100,000 reports were submitted toting up more than 11 million birds of 603 species.  American robins topped the list, at 1.8 million sighted.  The Canada goose was second, at around 750,000, with Snow goose, American crow and European starling rounding out the most commonly seen birds.  Joining the list for the first time last year was the Red-billed tropicbird, spied by some adventurous birders off the Pacific coast near San Diego.

Here in Maryland, citizen scientists spotted 220,539 birds of 138 different species.  Canada goose and Snow goose beat the robin hands down, with the Common grackle and Dark-eyed junco coming in third and fourth. In my backyard, I often spy a Northern cardinal or two, like the one pictured here.

It's easy to participate in the count, requiring as little as 15 minutes in a day.  And as the name suggests, you don't even have to leave the warmth of your house, just look out in your backyard.  The count is coordinated by the  Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, Audubon, and Bird Studies Canada.

To join in, or to learn more about previous bird counts, go here.

(Top, Canada geese take flight near Rappahannock River, 2009.  Baltimore Sun photo by Jerry Jackson. Middle, students watching for birds in Patterson Park, 2006, Baltimore Sun photo by Kenneth K. Lam.  Bottom, Northern cardinal, taken by Heather Taylor of Maryland, courtesy Great Backyard Bird Count)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Green may be the new black in pro football, at least for the next year, with the Green Bay Packers winning the Super Bowl Sunday. But even before the team from Wisconsin prevailed in Dallas, sports venues across the country have been trying to green themselves up - to save some money, of course, but maybe a little bit as well to burnish the image of excess that surrounds professional sports events.

Super Bowl XLV was played in the spanking new $650 million Cowboys Stadium, which by one account is one of the "top 10 green stadiums" in the country. Hard to imagine how such a mammoth place could be green, but according to SunRun, a home solar service company that rated the stadiums, the Dallas Cowboys' home is aiming to reduce its solid waste by 25 percent, its energy use by 20 percent and its water consumption by a million gallons annually.

M&T Bank Stadium, the home of our Baltimore Ravens, didn't make the cut for SunRun's top 10 green stadiums.   It doesn't have solar panels, like Seattle's Qwest Field, nor was it built to meet LEED energy and environmental standards, as was the Nationals' newish baseball stadium in Washington.

But M&T's working to reduce its environmental footprint nonetheless. Jeff Provenzano, director of football facilities for the Maryland Stadium Authority, says he's aiming to green up Baltimore's gridiron enough to earn LEED certification for energy-efficient and environmentally sensitive operations and management of an existing building - something he says no other existing NFL stadium has done to date.

"Green is the new buzzword in all aspects of what we do," Provenzano said. 

It's not easy to go green, when you're packing 70,000 people - about the population of Towson - into a stadium.  But working in partnership with the Ravens and the stadium's food and housekeeping vendors, Provenzano said they've managed to make major inroads in recycling the mountains of trash generated by every event, and to trim the facility's eye-popping electric bills.

"We do a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff that most people don't realize or probably care about at the end of the day," he said.

Continue reading "Going green on the gridiron" »

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Hoping to do something about arguably the most degraded water body in the Chesapeake Bay, a coalition of waterfront businesses, environmental activists and others is holding a conference Feb. 5 on the state of Baltimore's harbor and what's needed to make it swimmable and fishable.

Alexandra Cousteau, granddaughter of the famed ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau, will be the keynote speaker for the day-long session. Other luminaries expected include Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, D-MD.

But the published agenda indicates the session will go beyond glitz to plumb the reasons for the dismal condition of the lower Patapsco River and hear about efforts to restore other urban waters, in places like Boston, Philadelphia and Washington. There'll also be discussions of what it'll take to reduce trash and pollution here, and how to pay for it.

The conference is hosted by the Waterfront Partnership, which along with the National Aquarium put tiny floating wetlands in the Inner Harbor last summer to see if they can help restore fish habitat and water quality. The man-made marsh was the first tangible, if token, step in a campaign the partnership announced in the spring to make Baltimore's harbor fishable and swimmable by 2020.

It's no understatement to say it will be a huge challenge. The Patapsco and Back rivers earned a failing grade in the latest report card on the health of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.  The harbor itself is trash strewn and often unsanitary, with long-standing warnings against eating bottom-feeding fish caught there because of toxic contaminants in the muck on the harbor floor.  But undaunted advocates hope to change all that.

The conference runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Legg Mason building in Harbor East. It's open to the public, though advance registration is required. Go here to do that or for more info.

(Ducks swim amid floating trash near Canton, 2005 Baltimore Sun photo by Jed Kirschbaum)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 1:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Environmental groups have organized a daylong "Maryland Citizen's Conference" this Saturday (12/4) in Annapolis to press for more rapid development of wind energy projects off the state's Atlantic coast.

Anxious to break what they see as a logjam in developing wind energy in Maryland, activists want the next General Assembly to pass legislation requiring the state's electricity providers to sign long-term contracts agreeing to buy power from offshore projects.  They believe that the lack of such commitments are preventing developers from getting the financing they need to move ahead with putting turbines a dozen or so miles off Ocean City.

The conference comes as two land-based industrial wind projects in western Maryland are about to begin generating electricity.  But most proponents see the Outer Continental Shelf as a much more promising locale for generating significant amounts of electricity from steady offshore winds - not to mention possibly avoiding some of the nagging controversies over the impacts of mountaintop turbines on migratory bats and birds.

The conference is meant to build political pressure on the legislature a month before it convenes.  Scheduled speakers include leading green lawmakers, a wind developer, a union leader and a CEO from the Google-linked partnership that proposes to build transmission lines to bring mid-Atlantic offshore power to land.  Activists plan to march on the State House at the end. 

The session runs from 10 a.m. to 3:30 pm at the Westin Hotel, 100 Westgate Circle, Annapolis.  Admission is $15, $10 for students. For more, go here.

(Wind turbines off northern German island of Borkum, April 2010.  David Hecker/AFP/Getty Images)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 10:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Can developers and environmentalists find common ground over how this region can grow without adding to the Chesapeake Bay's woes?

It remains to be seen. Feelings are still raw after last winter's donnybrook in Annapolis over tightening state curbs on runoff from new development and redevelopment. And home builders and environmentalists are at odds over legislation hung up in Congress that would strengthen the federal government's hand in the bay restoration effort.

But the Home Builders Association of Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation have agreed, at least, to meet in a neutral corner and talk about it. The two are sponsoring a forum Wednesday (Nov. 17) entitled: "Where Do We Grow From Here? Bay Friendly Development in the 21st Century."

The subtitle of the forum promises a "civil but frank discourse on development, environment and the Bay."   One session will look at whether "nutrient neutral" development is possible.  Another talks about how to pay for the pollution controls and public infrastructure needed to encourage "smart" growth.

From the agenda, it looks like this is a session designed to find that common ground and forge agreement on how and where to grow.  I imagine the tone of this will be far different from a population "summit" held recently by Johns Hopkins' Center for a Livable Future.

"The big question is can we truly restore the Chesapeake Bay given the population projections for future growth?" asked Environment Maryland's Brad Heavner.  He said we have the scientific knowledge to do it, but it would take a lot of money and political will to reduce impacts of new development enough to offset the growing number of people.

Tom Horton, longtime bay writer and former Sun colleague, was even less hopeful.  He called it a "tall order" to think people would do what it takes to reduce the environmental impact of 17 million people in the six-state watershed by enough to restore the Chesapeake's water quality to what it was in the 1950s or '60s and to maintain it while the region grows.

Tough questions those, that lack easy answers.  At least folks are talking about them, while the real estate slump eases development pressure some. 

Wednesday's growth forum is from 8:15 a.m .to 3 p.m. at Martin's West, 6817 Dogwood Road.   Registration is $95, though discounts are available.  For more, go here or call 410-265-7400.

(Development along South Branch of the Patapsco River, 200 Baltimore Sun photo by David Hobby)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 4:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Residents in Harford, Washington and several Eastern Shore counties will be able to properly dispose of old and unwanted medications Saturday during the American Medicine Chest Challenge.

We've written before about the damage flushing drugs down the toilet causes to waterways. The folks behind the Medicine Chest Challenge are also concerned about prescription drug misuse and overdoses. Unsupervised medicine ingestions result in almost 60,000 children under age 5 going to the emergency room a year, according to otcsafety.org. Reducing the amount of drugs you keep in the house can help safeguard against such incidents.

Challenge hours are 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Go to americanmedicinechest.com to search for drop-off locations.

Photo by PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images

Posted by Kim Walker at 12:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Events, Recycling
        

You read that right. Usually, fisherfolk hold fishing tournaments and such when they want to raise dough for a good cause. Running for them is like, well, fish out of water.

But in a bid to broaden its reach, the Maryland chapter of Trout Unlimited is having a "Restoration Run" on Sunday, Nov. 14 to raise funds for repairing the Jones Falls and other degraded watersheds in the state.

Jay Boynton, the TU chapter's treasurer and a runner himself, said members thought a run would be a great way to bring some different people out and "expose them to something other than just fishing." In other words, anglers aren't the only ones who care about the health of our waters -- and here's a chance to show it.

The 5K race starts out at 8 a.m. at Meadowood Regional Park on Falls Road near its intersection with Greenspring Valley Road.  The course goes down Falls a bit before cutting over to Hillside Road and back north on Greenspring Avenue.   The Jones Falls, the initial object of the fund-raiser, will be just steps away.

Boynton said funds raised by the run are to go to stream restoration projects.  First on the chapter's list is a stretch of the Jones Falls with a channelized stream bank.  The group hopes to reestablish trout habitat there, partly because they like to catch (and release) trout, but also because trout, especially sensitive to pollution and habitat degradation, are a bellwether of stream health.

The run is open to the public.  Registration is $30 until Saturday (Nov. 6), then $35 next week and $40 on the day of the run.  To sign up, or to donate, go here.

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Leaves are falling, the weather's cooling.  Community groups are getting their last licks in on cleaning up local streams before winter sets in.

On Saturday, Oct. 30, from 8:45 a.m. to noon, volunteers are needed in Catonsville to clear litter, tires (where do they all come from?) and other junk from Bull Run, one of the many overlooked and (until now) neglected streams that flows into the Patapsco River, the most ailing tributary of the Chesapeake Bay. 

The Friends of Patapsco Valley and Heritage Greenway, which is organizing the cleanout, urges volunteers to wear waterproof boots, long pants and shirt (to protect from thorns) and bring work gloves, water and sunscreen.  Volunteers are to meet at the Catonsville Armory, 130 Mellor Avenue, before crossing the road to get at Bull Run.  Walk-ups welcome, but to sign up online, go here.

Next weekend, on Nov. 6, the cleanup shovel swings to the other side of Baltimore, as volunteers tackle Bread and Cheese Creek, a colorfully named but trash-strewn tributary of Back River, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

The area to be policed, from Merritt Boulevard to Plainfield Road. was cleaned out last fall (as pictured above), but litter, junk and shopping carts from nearby shopping centers have found their way into it again - necessitating another cleanout.  (This is why some more systemic approaches to litter need to be found - before volunteers burn out on the Sisyphean task of repeatedly removing tons of debris from their neighborhood streams, only to have to do it all over again in a year or two).

For more, go here. 

(Bread and Cheese Creek cleanup, September 2009.  Baltimore Sun photo by Kim Hairston)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 9:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Aiming to make a dent in the detritus fouling the Middle Branch, more than 2,000 volunteers are scheduled to swarm the neighborhoods bordering this tributary of the Patapsco River on Saturday.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake is scheduled to join other city officials and the chairman of the newly formed Baltimore Water Alliance clean streets, alleys and gutters that drain into the Middle Branch.  Organizers report that 2,123 volunteers from 124 neighborhoods have signed up to participate.

Much more is needed, of course, to permanently reduce the torrent of trash littering the harbor.  But it'll be a good demonstration for the uninitiated of how what gets dropped in the streets can wind up in the water.  

The fall cleanup begins at 8 a.m. at the Rowing Club, 3001 Waterview Ave.

(Students and National Aquarium staff plant wetlands grasses along Middle Branch shore at Westport.  2010 Baltimore Sun photo by Jed Kirschbaum)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

On this day in 1860, Baltimore's Druid Hill Park was dedicated, making it the third oldest public park in the country.  

After serving as an encampment for Union troops during the Civil War, the former estate became a green magnet for generations of Baltimoreans to stroll, drive and play, acquiring a minaret-topped bandstand and conservatory.  The city's first public park is also home to the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore.

Festivities marking the park's anniversary concluded over the weekend, but it's not too late to enjoy its 745 acres of natural splendor - or to contribute to it by paying to plant a tree.  For more on the park and how to help green it, go here.

(Youngsters enjoying tennis lesson during Druid Hill Park's 150th anniversary festival.  Special to the Baltimore Sun by Colby Ware)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 8:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Ever stumble across some berries while hiking and wonder if they're edible? Well, Parks & People are holding a workshop this week to help.

Leda Meredith, author of "The Locavore's Handbook: The Busy Person's Guide to Eating Local on a Budget," will conduct an urban foraging tour of Gwynns Falls/Leakin Park on Thursday. She will teach participants to identify edible plants that grow in urban areas and provide some samples of foods made with wild ingredients.

Meet at 10 a.m. at the Orianda House (aka Crimea Mansion), 1901 Eagle Dr., Baltimore. There is a $5 suggested donation. RSVP to Alex Kraus at (410) 448-5663 ext. 119 or alexandra.kraus@parksandpeople.org.

Baltimore Sun file photo of Leakin Park hikers. 

Posted by Kim Walker at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Events, Food
        

It may be soggy now, but by Saturday it's supposed to be sunny and suitably fall-like for Farm Fest, a celebration of Maryland's agrarian heritage, with a farmer's market featuring local foods and beverages, games for kids and live music.

The afternoon event is a fund-raiser for 1000 Friends of Maryland, to underwrite the anti-sprawl group's "Keep Farmers Farming" campaign.  Tickets are $25 per person in advance, $35 at the door.  It's from noon to 5 p.m. at Prigel Family Creamery in Glen Arm.

For info, directions or tickets, go here. 

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 8:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Environmental activists say they expect hundreds for a Chesapeake Bay cleanup rally Tuesday (9/28) evening at the National Aquarium in Baltimore.

With federal and state officials mulling potentially costly and controversial new strategies for accelerating the bay restoration effort, activists hope to demonstrate public support for an aggressive cleanup schedule.  Speakers include city officials, heads of the National Aquarium and Maryland Science Center, the Waterfront Partnership, a business and civic group, as well as leaders of several environmental groups, including the Maryland Commission on Environmental Justice.

About 250 people have responded online that they intend to attend, said Tommy Landers, policy advocate for Environment Maryland, one of the groups sponsoring the rally, which begins at 6 p.m.

And if saving the bay isn't reason alone enough to turn out, there'll be a reception afterward at 7 p.m., featuring free food from Lebanese Taverna. The grub is provided courtesy of the Baltimore Water Alliance, the working name of the newly merged umbrella group for the Baltimore Harbor, Jones Falls, Herring Run and Gwynns Falls watershed associations, plus the Baltimore Harbor Waterkeeper.

To RSVP, or for directions and parking, go here.

(Rally in Annapolis in June pressing for stronger bay restoration efforts, Baltimore Sun photo by Jed Kirschbaum)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 6:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
        

Old medicines sitting around the house are a health and safety hazard, and flushing them or tossing them in the trash is bad for the environment.

What to do? Take your unused or expired pills to one of 1,700 dropoff sites on Saturday that are primed to take prescription or over-the-counter medications and properly dispose of them.  No liquid meds, just pills or powders.

Getting rid of unused medications prevents intentional misuse or abuse, and it also guards against accidental poisoning of children and pets who may get into them.  Flushing them down the sink or toilet, or throwing them away, merely transfers the risk to the environment, as they may get into streams from wastewater treatment plants or seep out of landfills into ground water.  For more on how pharmaceuticals are showing up in the environment, go here.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency is sponsoring the drug take-back, to be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.  Most, if not all, of the drop-off sites are police stations.  There are plenty throughout the Baltimore-Washington area.  For one near you, go here and enter your ZIP code (the city-state menu doesn't seem to be working).

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 10:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

If you're not a football addict, or can squeeze it in around game time, Baltimore's merging watershed groups are offering residents a chance Sunday to help restore the harbor by buyng - and planting - native trees, shrubs and plants.

The Baltimore Water Alliance, the working name the groups have adopted for now, is having a sale at the Herring Run Nursery, 6131 Hillen Road, 21239, from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday (9/26).  There'll be more than 100 different native trees, shrubs and plants to choose from, plus some perennials.  If you can't make it this weekend, there'll also be sales Oct. 9 and 24.

Proceeds help underwrite the operations of the new alliance, which brings together the Herring Run, Jones Falls and Gwynns Falls watershed associations, plus the Baltimore Harbor Waterkeeper.  Coupons worth $10 to $25 discounts on trees available.  For information on stock and coupons, go here.

(Black-eyed susan, 2009 Baltimore Sun photo by Karl Merton Ferron)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Buy local, Chesapeake Bay, Events, News, Urban Issues
        

The first weekend of fall brings yet another celebration/fundraiser for a local green group. 

This one's for the Gunpowder Valley Conservancy, which for nearly 21 years has been working to preserve land and safeguard streams in the 450-square-mile watershed that furnishes 61 percent of the Baltimore region's drinking water.  The Gunpowder River drains portions of Carroll, Baltimore and Harford counties, and even a bit of York County, PA.

The conservancy's putting on "An Evening in the Woods" Saturday (9/25) from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Camp Puh'Tok in Monkton.  There'll be food, local wines, a silent auction and live music.  Tickets are $65 each.  For details, go here.

(Jericho Road covered bridge crossing Little Gunpowder Falls; 1995 Baltimore Sun photo by Algerina Perna)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 11:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Events, Parks, Volunteer
        

Here's your chance to get back to the beach -- or at least to help keep it clean and safe, wherever you live. 

Saturday (9/25) is the 25th annual International Coastal Cleanup, when hundreds of thousands of volunteers pick up millions of tons of trash and debris that's either on the shore - or destined to wash up there, after it gets dropped in a parking lot, street or vacant lot.

Last year, nearly 500,000 volunteers worldwide collected more than 7 million pounds of trash, according to the Ocean Conservancy, which coordinates the cleanup efforts of local environmental groups.  Here in Maryland, about 45,000 individual pieces of debris got rounded up.

There are about two dozen cleanups planned across Maryland, from Ocean City and Assateague Island to Antietam Creek near Hagerstown.  Ten of them are in the Baltimore area - three in the city, two in Baltimore County, three in the Annapolis area and one each in Harford and Howard counties.  The city cleanups are at Fort McHenry, Fells Point and the Jones Falls trailhead.

Not all are on the waterfront, you say?  That's because the bulk of the trash that winds up on our beaches starts out being dropped or dumped inland, then gets washed into a nearby storm drain or stream and on into the ocean or Chesapeake Bay.

The cleanup by the manmade wetland at Fort McHenry - already has all the volunteers it can handle.  But the rest, I'm told still could use some volunteers.  The weather promises to be fair.  To find and sign up for a cleanup near you, go here.

(Cleanup by Fort McHenry, 2009. Photo by Geri Schlenoff, state coordinator, Int'l Coastal Cleanup)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 8:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Chesapeake Bay, Events, Parks, Volunteer
        

If you can get to Washington in the next few days, you'll get a chance to catch a striking photo exhibit on Capitol Hill depicting the Chesapeake Bay' s bounty and its troubles.

The International League of Conservation Photographers, in collaboration with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, staged a RAVE this summer (Rapid Assessment Visual Expedition), dispatching nine of its members across the bay watershed. A selection of their work - just 30 of the many pictures taken - are on display through Friday (Sept. 24).

The exhibit is free and open to the public, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., in the Rotunda of the Russell Senate office building, at Constitution Avenue and 1st Street Northeast.  For those who can't get there, a portion of the exhibit can be seen on the CBF website.

(Photo courtesy Krista Schlyer)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 1:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

If you're fascinated by - or even slightly curious about - snakes, turtles, and frogs, then slither, plod or jump on over to the Fairgrounds in Timonium this weekend to check out the Mid-Atlantic Reptile Show. 

Launched by reptile lover Tim Hoen - whose day job is as a lab technician at Johns Hopkins - the show put on by the MARS Preservation Fund is in its 18th year.  Proceeds go to purchase threatened rain forest in Costa Rica.  The website says nearly 3,000 acres have been bought so far.

There's a reception tonight (Friday), sponsored by Reptile Magazine, plus free lectures afterward.  Then, Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.,, captive-born reptiles and amphibians will be on display and for sale.  There'll also be books, souvenirs, supplies, educational exhibits, door prizes, raffles, artwork and facepainting.  And there'll be an auction Saturday to benefit Rainforest Conservation.

It's $9 for adults and $7 for their elders and children 6-12.  Kids under 5 are free (No mention of 5-year-olds - huh?)  For the true fan, there's a $13 weekend pass. And on Sunday, every kid accompanied by an adult get in free.  For more, go here.

(Asian Burmese Mountain Tortoise eating its greens; 2004 Baltimore Sun photo by Monica Lopossay)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 9:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Saturday (Sept. 18) is the third annual "Trash Bash," an afternoon of music, food and drink on the Middle Branch of the Patpapsco River.

It's to benefit the Baltimore Harbor Waterkeeper , the nonprofit environmental group, in its efforts to improve water quality in Baltimore's harbor.

The party's from noon to 5 p.m. at Nick's Fish House, 2600 Insulator Drive. Tickets are $75 per person, which includes seafood buffet, oyster bar, drinks, music, boat tours and waterfront views galore. There'll also be a silent auction.

For tickets, go here.

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 3:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Ever wondered what the city might look like if it didn't have so much asphalt? Well, tomorrow (Friday, Sept. 17) in a handfull of places around Baltimore, you can get an idea.

Activists, artists, landscape architects and just plain folks will be converting curbside parking spaces into pocket parks, complete with grass, plants - even a green roof in at least one case.

It's all part of PARK(ing) Day, an annual event intended to demonstrate the need for more urban open space. It began in San Francisco (of course) five years ago and has gone global since.

"The goal is really to show people what even just a little green space can do to the city," says Joan Floura, co-owner of Floura Teeter, a landscape architect firm in the 300 block W. Franklin Street that's camping out Friday in three spaces in front of the office.

There'll be grass, of course, and a small green roof outside Floura Teeter to show how they're made and how they soak up storm runoff. There'll be more than a bit of whimsy, too.

"We’re having croquet out in Fanklin Street," Floura says. "How many times a year can you do that?"

Continue reading "Parking spaces go green for a day" »

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You won't get them here, but you will if you hustle over to a "growshop" in Baltimore this evening (Sept. 13).

Halle Van der Gaag, director of the Jones Falls Watershed Association and Celeste Amato, director of Baltimore city's Cleaner Greener initiative, will talk about storm-water management and provide the aforementioned top 10 tips on making our streams, harbor and Bay cleaner.

The session, from 6 - 8 p.m., is at Puffs & Pastries, 830 W. 36th St. 21211. It's put on by Baltimore Green Works, Parks & People Foundation and the city's Department of Recreation and Parks.   (And thanks to Urbanite for the reminder to this forgetful blogger!)

For more information or to RSVP, contact Abby Cocke at 410.448.5663 x122 or abby.cocke@parksandpeople.org

(Rain barrel installation at St. John's College, Annapolis, 2009 Baltimore Sun photo by Algerina Perna)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Chesapeake Bay, DIY, Events, News, Tips, Urban Issues, Volunteer
        

It looks like all the cars tearing around the Inner Harbor next Labor Day weekend won't be racing just for the checkered flag - some at least will be trying to outdo each other in hybrid and alternative-fueled road rockets.

The American LeMans Series plans to stage a race here the day before Charm City hosts its first IndyCar Grand Prix race, Don Markus reports today in The Baltimore Sun.

An official announcement is planned on Wednesday, but a spokesman for the racing organization confirmed it would be bringing its act here.

Some may wonder how a bunch of cars burning rubber and fuel can be all that "green." But the American LeMans Series, or ALMS, pits race teams against each other not just for speed, but for fuel efficiency.  Cars use one of five alternative fuels or energy sources, and compete for points on fuel efficiency.  As I reported last year, the US import of European Le Mans style racing went "green" in 2008, meeting criteria set by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Energy Department.

Of course, that'll be small comfort to those put out by the disruption of downtown traffic for the racing - or, for that matter, the yearlong street repairs already under way to prepare for the three-day event.   But hey, it's another excuse to give B'more's underused public transportation system a try, right?

(American Le Mans Series' 12 Hours of Sebring race March 20 in Sebring, Fla. Photo by Steve Nesius/Associated Press)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 9:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

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 | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

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 | Permalink | Comments (3)
        

What could be better than bands, BBQ, beer and - oh, yeah - fresh berries? Those will be among the featured attractions at the 5th annual Native Berry Festival Sunday (July 11) at Herring Run Park, Belair Road at Shannon Drive.

Local will be the order of the day, with live music from area bands, Big Bad Wolfe barbecue, Brewer's Art beer, local wine, arts and crafts - and of course berries and plants for sale.

The event, from noon to 5 p.m. is free, though tasting the desserts prepared for the festival requires a "nominal donation." Participants also are encouraged to make their own dessert concoctions and bring them to enter in a contest.  Those who donate desserts get to join in the judging.

The shindig had been scheduled for Saturday, but got bumped to avoid possible thunderstorms that day.  So that should bring cooler, less humid weather, right?  Perfect for eating berries, and the rest!

(Blueberries from Moody Blues Farm in New Windsor, Baltimore Sun photo by Amy Davis)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 8:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Could the nation's oldest and largest civil rights group be going green?

The NAACP has announced it plans to unveil environmental priorities when its 101st annual convention begins Saturday (July 10) in Kansas City, Mo.   There'll be a workshop during the six-day gathering on the environmental and economic impacts of climate change on communities of color.  The group also is promising a "major announcement" on the Gulf coast.

 “Our communities are disproportionately affected by global climate change," said NAACP President Benjamin Todd Jealous (pictured above at last year's convention). "We envision advocating for a clean environment as a key part of a civil and human rights agenda."

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson, the agency's first African-American leader, is expected to be on hand.  Convention go-ers also will be able to apply there for green jobs, as NAACP leaders intend to push "green enterprise," pairing economic development with environmental protection.

(2009 AP Photo)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 6:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
        

The politicos are flocking to an Obama administration "listening session" in Annapolis this afternoon (6/25) on how to improve land and water conservation and strengthen Americans' connections with nature.  Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin and Gov. Martin O'Malley plan to be on hand for the four-hour gabfest - or at least to kick it off.

The pair are expected to join Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and other federal environmental officials to discuss ways government and private entities can enhance conservation and outdoors activities.  The session is the second in a nationwide series planned as part of "America's Great Outdoors" initiative, an Obama administration push begun last year. 

This one, though, is expected to focus on the Chesapeake Bay region, where the Obama administration's recently unveiled bay strategy includes a pledge to conserve 2 million more acres of land in the six-state watershed and add 300 more points of public access to the bay and its tributaries, a 40 percent increase.

The session will be at the Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts, 801 Chase Street, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.  It's open to the public, so feel free to go listen and share your thoughts.

(Brown pelicans at Smith Island, 2004 Baltimore Sun photo by Kim Hairston)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 7:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Environmental activists plan to link up -  literally, by joining hands - in protests against offshore oil drilling Saturday in Annapolis, Ocean City, Salisbury and Deal Island.

The "Hands Across the Sand" demonstrations are among hundreds being organized in the US and abroad to pressure elected officials against any expansion of offshore drilling and to promote "clean" energy and renewables.   In the U.S., nearly 700 rallies have been called in all 50 states. 

Protesters gathered on or near a shoreline plan to join hands for 15 minutes around noon - except for one protest set at 3:30 p.m. at Annapolis City Dock - and form lines, in that way symbolically "drawing a line in the sand" against oil and for alternative energy.  This type of protest against offshore drilling began in Florida earlier this year, even before the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig blowout in April, according to organizers.

For info on the Maryland demonstrations, go here.

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 7:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (12)
        

Christian, Muslim and Jewish leaders are slated to gather Tuesday in Baltimore to commit themselves to working toward a cleaner Chesapeake Bay and a greener Earth.

"We envision a time when faith communities throughout the Chesapeake region will have a deep appreciation of the sanctity of Earth," reads the website for Chesapaeke Covenant Community. "....Their children will be taught to love and cherish natural things ..  Their houses of worship will be models of energy efficiency. People of faith will protect the waters from pollution and seek ways to live with God's Creation."

The "Covenanting for Creation" is being hosted by the Rt. Rev. Eugene Taylor Sutton, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, who has emphasized "healing of the environment" since his consecration in 2008.  The ceremony is from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at Bolton Street Synagogue, 212 W. Cold Spring Lane - on the banks of Stony Run.

To learn more or follow this effort, go here.

(2009 Baltimore Sun photo of Rt. Rev. Eugene Taylor Sutton, by Barbara Haddock Taylor)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 6:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Chesapeake Bay, Events, Going Green
        

Obama administration officials are slated to come to Annapolis Friday to hear from the public on how to promote conservation and stewardship of the nation's lands and waters.

It's another in a series of "listening sessions" the administration is holding around the country on its "Great Outdoors Initiative," which aims to hear from Americans on how to protect those treasured places they love and how to work cooperatively to reconnect people to nature. 

The event will be from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts, 801 Chase Street in Annapolis. Senior officials from the U.S. Interior and Agriculture departments (Ken Salazar taking a break from keeping his boot on BP's neck?) the Environmental Protection Agency and the White House Council on Environmental Quality are scheduled to be there. 

Among those planning to give them an earful will be advocates for increasing public access to the Chesapeake Bay, and for preserving more of its special places.  For more on the Chesapeake Gateways network, go here.  For more from from conservation activists, go here.

(2007 Baltimore Sun photo, kayaking on the Eastern Shore, by Lloyd Fox)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 10:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

For a different way to spend a summer Sunday - or something to do while waiting for the Ocean City traffic to clear - how about a leisurely tour of the scenic farms, parks, preserves and historic homes of the Eastern Shore?

The Eastern Shore Land Conservancy - celebrating its 20th anniversary this year - kicks off its summer tour series this Sunday (June 20) by providing directions to some choice spots in Talbot County - including ones rarely if ever open to the public. Don't know if the itinerary takes you to picturesque Neavitt (harbor seen at left), but there's a mix of historic homes and at least one park, all preserved through the conservancy's work.

"It’s a great opportunity to look past all of the development on the Eastern Shore and appreciate the rural areas that are thriving,” Rob Etgen, ESLC Executive Director, says on the group's website.

It's also a bit of a fund-raiser. The $25 ticket price covers all five tours, though, which are offered through the summer and into the fall.  Sites to be visited are open from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Tours are self-guided, and tickets must be purchased before maps and directions are provided. To join the tour this Sunday, contact Jennifer Pollard at 443-480-0282. For later tours of Cecil, Queen Annes and Caroline, Dorchester and Kent counties, reach her at 410-827-9756 ext. 155 or go here.

(2007 Baltimore Sun photo, Neavitt MD by Barbara Haddock Taylor) 

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 1:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Want to learn about living a more sustainable lifestyle? The Chesapeake Green Living Festival is headed to the Anne Arundel Fairground in Crownsville June 19 and 20 from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. ($8 for adults, $5 for seniors and kids) 

It's the first year for this regionlly focused consumer show. There will be exhibitors, how-to demonstrations and presentations that aims to focus on local environmental issues, businesses and non-profits from this area.

Expect to learn about renewable energy, green building, home products, gardening, bay restoration and community action, stormwater control, fishing, health and wellness, beauty and fashion, food, organic beer and wine, tourism, arts and crafts, books, recreation and socially responsible investing.

Organizers from City Dock Productions and Annapolis Green promise activities for kids, as well as food and drinks, will be available. And they hope to feed a marketplace for green commerce.

For more information, go to chesapeakegreenlivingfestival.com.

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Events
        

Sunday brings a major two-fer: the annual swim across the Chesapeake Bay, and the 23rd annual wade-in on the Patuxent River.

The "Great Chesapeake Bay Swim," as it's known, begins at 8 a.m. Sunday from Sandy Point State Park. Waves of swimmers - 600 in all - stroke 4.4 miles across the bay to the beach by Hemingway's Marina on the Eastern Shore.

The event began in the early 1980s and attracts swimmers from across the country. Proceeds raised from the event benefit the March of Dimes. It's too late to get in on the swim, but you can watch - though parking is limited, so plan on car-pooling or arriving early. For more, go here.

There's no pre-registration required for the Patuxent River Wade-In, another bay event with a long history.  Bernie Fowler, then a state senator representing Calvert County, began wading into the river on a June Sunday 23 years ago to demonstrate concern for cleaning up the river - the only bay tributary entirely in Maryland. 

Fowler and friends (which is basically anyone who shows up) join hands and walk out into the water until they can't see their feet anymore - a rustic version of the Secchi disk test of water clarity that scientists use.  Bernie recalls that in the '50s he could wade out into the river up to his chin and still see his toes as he netted crabs.  Visibility has gone from less than a foot when he started his wade-ins in the late '80s to nearly four feet in 1997, but has slid back to a little more than two feet of late.

Bernie, a record-setting runner at 86, says he still hopes to live long enough to see his toes in chin-deep water.  Another lion of the bay, though, and one of his frequent partners in the wade-in won't be there this time.  Tom Wisner, known to many as "the bard of the Chesapeake" (seen next to Bernie in the 1992 photo) died earlier this year of cancer.

The wade-in begins at 1 p.m. at King's Reach in the Jefferson Patterson Park, 10515 Mackall Road, St. Leonard's.  That's a bit south of Prince Frederick.  For more info, go here.

Whether you want to swim, wade or just watch, they're both great events that celebrate the richness of the waters that define our state.

(Baltimore Sun photos: 2008 bay swim, by Amy Davis; 1992 wade-in, by George Holsey)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Today's World Oceans Day, an annual celebration of the water bodies that cover 70 percent of the earth's surface. 

It's hard to enjoy a day "down the ocean," though, when you have to watch out for tar balls on the beach like this little girl has to at Gulf Shores, Alabama.  Never mind what they're doing to fish, oysters, pelicans and other wildlife that frequent the seas and shores.  The spreading oil slicks in the Gulf of Mexico are a grim reminder of the oceans' vulnerability to degradation.

Barring some unanticipated shifts in the Gulf current or weather developments, our mid-Atlantic beaches are unlikely to be fouled by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, experts say.  All the more reason to enjoy and cherish what we have in our own backyard.

For example, the annual orgy of horseshoe crabs on Delaware beaches is winding down, but it's not too late to spot a few doing what they've done for eons - crawling out of the surf, laying millions of eggs in the sand and returning to the water.  They aren't as plentiful on Maryland beaches, but there are some hot spots.  Check here to see them. 

The University of Delaware's Bill Hall, who directs a volunteer census of the ancient crittters every spring, reports the horseshoe run this year has been a decent one - producing a bounty of eggs that should help to sustain the crab population while also feeding the migratory shorebirds that stop off on Delaware's beaches on their way to their summer nesting grounds.   It's too late to help out with this year's census, but think about joining the effort early next spring.

If you can't get to the beach today, the National Aquarium in Baltimore has a monthlong series of fun programs and events planned to take a local look at ocean health. For today's kickoff of "Beyond the Boardwalk," the aquarium asks visitors to wear blue in a demonstration of support.

(Photos: Reuters, The Baltimore Sun by Jerry Jackson)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 9:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

In collaboration with key partners across the Chesapeake area, Engaged Community Offshoots, Inc. (ECO) will host the Sowing Seeds Here and Now!: A Chesapeake Area Urban Farming Summit on Friday, June 18 at the Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center.

The Sowing Seeds Here Now and Now! Summit promotes community-based urban farming because it:

* increases food security and the availability of healthy food,
* decreases unemployment by supplying meaningful green jobs,
* anchors vital resources and wealth in local communities, and
* is a key component in promoting public health and creating a sustainable, just, local food system.

The summit gathers innovative practitioners, farmers, scholars, for-profit and not-for-profit leaders, policy makers and agency directors to discuss specific strategies to help move the urban agriculture movement forward throughout the Chesapeake area.

Workshops sessions will include:

1.Urban Farming Hands-on Workshops (3 sessions: Urban Farm Design and Business Plan Basics, Community Composting, High Tunnel Construction)

2.Healthy People and the Environment Focus (3 sessions: Health, Environment, Equity)

3.Policy and Planning for Economic Development (3 sessions: Land Use, Incentives, Policy and Planning)

4.Investing in Social and Environmental Justice (3 sessions: Faith Communities, Youth, Food and Justice)

Successful case studies will be sprinkled throughout each session, blending the theory with on the ground realities and actionable intelligence. All participants will be able to mix and match which sessions they would like to participate within.

ECO is a nonprofit organization, whose mission is to involve people from all walks of life in healthy and sustainable living activities. Their work aims to reverse the effects of systemic poverty, racism, and environmental destruction through establishing and promoting social venture community-based businesses.

Visit the Sowing Seeds website for more information about the summit, including a detailed agenda and a list of speakers.

Posted by Christy Zuccarini at 8:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Events
        

For those of you who thought protesting at the local BP gas station was unfair to the local owner, who surely had no direct link to the spill in the Gulf of Mexico: There will be a protest at BP’s Washington headquarters Friday.

The protest is sponsored by Public Citizen, Environmental Justice and Green Job Advocate Allies, and other groups plan to attend and show BP executives the "outrage Americans everywhere are feeling by making a citizen’s arrest of BP CEO Tony Hayward."

The public interest and environmental groups plan to, in their words, list charges against the corporation, including worker safety and environmental violations, price-gouging, negligence and the inability to adequately respond to the mounting catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico and surrounding communities. The charges will culminate in a finding of criminal negligence and the presentation of a prison jumpsuit fitted for Hayward.

The protest sounds a little showy, but the groups say it's intended to reflect the seriousness of the situation and draw attention to the nation's dependence on dirty fuel.

The protest is at noon Friday at BP, 1101 New York Ave. N.W., Washington.

Associated Press photo of workers cleaning the Louisiana coast

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Events
        

Mark your calendars now for this year’s Pile of Craft, presented by the Charm City Craft Mafia on June 26 at the Village Learning Place.

The craft fair will feature 40+ crafters selling their own housewares, stationery, screen printed and sewn apparel, jewelry, handbags, hats, knit items, woven scarves, plush toys, ceramics, comic books, prints, paintings and more.

Support handmade and local artists and meet them in person!

In addition to having the area's most unique shopping, Pile Of Craft will also feature DIY printmaking demonstrations from Baltimore Print Studios. They’ll also raffle a basket of donated items from craft vendors (proceeds will be donated to the VLP). Light fare and organic coffee will be provided by Red Emma’s.

Pile of Craft is a free event and is open to all ages.

June 26 10-5 p.m.
2640 St. Paul St.
Baltimore, MD 21218

For more information, visit www.charmcitycraftmafia.com.

Posted by Christy Zuccarini at 8:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Events
        

A local group demanding a halt to off-shore oil drilling in the wake of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has a protest planned Saturday.  

The protestors would like to see more research into alternative energy. Some even want nationalization of the oil/energy industry because the believe that would mean tighter regulation and profits for taxpayers.

If you agree, line up for one hour beginning at 11 a.m. Saturday at the  BP Station at 33rd and Greenmount.
 
The same group held a picket line May 16 with about a dozen people. They said lots of people honked in support. They'd like you to bring signs that "express your outrage at corporate disregard for human life and the environment."

For more information call 410 308-1326 or 410 433-3269.

Anyone planning to go? Will you honk in protest of off-shore drilling?

AFP/Getty photo of booms in Gulf of Mexico

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 1:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)
Categories: Events
        

The next Critical Mass ride is on for Friday, with riders meeting before 7 p.m. at the Washington Monument in Mount Vernon and heading out on the hour.

There's a map of the route here: https://sites.google.com/site/baltimorecriticalmass/may-2010-ride

The route is about six miles and you don't need a bike. You can bring your skateboard and roller blades. And whistles, noise makers and costumes (that won't make you crash) are encouraged -- as are helmets, water bottles and bike lights and cheery attitudes.

If you've never heard of Critical Mass, these are rides where non-car people take to the streets to exert their right to be there -- and to have fun. No one is supposed to break traffic rules or cause road hazards, though a little disruption for attention's sake is the point.

I've seen more experienced riders do their best to keep an eye on less experienced riders, if you're concerned. They will stop in intersections to make sure everyone gets through okay.

These rides have developed all over the world. See a list here. In Baltimore, riders used to meet the last Friday of every month, but I don't think it's that regular now.

If you know more, let us know. If you go, tell us how it went.

Baltimore Sun file photo/Gene Sweeney Jr. 

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

Ever think of riding to work? This is the day to give it a try. Bike to Work Day is this Friday and if last year is any indication, there will be lots of two-wheeling going on.

More than 1,000 people registered in the region last year, up from 800 the year before, according to local sponsors the Baltimore Metropolitan Council. And given the attention to bike lanes, bike racks and legislation, perhaps there will be more this year?

This is the 13th year for the event in the region, and there will be rallies in at several locations from 7 a.m.-9 a.m.: 
Anne Arundel Co/Annapolis - City Dock, Annapolis
Baltimore City - War Memorial Plaza at City Hall (100 N. Holliday St.)
Baltimore County - Courthouse Square (400 Washington Ave., Towson)
Carroll County - Westminster
Harford County - Government Center (220 S. Main St., Bel Air)
Howard County - The Mall in Columbia (by Sears Service Center, 10300 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia)

Other events are planned at area universities and corporations. 

The event caps off the League of American Bicyclists' Nationak Bike Month and promotes a "clean commute."

If you want to register locally, click here. It can earn you a t-shirt and guide.

If you'd like more information, go click here.

And if you're still in the mood for some biking or bike watching, the BikeJam will come to Patterson Park on Sunday. There will be racing with pro riders, plus food, beer, kid activities and a bike and health expo.

There will also be a set of rides for the recreational riders. Click here for more information on those rides.

Baltimore Sun file photo of last year's ride/Lloyd Fox

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 1:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Events
        

Looks like the sun may peak out this weekend, which makes it a great time to explore the river on which Charm City was founded.

The Friends of the Patapsco Valley and Heritage Greenway are organizing a guided bike ride Saturday and guided paddle Sunday of a stretch of the Patapsco that flows through Baltimore's western suburbs on its way to the harbor and the Chesapeake Bay.

The bike ride starts at 10 a.m. and goes from Ellicott City to the BWI trail near Hanover and back again.  It's about 25 miles roundtrip and should take three to four hours, depending on how hard you pedal or how much you dawdle.  Organizers suggest folks who want to shorten the ride should carpool with another rider and leave one car near Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.   Each rider will get a local trail map.    Riders are to gather at 9:30 in Parking Lot A next to the Trolley Stop restaurant on Frederick Road in Oellla, just across the river from Old Ellilcott City.  Cost is free to members, with a $5 donation asked of non-members.   Registration is required, though, which you can do online here. 

On Sunday, the Friends are offering a guided paddle from noon to 3 p.m. , ranging upriver from the Daniels Dam then below it to the Old Frederick Road iron bridge.  Bring your own kayak or canoe, plus water shoes and PFD (life vest).  Water is two to four feet deep, with some mild Level 1 rapids below the dam.  A car will be available to shuttle paddlers back to the put-in at Daniels Dam.  This event also is free to members, $15 per person for others, adults only.   To register, go here.  

For more info on these or other Patapsco events, go here.

(Baltimore Sun file photo by Elizabeth Malby)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 8:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Dozens of area residents and business people filed into the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium Friday for the first day of the Solar & Wind Expo to get an idea of how much it would cost to install solar panels or wind turbines and how much it would save them on their utility bill.

The expo is the first kind, bringing together companies that offer all kinds of renewable energy for home or office, the sponsors said. They, the vendors and state officials on hand said they thought there was demand now that federal and state incentives and declining prices are making the switch affordable for many more people.

“The incentives for renewable energy have never been better,” said Malcolm Woolf, director of the Maryland Energy Administration. “We’ve seen exponential growth in the [state] program.”

Woolf said the state is getting 50-100 applications a month for solar, wind and geothermal grants, which are now backlogged as officials sort through which ones are for historic properties that require more paperwork. Much of the money comes from federal stimulus grants that will run out next year, but will partially be made up with money from utilities who will pay a fee for their carbon emissions.

He said the cost to install a major solar system on a typical suburban house was about $30,000, but could end up costing as little as $4,000 after federal, state and county tax credits and grants and selling energy credits to a utility. And the system could pay for itself with energy savings in five years.

That was good news to many who were trying to estimate what their costs would be for solar and wind systems.

“I’m excited to see what we could get,” said Barbara Lightner of York, Pa., who was especially interested in a backyard wind turbine. “We need to get away from Mideast oil.”

The expo will be in town until Sunday at the fairgrounds, with speeches and demonstration planned all weekend. And founder and executive director George Lopez expects it will be back next year, as well as in up to two other East Coast cities.

Wind turbine photo taken by me with my cell phone

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Categories: Events
        

No, this has nothing to do with Baltimore's professional football team. Loch Raven is one of the city's three drinking-water reservoirs, and it's going to be abuzz with activity this Saturday (May 8).

To cap off National Drinking Water Week, the city is inviting the public to come out and see where their water comes from. You can even walk out on the 82-foot high dam holding back some 23 billion gallons of water from the Gunpowder Falls and a batch of smaller creeks and streams.   

Engineers from Gannett-Fleming, the firm that managed a reconstruction of the dam completed five years ago, will be on hand to explain the mammoth $28.8 million overhaul. And there'll be opportunities to learn about the history of the Gunpowder valley and how the water system serving the city and surrounding counties operates. 

For you history buffs, this is the 100th anniversary of what we know as the region's modern water system - when the city began to disinfect the water and laid plans to build the dam at Loch Raven and a water treatment plant at Montebello.

Not far from the dam, in the Pines area on Loch Raven Drive, there'll be other activities, including exhibits of live local wildlife from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. There'll also be demonstrations on fly fishing, and guided hikes through the forest surrounding the lake. 

And, if you're feeling really energetic, the Gunpowder Valley Conservancy could use some more volunteers to help plant trees around the reservoir on Saturday.  The group aims to get nearly 800 in the ground this season, adding to the more than 18,500 it's planted in the valley since the 1990s to help protect the water supply from pollution.  To take part, contact Peggy Perry at pperry@gunpowderfalls.org

Water rates may be going up again - that's another story - but at least some things about the water system are free.  This is one of them.  Plan on bringing a lunch, and wear hiking shoes.  Call 410-396-3500 for more information.

And if you can't get out to Loch Raven just north of the Beltway, take a stroll around scenic Lake Montebello at 3901 Hillen Road in northeast Baltimore.  To commemorate the system's centennial, the city has mounted a series of historical photographs depicting the construction of all these facilities.

To get to the dam, take Cromwell Bridge Road from the Beltway, then left on Loch Raven Drive just past Sanders Corner restaurant.  For the wildlife, fly-fishing and hikes keep driving up Loch Raven Drive past the dam about two miles.  For a map to Loch Raven, go here.  For Montebello, here.

(2005 Baltimore Sun photos by Christopher Assaf and David Hobby)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 10:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Can an urban garden like the one pictured above help bring blighted neighborhoods together,  impart some measure of hope or peace where little exists?  That's the question a group of community activists and Baltimore's chief arborist will tackle on Friday (May 7) during a daylong "urban revitalization expo." 

Organized by Civic Works, Baltimore's "urban service corps," the expo features some hands-on work completing a pathway through a rain garden, exhibits and presentations on the group's residential energy-upgrade efforts, plus film screenings and art installations.  

Discussing what impact community greening might have on urban violence will be representatives of Civic Works, BUILD, Historic East Baltimore Community Action Coalition and other community and nonprofit groups, plus Brian Henry, chief city arborist.   WYPR's Maryland Morning with Sheilah Kast previewed this discussion on her show this morning, which you can listen to here.

The expo runs from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and includes breakfast.  The forum is from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.  All events - except for the rain garden work -- will be held at the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Community Center, 901 N. Milton Ave. on the third floor.  The rain garden to be fixed up is across the street.

(2003 Baltimore Sun photo by Algerina Perna, garden at Lafayette & Mosher)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 12:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
        

Thought of putting solar panels on your house? Thought about a turbine for the office?

The Solar and Wind Expo 2010 is coming this Friday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. to the Timonium Fairgrounds. Tickets are $12, or $10 if bought online. Kids under 12 are free and there are $2 discounts for taking the light rail. Moms with kids are free on Sunday, Mother's Day.

Organizers say you can come with a faint idea of what you want and leave with all information on what is appropriate for you home or business, how much it will cost, what incentives are available and what contractor is right for you.

There will be all kinds of speakers and vendors.

Wind and solar energy are becoming more mainstream as people look for ways to cut their utility bills and tread more lightly on the planet.

I reported in a story last year that more than 10,000 people around the country bought wind systems in 2008, in part because of federal and state incentives. The Maryland Energy Administration began accepting grant applications from residents for wind turbines in late 2007 under its Windswept program. The state provides up to $10,000 depending on the size of the turbine.

And earlier this year, I reported that U.S. solar electric capacity grew by 63 percent in 2008, triple the growth in 2005, according to the Interstate Renewable Energy Council. The Solar Energy Industries Association estimates up to 250,000 U.S. homes generate some solar energy. And half of people recently polled said they were thinking about solar power for a home or business.

The MEA also offers grants of up to $10,000 for solar-power systems, on top of a 30 percent federal tax break. From July to January of this year, records show 662 people applied around the state.

So, you thinking about panels or turbines or other energy conservation plans? Going to the expo?

Baltimore Sun file photo of a Glen Burnie resident with solar panels in his backyard/Kenneth K. Lam

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 8:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Events
        

The Cylburn Arboretum is celebrating its reopening and the grand opening of the Vollmer Center, a green education center, on the grounds, Saturday, starting at 11 a.m.

The arboretum, 4915 Greenspring Ave., will host lots of dignitaries including U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin and Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.

The free events, from 12:30 p.m.-5 p.m., include activities for the family, exhibits, and demonstrations.  The Nature Museum will be open and food will be available. William Moss, environmental education and urban garden expert from Chicago, will talk about urban gardening and lead workshops.

It's supposed to be a nice warm day, too.

Photo courtesy of Cylburn Arboretum

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 1:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Events
        

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 | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Never let it be said the purple and black won't go green. Some Baltimore Ravens plan to tackle trash - and not just talk it - along the Gwynns Falls Trail on Earth Day Thursday.

Members and staff of the city's pro football team will be among about 100 volunteers expected to take part in landscaping, tree removal and other cleanup activities along the trail. 

The trail runs 15 miles along the stream of the same name through West and Southwest Baltimore before emptying into the Middle Branch of the Patapsco River within sight of M&T Bank Stadium, where the Ravens play.  Some volunteers will board canoes to remove litter from a lake along the trail. The bank, a partner in the cleanup, will contribute about 50 volunteers to the effort.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, flexing her own green commitment, is expected to join the volunteers.  The trail blitz is being coordinated by the nonprofit Parks & People Foundation.

(Cyclists ride Gwynns Falls Trail tunnel under Carrollton Viaduct; 2008 Baltimore Sun photo by Algerina Perna)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 9:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Planting a tree does a whole lot of things for the environment -- from cleaning the air and water to reducing summer air temperatures and buffering noise.

The city has a mission to get more trees planted. And here are some opportunities to go get a free tree, or volunteer to help plant some.  

Here's a list of events this week, courtesy of TreeBaltimore and the Baltimore City Department of Recreation and Parks:

FREE Tree Giveaway Eddie's of Roland Park
Tuesday, April 20            
5113 Roland Ave.
410-396-7900
11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Help grow Baltimore's tree canopy. TreeBaltimore will be giving away 50 trees to city residents at Eddie's Supermarket.
 
Earth Day Celebration & FREE Tree Giveaway
Thursday, April 22       
Dickey Hill Elementary School
5025 Dickey Hill Road
410-396-7900
3:30 p.m.- 5 p.m.
The Department of Recreation and Park's TreeBaltimore, the BCPPS, Enterprise Rental, Herring Run and Jones Falls Watershed Associations and the Green Ambassador will plant trees at Dickey Hill Elementary, Moravia Elementary, Northwood Elementary and Barclay Elementary. FREE trees will be available at Dickey Hill Elementary School.
 
TreeBaltimore, Office of Sustainability and Holistic Life
Thursday, April 22
Druid Hill Park
410-396-7900
3:30 p.m.
The Department of Recreation and Park's TreeBaltimore, students from the Holistic Life Foundation and the City's Sustainability Initiative will partner on the 2nd annual Earth Day by planting trees in Druid Hill Park.
 
Earth Day with the Greater Baltimore Leadership Association
Friday, April 23rd            
Druid Hill Park
410-396-7900
9:30 a.m. - noon
The Department of Recreation and Park's TreeBaltimore and the Greater Baltimore Leadership Association will plant trees in Druid Hill Park with local schools including St. Ignatius Loyola grade school and the Antioch School.

Photo courtesy of TreeBaltimore

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 11:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Events
        

Apologies for the late notice, but there's a workshop Monday (4/19) afternoon in Baltimore on "community noise." That's the racket in urban and suburban areas that can disrupt sleep and peace of mind, even health.  If you're stressed by aircraft, traffic or other commotion in your neighborhood, this session may well be worth your time. 

From 1:30 until 5:00 PM, experts from the Institute of Noise Control Engineering and the Acoustical Society of America will be on hand to discuss the problem and ways to address it in the Atlantic Room of the Baltimore Marriot Waterfront Hotel, 700 Aliceanna Street.   It's free and open to the public, which is invited to come and express its views about the issue and the adequacy of state and local noise ordinances.  For directions, go here.

(1996 Baltimore Sun file photo by Lloyd Fox)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 8:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Mark your calendars for Earthsave Baltimore’s 5th Annual Earth Friendly Food Choices on May 1, featuring presentations by T. Colin Campbell and Bruce Friedrich. A volunteer-led nonprofit, Earthsave Baltimore helps people make healthier, earth-friendly food choices by promoting a shift toward a whole foods, plant-centered diet.

Dr. Campbell, who directed the China Study, will discuss his theory, based on a lifetime of research, that animal products cause more cancers than does any chemical carcinogen. After Dr. Campbell, attend animal protection advocate Bruce Friedrich’s lecture about the impact our food choices have on the environment and our health. Friedrich, who was named by Details magazine as one of the most influential young men in this country, will share his vision of the importance of veganism and animal rights.

The Earth Friendly Food Choices event will take place from 5:30-9 p.m. at the Women’s Club of Catonsville. Light refreshments are included. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. Advance registration is encouraged. To buy tickets online, visit www. EarthsaveBaltimore.org or send a check/money order to “Earthsave”, 517 Talbott Ave., Lutherville, MD, 21093.

Image courtesy of Bruce Friedrich.

Posted by Christy Zuccarini at 7:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Events
        

Spring means flowers, showers - and cleaning.

But with the weather so nice lately, who wants to be stuck indoors cleaning their house? Get outside this weekend and join your neighbors in tidying up a nearby waterway.  Thousands will be doing just that on Saturday morning as part of Project Clean Stream.

What began 30 years ago as a local cleanup of the Jones Falls has spread to cover more than 150 sites across central Maryland and the Eastern Shore.  Last year, more than 2,600 volunteers pulled more than 320,000 pounds of trash and debris from area streams - a new record, according to the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, which coordinates the annual event.   

Something tells me, though, that there won't be any shortage of stuff to get removed this year, since every rain washes new stuff into storm drains and the nearest body of water.

So if you love the water (and who doesn't?), get out there and show it.  Gloves and trash bags are provided, but you'll want to wear boots or old shoes and long pants. 

And if it's convenient, bring a rake or some other tool to help fish things out of the water or streamside brush. You'll get plenty of fresh air, exercise, cameraderie and good feelings from uncluttering your neighborhood stream. 

To join a stream cleanup near you, go here or contact Vickie Stinson at 410-377-6270 or vstinson@acb-online.org  One of my favorites is the colorfully named Bread and Cheese Creek in Dundalk, but there's sure to be a waterway near you that could use some freshening up.  In the city, there's the Gwynns Falls, Herring Run and Jones Falls.  

And if you can't make it to a Saturday morning cleanup, there are one or two Sunday as well, along the Patapsco River in the Catonsville-Ellicott City area.  Go here for details.

(2008 Baltimore Sun photos by Kim Hairston and Monica Lopossay; )

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 11:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Chesapeake Bay, Events, Going Green, News, Volunteer
        

Like to shop? Want to learn about composting and container farming? Interested in community gardening? Here's an event for you. 

The Mount Washington Whole Foods store, at 1330 Smith Ave., will donate 5 percent of net sales today to the Baltimore City Department of Recreation and Parks' City Farms Program, which operate eight community gardens for about 500 families.

And if you can get out to the store, managers are also offering some events to coincide with the day: 

+Children’s Story Time, 10 a.m.: Learn gardening tips from Winnie the Pooh. Each child will receive a potted vegetable to take home and plant.

+Container Gardening Workshop, 12 p.m. and 6 p.m.: Learn how to create small gardens even without a yard. A lucky winner will take home the container garden from each demonstration.

+Kitchen Composting, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.: Learn how to transform kitchen scraps into rich compost. Worms, vegetable scraps and containers will be provided.

And if you're interested in those community gardens run by Baltimore City Farms, they are located in Clifton Park, DeWees Park, Carroll Park, Druid Hill Park, Leakin Park, Patterson Park, Roosevelt Park and Cimiglia Park at Fort Holabird. More space is planned at Heath and Charles Streets in South Baltimore and at Rock Rose Park near TV Hill. Rent is $30 per year. Email Coleen McCarty for more information at coleen.mccarty@baltimorecity.gov.

Baltimore Sun file photo of tomatoes grown in a city garden/Karl Merton Ferron

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 6:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Events
        

It's that time of year again. Spring is upon us. Get out the gloves and the bags and help clean up the city.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake’s Spring Cleanup will happen Saturday, April 17, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Go outside and pick up some litter, clean an alley or get together with neighbors for a project.

City officials say community representatives should register now by calling 311. They'll bring containers for debris on a first-call basis. There won't be trucks available, but if you bag and stack the garbage at a designated location, the city will come by and pick it up on Monday, April 19 -- let the city know when you register where that site will be.

The Bureau of Solid Waste will also loan other supplies and tools. Have your community leaders ask about those, too.

Baltimore Sun file photo of the 2009 cleanup in Reservoir Hill

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Events
        

A coalition of 200 public health and environmental groups plan to rally outside of a conference of chemical execs Tuesday to draw attention to the issue of harmful chemicals in everyday products. 
 
The rally is slated for noon at the Pier Six Pavilion in the Inner Harbor, outside the hotel where the GlobalChem conference is happening.

The groups want the companies to adhere to some tougher rules and agree to more reporting about chemicals. Congress is about to consider  updating the Toxic Substances Control Act, which governs the chemicals and hasn't been updated since 1976.

The groups formed an organization called Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families to call for:

1) Safety information on all chemicals in use. The group says the chemical industry wants to prioritize just a few;

2) Reduction of the most dangerous chemicals now. The group says the industry wants more testing; and

3) Real-world analysis of chemical exposures to inform safety decisions. The group says now the law works as if people are exposed to one chemical and one source at a time.  
 
The group says the law now requires the Environmental Protection Agency to only test a few hundred of the 80,000 chemicals now in use. But they say health problems such as autism, cancer and reproductive disorders are linked to these chemicals and are on the rise.

Maryland PIRG, one of the lead organizations in the group, has been working to get harmful chemicals out of products, such as BPA in baby bottles and the flame retardant DecaBDE.  

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Events
        

Did you know that $1 out of every $11 you spend at the store, you spend on packaging you just throw away when you get home? Stop by the Whole Foods in Mt. Washington on April 11 and participate in Green Living Expert Diane MacEachern’s Trash-less Family Workshop to get the inside scoop on at least ten easy ways your family can trash less, save more, and feel great about being green. The workshop begins at 11 a.m.

Living a more environmentally friendly lifestyle is a real shortcut to saving money. Four simple green steps will save you $10 a day. And that's just the beginning. At 11:30, Ms. MacEachern’s Save $4,000/Year Going Green Workshop will showcase hidden opportunities that give your budget a breather while helping you be as eco as you want.

Attendees of each workshop will be entered to win a free autographed copy of the Big Green Purse:Use Your Spending Power to Create a Cleaner, Greener World.

Snacks will be provided and a booksigning will take place from noon-1 p.m.

About the Author

Diane MacEachern, is an award-winning entrepreneur and green expert who was recently named one of America's EcoHeroes by Glamour Magazine. When she is not blogging at www.dianesbiggreenpurse.com or talking green on Martha Stewart Living radio or Fox News, she might be providing advice, consumer guidance and workshops for many companies.

Both workshops are free, but seating is limited. Pregister at Customer Service or email molly.kushner@wholefoods.com.

Posted by Christy Zuccarini at 7:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Events
        

Do we eat too much food without thinking about where it comes from?

The animal rights group Compassion Over Killing is trying to draw some attention to the issue and, at the same time, bring more vegan offerings to Baltimore. It's got some things planned:

COK is joining with Emily's Cafe and Deserts, at 4901 Springarden Dr. in north Baltimore, this Sunday from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. in a benefit and free movie event. A portion of your breakfast or lunch bill will be donated to the group's efforts. The movie is Chicken Run.

Beforehand, from 10:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. COK is also hosting a "Dunkin' Cruelty Feed-In." They will ask Dunkin' Donuts at 25 Light Street to stop using milk and egg products. RSVP for this at info@cok.net or 301-891-2458.

Also, the group is working with other restaurants to up the number of vegan menu offering. One such place is Pizzazz Tuscan Grille, at 711 Eastern Ave. inside the Pier Five hotel. It's expanded its menu and is hosting an event on April 9 from 7 p.m.-10 p.m. to show it off and raise money for COK's efforts. The restaurant is offering 20 percent of your bill -- plus all the tips earned by our a COK bartender. Drink specials will include $5 martinis and two-for-one drinks.

Anyone been to these place? Enjoyed vegan offerings? Think Baltimore has good vegan, or vegetarian, options?

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)
Categories: Events, Food
        

Can the Chesapeake Bay be saved? If so, at what cost? What will we have to pay, and how much will we have to change in how we live, work and play? Do we care enough to do what's needed?

Those are the questions that keep playing over in my mind as I report on what many are calling a watershed year for North America's largest estuary.

After nearly three decades of trying, the multibillion-dollar effort to restore the Chesapeake has shown frustratingly little progress. An "immense protein factory" in H.L. Mencken's day, the bay's seafood bounty has dwindled amid "dead zones" that make it hard for oysters, crabs and fish to thrive. And it's not fit for humans to swim in some places, like Baltimore's harbor.

It's not all gloom and doom, though. Scientists say there are places around the bay where water quality is showing improvement. And there's a renewed push from the federal government and from state houses to ratchet up the cleanup efforts to build on those positive signs.

But that push comes at a time when recession has drained government coffers, making it hard to talk about spending more on saving the bay.  And there's pushback from farmers, developers and others being asked to do more or different to help.

So it's timely that on Saturday, there'll be a public forum in Annapolis looking at the choices we have for the future of the Chesapeake. Sponsored by the Annapolis Capital newspaper, "The Bay at a Crossroads" will feature state and federal environmental officials, including Maryland Environment Secretary Shari Wilson and the Environmental Protection Agency's bay "czar," Chuck Fox. Also speaking will be environmental advocates, including political scientist Howard Ernst, author of "Fight for the Bay."

You can read a great summary here of the bay's predicament and what's being done about it, by The Capital's Pamela Wood.

The forum begins at 10 a.m. It's at the Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts, 801 Chase Street in Annapolis.  For directions and parking, go here. 

(Baltimore Sun file photo by Kenneth K. Lam)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Events
        

Mark your calendars now for the Sugarloaf Crafts Festival on April 16-18 at the Maryland State Fairgrounds. More than 250 artisans will showcase their contemporary crafts and fine arts, including pottery, sculpture, glass, jewelry, fashion, furniture, home accessories, items for the garden and photography.

In addition to meeting the artisans, visitors will experience demonstrations by craftspeople working in metal, ceramics, and wood. Live music and activities for children enhance the festival atmosphere. Gourmet foods are available to sample and purchase.

While you’re there, check out Sugarloaf’s selection of “green” artists, including Pretty Baby cruelty-free, all natural soaps, and Victoria Tane’s handcrafted jewelry, made from vintage and recycled elements (as seen above).

Hours are:

Friday, April 16 -- 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Saturday, April 17 --10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Sunday, April 18 -- 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Adult admission to the Sugarloaf Crafts Festival is $7 through online purchase, $8 for adults at the door, free for children under 12. Admission is good for all three days. Free parking is available.

To preview the Sugarloaf Crafts Festival, get directions, or to purchase discount admission tickets visit www.SugarloafCrafts.com or call (800) 210-9900. See more photos of exhibitors here.

Posted by Christy Zuccarini at 10:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Events
        

Lots of music and food is planned for the Baltimore Green Works 2nd Annual Ecoball March 19 at the Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Maritime Park and Museum.

The event will help pay for the nonprofit group's "Sustainability Speaker Series" and other eco-friendly events.

Funk and dance band The Mooks will play the ball, timed to the vernal equinox. And Baltimore International College students will compete in the Ecoball’s “Top Chef-style” competition.

Ball-makers are encouraging ball-goers to put on their best eco-friendly outfit. They recommend shopping your closet or visiting a local consignment shop.

The ball is sponsored by Living Classrooms Foundation, Frederick Douglass - Isaac Myers Maritime Park and Museum, Lorenz Inc., Baltimore International College and the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

Tickets are $75 a person and $40 a student with valid student I.D. For more information and to register, click here.

Photo of last year's ball courtesy of the Ecoball

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Events
        

Thought about greening your house? Collecting to runoff from your roof or composting? Need some help getting started?

The Herring Run Watershed Association , at 3545 Belair Road, has some workshops coming up (if you miss these, just check back in a bit for the next class).

The next rain barrel workshop is from 6 p.m.-8 p.m. March 18. You'll learn about construction and installation and build your own barrel. It will collect storm water runoff that would wash into area waterways and save municipal water if you use it on the garden. Cost is $55 for members and $65 for non-members. Email Ashley to register at atraut@herringrun.org or call 410-254-1577 ext. 103.

The vermiculture workshop is from 6 p.m.-7:30 p.m. March 24. You'll learn about worms and build your own worm "condo." This saves on garbage when you let the worms do their thing instead of throwing away table scraps. The program is $10 for members and $15 for non-members. Same contact.

Baltimore Sun file photo

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Events, Going Green
        

Do you know where your chicken comes from? What’s in it? And what pollution was left behind?

Journalist David Kirby will talk about this and his book “Animal Farm” tonight from 5 p.m.-6:30 p.m. at the JHU Center for a Livable Future, Sheldon Hall, Room W1214, 615 N. Wolfe St.

The book explores the environmental, social and economic implications of how we raise and market chicken, pork and beef. He follows the system from the start on the large industrial farms to the dinner table.

A portion of the book focuses on Carole Morrison, who until recently grew chickens for Perdue. Kirby said in interview today with The Sun that she quit because she couldn’t take all of the dictates from the company, which owned all the birds, including demands that she build chicken houses with little air and light.

Kirby also discusses the implications for the health of the Chesapeake Bay from chicken waste and for human health from additives given to the birds. He discovered cancer clusters in many of the large farming communities in the Delmarva region.

“I was most surprised by the states that are supposedly progressively blue, or green, or however you label them, when it comes to environmental enforcement of agriculture,” he said. “Some are really surprisingly lax. Washington state, in dealing with the dairies, and Maryland, in dealing with the chickens. It was surprising to me that there was such little monitoring and enforcement.”

He said the Obama administration has inidcated it will be more agressive than previous administrations and is rewriting regulations to controll pollution from the large ag producers, but implementation is years away.

If you miss the talk tonight, Kirby will be a guest on the Marc Steiner show tomorrow, which runs from 5 p.m.-7 p.m. on WEAA 88.9 FM.

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 2:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Events
        

Drink your greens with the folks from Baltimore Vegan Drinks, this Friday starting at 8 p.m. at the Dionysus Restaurant and Lounge. It’s a happy-hour style gathering for Baltimore vegans, vegetarians, and those who have an interest in living green. A menu of vegan drinks will be prepared, including Soymilk Caucasians, Vegan Bloody Mary, Organic Crop Cucumber Martinis*, and Dionysus’ own Basilicious (just try it). Also included are some local vegan wines like Red Truck Organic Petit Sirah, Pink Truck Rose, Boordy Pinot Noir, and Boordy Seval Vidal.

*A note about Crop Organic Vodka – if you haven’t tried it, you must. It’s probably the purest tasting vodka you will ever drink and it’s certified organic. According to the company, the grain is grown in healthy, artificial fertilizer-free soil and they don’t use any carbon treatment or charcoal filtering in their distilment process. It comes in three flavors: Cucumber, Tomato, and Artisinal. Dionysus uses the tomato flavor for their savory Basilicious drink, which is simply out of this world! The Crop web site is also full of recipes.

So if that’s not enough to convince you to “drink your greens” Friday night, I’m at a loss. If, however, you are planning on going, be sure to R.S.V.P.. Cheers!

Image courtesy of Crop Organic Vodka.

Posted by Christy Zuccarini at 3:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Events
        

Round up your friends and family this Saturday and head over to Boordy Vineyard’s Fond of You Fondue event. Nothing could be more relaxing than kicking back to the sultry melodies of Bossalingo while sipping local wines and sampling homemade fondues. Learn about winemaking while touring Boordy’s vineyard and romantic nineteenth century wine cellar. End the evening by toasting marshmallows over an open-flame cauldron.

Festivities will repeat themselves on Sunday, to the tunes of The Mudbugs.

Fondues include rich chocolate fondue, five-cheese and roasted garlic fondue, and creamy caramel and butterscotch fondue. Everything is homemade and/or local.

The price for admission is $18 for adults and $5 for children. The event begins at 1 p.m. and ends at 5 p.m. For more information and directions, visit Boordy’s web site.

Image courtesy of elh70 on Flickr

Posted by Christy Zuccarini at 3:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Events, Food
        

The long-awaited American Craft Council Show in Baltimore begins today! More than 700 of the country’s leading artisans will showcase their handmade work including jewelry, furniture, clothing, home décor, and more. This year’s show also includes two categories that will be particularly green in spirit.

The Green Craft section of the show features artists who are integrating sustainable methods and making items from found, recycled, and green materials. The AltCraft section features seven local indie crafters whose work illustrates the innovative techniques and materials (including sustainable and green materials) of the burgeoning handmade movement.

On display through Feb. 28, the Baltimore show is the largest in the country. Visit the American Craft Council web site for details on times and tickets.

Whatever you do, don’t miss it!

Image courtesy of Juliet Ames

Posted by Christy Zuccarini at 12:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Events
        

The recession, for all its challenges, does offer opportunities. The real estate slump has slowed the juggernaut of growth engulfing the Eastern Shore's small towns and rural villages, which had provoked some political feuds and court battles over annexing surrounding farmland to double and even triple the size of some municipalities.

Now comes a conference offering Shore residents a chance to talk about how to revive and improve their communities without radically altering their size and character. "About Town" is the title and focus of the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy's 11th annual planning conference, to be held Friday (Feb. 26) at Chesapeake College in Wye Mills.

The day-long session aims to bring together local elected officials and government planners with civic leaders, private consultants and interested citizens for discussions and workshops on how to accomplish "good" growth - infill and compact development - and how to avoid conflicts by engaging residents in the planning process. Featured speakers are Jess Zimbabwe of the Urban Land Institute and Ken Snyder, CEO of Place Matters, a Colorado-based nonprofit promoting sustainable development.  Also speaking will be Maryland's state planning secretary, Richard E. Hall, a Shore native.

The session runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with a locally grown lunch and a reception to follow. Bus transportation is available to the conference from various locations. Base cost is $30. For more information and to register, go to http://www.eslc.org/pages/apc.php  Volunteers to help with the conference get in free - to do so, contact Joanna Braswell at jbraswell@eslc.org

(Baltimore Sun file photo by Barbara Haddock Taylor)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 9:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Chesapeake Bay, Events
        

With government at all levels short of money and developers and farmers pushing back against efforts to regulate them, is there hope for restoring the Chesapeake Bay? The Obama administration's point man for the bay cleanup and a panel of environmental activists will look at the prospects in a panel discussion Saturday in downtown Baltimore.

The morning session at the Baltimore Museum of Industry will be led and moderated by Gerald Winegrad, former state senator from Annapolis and a longtime bay advocate. It's sponsored by Baltimore Green Works, in partnership with the Herring Run Watershed Association and the museum of industry.

Panelists include: J. Charles Fox, senior advisor on the bay to the Environmental Protection Agency; Halle Van der Gaag, director of the Jones Falls Watershed Association; Ned Tillman, author of The Chesapeake Bay: A Sense of Place, A Call to Action; Tom Horton, author of Turning the Tide: Saving the Chesapeake Bay; John Campagna, principal in Restore Capital, and Celeste Amato, director of Baltimore City’s Cleaner Greener Office.

The event will be preceded by a light brunch at 10 a.m., with discussion from 10:30 until 12:15 p.m. It's free and open to the public, though organizers are requesting donations to help cover costs. The museum is at 1415 Key Highway, one block north of the Fort Avenue stop for MTA's No. 1 bus. Street and lot parking is available.

For more information, visit www.baltimoregreenworks.com, email bgw@baltimoregreenworks.com or call 410-952-0344.

(Baltimore Sun file photo by Glenn Fawcett)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 9:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Chesapeake Bay, Events, News
        

If you're among those who worried about dumping dirty snow in the harbor, here's a chance to get involved in long-term cleanup of Baltimore's troubled waters. There's a workshop tomorrow (Saturday, Feb. 20) aimed at crafting a plan for reducing the torrents of trash and filthy water washing into the harbor from the streets and yards of southeast Baltimore.

The half-day session, originally planned for last Saturday, was rescheduled because of our blizzards. Sponsored by the Baltimore Harbor Watershed Association, the session will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at St. Casimir's Hall in Canton. St. Casimir's is at 2716 O'Donnell St., on the corner of O'Donnell and Kenwood Avenuve.

Residents and neighborhood leaders from Canton all the way inland to Clifton Park are invited to come talk about the problem and how to make the harbor and their neighborhoods cleaner and more livable - starting by keeping trash out of storm drains, as shown in the above photo.  Helping with the workshop are the Center for Watershed Protection, Morgan State University and Parks & People Foundation.  For more on the effort, go here.

For those who want to get a taste of how the harbor has changed over time, Dr. Ray Bahr, a retired cardiologist, amateur historian and watershed activist, is giving a lecture Saturday afternoon at the Canton Library about the history of the area, once known as Harris Creek.  See you there!

(Photo by Steve Ruark/Special to The Baltimore Sun)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 4:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Chesapeake Bay, Events, Going Green, News, Urban Issues, Volunteer
        

If you're truly green, it isn't something you trot out just for Earth Day. So with the card-makers' and florists' favorite holiday bearing down on us, here are a few tips we've seen recently for showing your love for Mother Nature as well as your sweetheart on Valentine's Day.

Make a fancy dinner at home. Instead of dining out, cook your own Valentine's feast, suggests Jessica Harlan at RecycleBank. Or break with tradition, she says, and give your true love a potted plant instead of a dozen red roses, with all the environmental baggage they may carry.

Rather than rush to the store for a big heart-shaped box of sweets for your sweet, Harlan advises, why not make your own truffles? She links to a few recipes here. If you're cooking-challenged (guys), she strongly suggests you shop for organic, fair-trade chocolates. Here's a rundown of brands, courtesy of Mother Earth News.

In the DIY tradition, Harlan also urges the truly green make their own jewelry and cards, rather than buy them. And if you simply must say it with diamonds, she instructs you to insist on conflict-free stones. For those more inclined to fashion gifts, she also advises where to find eco-friendly lingerie, made of bamboo (!), organic cotton, hemp and silk.

Finally, the truly committed earth lover could always skip the conventional gift- and card-giving altogether and make a green statement in his or her true love's honor. One heart-fluttering option - adopt a fin or humpback whale.

For as little as $40 per whale ($50 for a mother and calf pair), your adoption would support the College of the Atlantic's research on cetaceans. Your intended wouldn't be empty-handed, either. He or she would get a photograph of "an individually identfied whale", a personalized adoption certificate and a handy waterproof field guide to whales.

Sadly, the opportunity for this unusually green expression of love has already past - orders had to be placed by Feb. 10. But if you think it's neat anyway, here's the link.

Of course, many of these green alternatives for Valentine's Day take a little extra time and effort.  If you don't have any of those to spare, you can always take comfort as you crowd the card and candy counters in thinking about how you're stimulating our lagging economy.   And remember, it's the thought that counts.

For more to do (and buy) on Valentine's Day, check out this site at baltimoresun.com

(Valentine: AP Photo/The Rawlins Daily Times, Kathy Johnson; Whale: 2006 AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 4:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

There's a noticeable if not exactly wow-inducing green streak at this year's Motor Trend International Auto Show at the Baltimore Convention Center downtown.

You won't see the electric Chevy Volt displayed at the Detroit auto show earlier this year, the Nissan Leaf or any of the new plug-in hybrids promised by the car makers. But there are plenty of familiar hybrids and more fuel-efficient autos and SUVs to look at - all handily labeled with green arrows, to help you spot them in the crowd of vehicles on the convention center floor.

The show's "green trail" runs past Cadillac, Chevrolet, Ford, GMC, Honda, Lexus, Mazda, Mercury and Toyota.

One of the new models at this year's show isn't a hybrid at all, but it gets hybrid-like mileage. Ford is unveiling the Fiesta, an extreme makeover for a small economy car that's been on the roads in Europe for years. This version boasts a 119-horsepower, 1.6 liter engine, and it gets 30 miles per gallon in the city and up to 40 miles per gallon on the highway. The one on display is a bright green hatchback, like the one pictured above from the Detroit auto show last month. 

Green it may be, but it also comes with leather upholstery, keyless entry and oodles of electronics. Plus, it's "zippy" to drive, says Paul Anderson, Ford's small vehicle marketing manager.

Continue reading "On the "green trail" at Baltimore auto show" »

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 2:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Help kick off Baltimore Green Week and celebrate the vernal equinox at Baltimore Green Works' Second Annual Ecoball on March 19th at the Frederick Douglass-Isacc Meyers Maritime Park and Museum.

Musical entertainment, delectable food, and great company are all part of the bill. Enjoy local food, beer, and wine, while dancing to The Mooks and watching Baltimore International College students take part in a "Top Chef-style" competition. Be sure to wear your most stylish eco-friendly outfit. Tickets are $75 per person or $40 per student.

Image courtesy of Baltimore Green Works

Posted by Christy Zuccarini at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Events
        

The Baltimore Neighborhood Energy Challenge (BNEC) will host its first annual Mount Washington Eco-Fair on Saturday, Feb. 27 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at Mount Washington Elementary School.

A joint program between the Baltimore Office of Sustainability and the Baltimore Community Foundation, BNEC is working with residents in eight Baltimore neighborhoods to “spread knowledge, resources, and motivation to help our communities save energy and money.”

The Eco-Fair will provide an opportunity for residents to sign up for energy-saving services for their homes while also learning about new technology, products, and services that help reduce home energy use. The event will also feature local energy service contractors, urban garden specialists, solar and geothermal energy providers, florists, handmade crafts, eco-friendly products, and local acupuncturists.

Visit the BNEC web site for more information or simply show up on Saturday – this event is free and open to the public.

Posted by Christy Zuccarini at 4:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Events
        

One Less Car plans to hold its annual Smart Transportation and Bicycling Symposium Wednesday, Feb. 3 in Annapolis.

The event attracts supports, legislators and others to hear about what's ahead for the year, including the advocacy group's legislative agenda and updates on trail and road projects.

The group describes the event this way:

"This Annual Symposium is an outstanding opportunity for people to meet and share information with advocates, planners, state and local officials, and community leaders who want more bike lanes, better sidewalks, more trails, a statewide Complete Streets policy and access to a variety of modes of efficient transportation for everyone.

"The Symposium is the perfect setting to inform our state Delegates and Senators that Maryland communities need smart commuting opportunities and safe bicycle and pedestrian access to be fully sustainable and livable."

The group usually gets a good turnout. Between 400 and 500 people attended last year, officials said. 

The event is free and there are presentation all day. To RSVP, email Carol Siffdorff at carol@onelesscar.org.

So, what's on your transportation/biking agenda this year that you'd like to be on their agenda?

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 9:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Events
        

Register now for the Chesapeake Sustainable Business Alliance’s next Green Monday on Feb. 1 at the Baltimore Woman’s Industrial Exchange. A monthly networking event, Green Mondays bring together independently owned businesses and individuals who are working to recycle, reduce waste, and buy and sell locally.

Scheduled for next Monday is a presentation by Laura Armstrong of Maryland Green Registry – a self-certification program that helps local organizations become smarter, greener, and more sustainable in their practices. You’ll also get the opportunity to network with fellow CSBA and Buy Local members and enjoy some savory cuisine from Sofi’s Crepes (who is catering the event).

The Woman’s Industrial Exchange, which provides opportunities for local craft artists to refine, market, and sell their handmade goods to supplement their income, is at 333 S. Charles St. Free street parking is available on North Charles, St. Paul, Franklin and Mulberry after 6 p.m. or in nearby garages. Visit the CSBA web site for more information.

Image courtesy of Maryland Green Registry

Posted by Christy Zuccarini at 10:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Events
        

Want to look at the planets up close? Want to build your own telescope, too? 

The Maryland Science Center is offering stargazers the chance to view the Jupiter just as the astronomer Galileo did during its Galileo Nights (Jan. 8, 15, 22, and 29 from 5:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m.) at the Crosby Ramsey Memorial Observatory.

The event is in commemoration of the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s first close-up look at the solar system's biggest planet, according to the science center. The museum's powerful Clark Telescope will be aimed at Jupiter and its moons.

The first 50 visitors can also build a replica of the astronomer’s telescope to take with them.

The event is free. In the case of poor weather, visitors should phone 410-545-2999 after 5 p.m. to confirm that the Observatory will be open.

For information and tickets, go to www.marylandsciencecenter.org or call the 24-Hour Information Line at 410-685-5225.

Photo courtesy of the Maryland Science Center

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Events
        

Tonight at Metro Gallery, a New York film maker will show locals what "sustainable transportation" looks like in other cities. 

The event tonight is called "STREETFILMS in Baltimore" and is sponsored by EnvisionBaltimore, a local group that promotes livable and sustainable cities -- which include lots of pedestrian/bike access and public transportation.

The film maker is Clarence Eckerson Jr., who founded and runs Streetfilms.org. The organization  produces short videos about making urban streets more pedestrian and cycle friendly. 

EnvisionBaltimore calls Streetfilms an inspiration to its cause and says the film shorts are entertaining. Eckerson will also talk about what he does and how it relates to Baltimore.

The event runs from 5:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m. at Metro Gallery, 1700 N. Charles Street (across from Charles Theater). To register, click here.

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 1:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Events
        

The state Department of Natural Resources offers a host of events for adventurers, and those who are bored over winter vacation. Here are a few to consider:

--Mountain Reflections: Every day until January 1, 2010, 6 to 9:30 p.m.; $7 per car, $15 per van, $50 per tour bus. Rocky Gap State Park, 12500 Pleasant Valley Road, Flintstone (Allegany County). Mountain Reflections is a premiere seasonal light show that features over 60 animated and stationary colorful lit displays. This is truly a delightful experience for all ages. Proceeds from the show benefit the American Red Cross. For information, call 240-215-7576.

--Bad Bad Plants: January 2 from 1 to 2 p.m.; $2 per person. Patapsco Valley State Park, Halethorpe (Baltimore County). Ever thrown a dead plant outside thinking it would do no harm? Come find out if it does.  Wear sturdy shoes and bring water for a stroll to discover invasive species. This program is recommended for ages 5-11. We will meet at the picnic tables at Lost Lake. For information or to sign-up, call 410-461-5005.

--Owl Prowl: January 2 from 8 to 10 p.m.; $2 per person. Patapsco Valley State Park, Halethorpe (Baltimore County). Take a hike to listen for owls, followed by a program with owls from Scales & Tales. Wear sturdy shoes and bring water. Meet at the visitor’s center. This program is recommended for ages 7 and up.  For information or to sign-up in advance, call 410-461-5005.

--Eagle Watch: January 9 from 3 to 5 p.m.; $5 per person. Pokomoke River State Park, Pocomoke City (Worcester County). Catch a glimpse of the majestic bald eagle along the banks of the wild and scenic Pocomoke River. Join a naturalist for a short walk and explore the wonderful world of the bald eagle. For information or to sign-up, call 410-632-2566.

--Star Gazing: January 9 from 8 to 10 p.m.; free, but donations are welcome. Soldier’s Delight N.E.A., Owings Mills (Baltimore County). Join the Westminster Astronomy Club as they see Orion take on all challengers: the bull, the whale and the twins. Who will win? Rain or Shine. For information or to sign-up, call 410-549-3026.

Baltimore Sun file photo of Potapsco Valley State Park

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Events
        

Already looking for stuff to do over winter break? The Maryland Science Center is hosting an IMAX Film Festival for nine weeks beginning Jan. 5. And they have outdoor adventure in mind.

The films center on grand canyons and raging volcanoes and frozen tundras (and a few less eco-conscious places.) Here's the rundown:

--"Grand Canyon:" Discovery & Adventure An exploration of man's fragile kinship with the canyon, from the mysterious Anasazi people who inhabited it more than 4000 years ago to John Wesley Powell's famous 1869 expedition on the raging Colorado River.

--"Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure:" The story of Sir Ernest Shackleton's now-legendary expedition is a larger-than-life testament to heroism and human endurance. Featuring footage from two expeditions to the Antarctic, audiences retrace the journey of Shackleton and his crew who were trapped on the continent for almost two years after their ship was destroyed.

--"Ring of Fire:" Featuring spectacular volcanic eruptions including Mount St. Helens, Navidad in Chile, Sakurajima in Japan and Mount Merapi in Indonesia, Ring of Fire uses extensive aerial photography and computer animation to explore the immense natural force of the great circle of volcanoes that rings the Pacific Ocean.

--"Tropical Rainforest:" The story of the 400 million-year evolution of tropical rain forests, the film includes close-up scenes of both small and large creatures high in the forest canopy to give viewers a better appreciation of the importance of tropical rain forests and the threats facing their existence.

--"Mystic India:" The true tale of child yogi Neeklanth's 8000 mile, 7-year journey through 18th century India, his survival in the face of roaring rivers, ferocious animals and the Himalayan winter and the importance faith, friendship and fearlessness.

--"Super Speedway:" Follow Michael Andretti and the Newman/Haas racing team as they test a newly fabricated race car and drive it in hot pursuit of the championship in the PPG CART World Series.

--"Roar: Lions of Kalahari:" When a young lion tries to dethrone the lion king, the elder lion wages the battle of his life to defend his home and offspring in this documentary set in a watering hole teeming with wildlife in Botswana.

Tickets are $8 a film and are separate from regular Maryland Science Center admission. If you buy five tickets, it's $25. All films will be shown every day. For more information, click here or call  410-685-5225.

Photo is from "Tropical Rainforest."

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 5:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Events
        

Remember Edmonston? That's the little blue-collar town in the inner suburbs of Washington doing an extreme "green" makeover of its main drag to cut down on polluted rain water washing off the pavement into the Anacostia River.

Well, Edmonston's home to some green businesses, too, it seems.  And they're having a green gift fair this month, with a special show of reclaimed and recycled craftwork on Saturday. (Dec. 19)

Community Forklift, which bills itself as a 40,000-square foot "thrift store for home improvement," takes renovation lefotvers and gently used building materials, while providing donors with a tax deduction.  Then it sells the the materials at prices up to 90 percent below what they go for at retail outlets.  (Not unlike The Loading Dock, Baltimore's longtime center for recycling building materials.)  It's been joined in a large warehouse there by businesses selling reconditioned appliances, sustainable lumber, green home and garden products, and solar technology, among others.

This Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (weather permitting), there'll be a clutch of artisans there, including a woodworker and toymaker, jewelry makers, a stained-glass artisan and a photographer who uses scrap wood to frame her work.  There'll also be Christmas ornaments made by volunteers from salvaged hardware on display and for sale (maybe even like the granite tree ornaments pictured above, as seen on the company's Web site?)

For directions and more info, go here.

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Buy local, Events, Going Green, Shopping
        

Why not get a head start on out with the old before the New Year begins? Perhaps someone in your orbit is wishing for a new laptop this holiday season? If so, gather all of those soon-to-be unwanted electronics and set them aside for Whole Foods in Mt. Washington.

On Saturday, Jan. 9 from 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Esquire Environmental Services, which offers certified and safe personal computer recycling, will be stationed in the parking lot behind the Starbucks (next to the Whole Foods) to collect any of the following:

•Desktop computers
•Keyboards and mice
•Laptop computers
•Mainframe computer systems, CRTs, and monitors
•Modems and telephone boards
•Hard drives, floppy disks, and CD ROMs
•Phones, fax machines, and telecommunications hardware
•Printers
•Computer boards, CPUs, and memory chips
•Circuit boards
•Connecting wires and cables

Whole Foods in Mount Washington is located at 1330 Smith Avenue. Visit their website for more information and make this post-holiday season as green as it can be.

Image courtesy of Southernpixel

Posted by Christy Zuccarini at 2:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Events, Going Green
        

The Falls Road Running Store has a few spots left for its 10th annual Celtic Solstice 5 miler in Druid Hill Park on Dec. 19.  

Some of the proceeds will go to the Parks & People Foundation, which supports educational, recreational and environmental prorgram. 

The course runs through Druid Hill Park, past the Maryland Zoo, the Rawlings Conservatory and other park sites. The race has grown from a hundred runners to more than 2,000 registered so far this year, according to race organizer Jim Adams of Falls Road Running. 

There are still a few spots left for a $15 fee. You have to go the store at 6247 Falls Road in Mt. Washington, though, because online registration is closed. Organizers are out of race shirts but at the end of the event they are offering spiced wassail from Boordy Vineyards.

For more information, go to www.baltimorerunning.com or call 410-296-5050. 

Baltimore Sun file photo of the Coppin State University Cross Country team running through Druid Hill Park/Barbara Haddock Taylor

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 5:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Events
        

Like riding your bike? Like riding around the city? Want to make a point about being able to ride around the city? This critical mass bike ride Friday may be for you.  

From what I've learned, critical mass rides began in San Francisco years ago so riders could assert their rights to the road. The rides -- some regularly scheduled, some announced irregularly and last minute -- have sprung up around the country. Here's some more info on the rides in general.

Baltimore has already had a few. You may have noticed a bunch of riders in costumes just ahead of Halloween. Baltimore Spokes has posted information about the ride.

**Other good places to look for such rides, put on by Baltimore cyclists, and other info about the cycling community are blog.cyclosity.com and micacycling.net. **

Generally, more experienced riders will help out blocking intersections so everyone can stay together and get around okay. 

This meet-up is Friday, post-Thanksgiving. Riders are meeting at 7 p.m. at the Washington Monument.

**Someone involved tells me that the ride should be slow and reasonable for any skill level. It should last an hour or two. And don't forget to mind your cycling manners! This ride isn't for troublemakers.**

So, do you plan to go? What do you think of the idea?

Chicago Tribune photo of a critical mass bike ride there in September

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 10:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: Events
        

I spotted this on the Baltimore DIY Squad blog:

2640 space on St. Paul will screen "Blue Gold World Water Wars" at 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 19. The documentary by Food and Water Watch follows cases of people fighting for their rights to water. Visit 2640 space's web site for more info.

If you can't make it but still want to see the film, it's available on DVD.

Posted by Kim Walker at 12:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Events
        

Vegan Bloody Mary

On Friday, Nov. 20th (tomorrow), Baltimore Vegan Drinks will host their monthly social networking event at Dionysus Restaurant and Lounge in Mt. Vernon.

Baltimore Vegan Drinks is the local chapter of Vegan Drinks, whose mission is to bring together a diverse group of people to build new coalitions and promote the sharing of resources.

The event will feature a totally vegan menu, including a vegan Bloody Mary, Organic Crop Cucumber Martinis, specially made vegan Bailey’s Irish Cream, and Dionysus’ own Basilicious (Organic Crop Tomato vodka muddled with fresh basil and topped with soda water). The menu also includes vegan wines and microbrews. Yum!

For more information, visit the Baltimore Vegan Drinks web site or RSVP to the event via Facebook.

Image courtesy of Lauren Musselman

Posted by Christy Zuccarini at 10:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Events, Food
        

Computing giant IBM announced in advance of a company-sponsored "Smarter Cities" forum here that it was helping researchers at the University of Maryland Baltimore County analyze smoke patterns in wildfires.

Catonsville-based UMBC is using IBM technology to help track wildfires in real time and make predictions about the spread of the blaze and health-threatening smoke. Such up-to-the-minute information would be useful to emergency responders in making decisions about evacuating people or issuing health warnings, according to the announcement.

What that has to do with "Smarter Cities," though, I'm not exactly sure - maybe an example of how business ties can keep university researchers employed?  

In any case, the Smarter Cities forum, also at UMBC, brings together local government and business leaders to brainstorm about how to improve the economy and quality of life in Baltimore. It's the latest in a series of such forums the company has held in cities across North America.  Besides talking about how to enhance health care, education and safety, they're scheduled to look at boosting green building and public transportation.

Continue reading "Tracking smoke, plugging leaks in "Smarter Cities"" »

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 6:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Events, News
        

With international climate talks just a month away, the American Association for the Advancement of Science is hosting an art and educational exhibit at its Washington headquarters to help adults and children alike see what's at issue.

"Climate Change in Our World” displays five-foot high images and explanatory text depicting some of the climate-change effects already being seen around the planet. The photos are taken by award-winning environmental photojournalist Gary Braasch, who has been documenting climate change and its solutions for a decade.  The images are from a book by Braasch, Earth Under Fire. Pictured above are villagers huddled on an eroding island in Bengladesh.

Along with those images are others targeted at youngsters entitled: “How We Know About Our Changing Climate.” It contains photos from a young-reader science book of the same title co-authored by Braasch and Lynne Cherry. The book tells how scientists are observing changes in nature related to global warming, and explains how young people can learn more and take action themselves.

The exhibit also includes films produced by Cherry, "Young Voices on Climate Change." Pictured here is Clarissa Klein, a California Girl Scout in one of the films whose troop - in a switch from the usual cookie drive - distributed 5000 compact flourescent light bulbs door to door.

The exhibits are open for viewing starting today (Nov. 18) through March 15, 2010 in the gallery at the association's headquarters, 12th & H Streets NW (just north of Metro Center station), Washington, D.C. Gallery hours are 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday.  But there's a special public opening reception today (Nov. 18) from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. 

(Photos used by permission of Gary Braasch & Lynne Cherry)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 8:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Books, Events
        

Vegan banana bread

On Nov. 21, from 6-9 p.m., Earth Save Baltimore will host a Pre-Thanksgiving Vegan Potluck at the Learning Center of Your Prescription for Health in Owings Mills. The dinner will feature live music from local musicians Michael Harris, Norm Hogeline, Lorna Sampson and Don Robertson, and prizes will be awarded to the two best dishes of the night, one raw and one cooked.

A volunteer-operated nonprofit, EarthSave Baltimore’s mission is to educate people about the impact that food choices have on the environment and health, and to educate and support people in making the shift toward a whole food, plant-centered diet. The Baltimore chapter of the New York organization holds a monthly Dinner Ed series on the last Saturday, and other casual “veg” gatherings, including Vegetarian Friends (formerly Vegetarian Singles) at local veg-friendly restaurants, and potluck dinners at various local residences.

If you’re interested in attending the Pre-Thanksgiving Potluck, RSVP to earthsaverdon@hotmail.com. Guests are asked to bring a dish made without animal products to serve five times the number in their party, along with a donation of $5 (members $2). Or guests may attend without bringing a dish for a $12 fee (members $10). For more information, visit the EarthSave Baltimore web site.

Image courtesy of Crystl

Posted by Christy Zuccarini at 2:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Events, Food
        

Mark your calendars for the Chesapeake Sustainable Business Alliance’s (CSBA) Green Monday, Dec. 7, from 6-9 p.m. at Clementine in Hamilton. Green Mondays are the CSBA’s monthly networking and educational events that bring together independently owned businesses and individuals working to reduce material and energy usage, recycle and reduce waste, and buy and sell locally. December’s meeting will feature local, biodynamic wine from Black Ankle Vineyards and “fancypants comfort food” from Clementine. To register, visit CSBA’s web site.

Posted by Christy Zuccarini at 12:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Events
        

Crabs, oysters and rockfish will be on the agenda, if not the menu, Thursday, Nov. 19 at a "Bay in Crisis" symposium sponsored by the University of Baltimore law school.

The focus of the day-long session will be on protecting and restoring the bay's native fish and shellfish populations. Speakers include: J. Charles Fox, the Environmental Protection Agency's senior advisor on the bay; Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler; scientists; regulators; activists, and yes, even a waterman.  To see the full agenda, go here.

The symposium will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the John and Frances Angelos Law Center, 1415 Maryland Avenue. (Directions here) The event is free and open to the public, but anyone wanting to attend is asked to RSVP by Monday, Nov. 16. You can register online here or call 410.837.4468.

(2008 Baltimore Sun photo by Glen Fawcett)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Chesapeake Bay, Events
        

Conservation and art take wing together this weekend at the 39th annual Waterfowl Festival in Easton, for a three-day extravaganza celebrating the Chesapeake Bay's wildlife and outdoors heritage.

Starting Friday, Nov. 13, there'll be antique and contemporary decoys to view (and buy), plus paintings, photos and other arts and crafts, fly-fishing and retriever dog demonstrations as well as goose- and duck-calling contests. Besides the arts and crafts, there'll be food and music, plus outdoor gear for shoppers.

The event has raised more than $5 million in donations for wildlife conservation projects. Besides the good cause, it's quite a scene. Festivities begin at 10 a.m., and admission is $10 for all three days, with kids under $12 free.

For tickets or information, go here or call 410-822-4567.

(2004 Associated Press photo)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Buy local, Chesapeake Bay, Events, Shopping, Tips
        

A new day, another environmental speaker. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., author, outspoken advocate and co-founder of the watchdog Waterkeeper Alliance, is speaking Wednesday night at Goucher College.

Kennedy, supervising attorney at Pace University law school's environmental litigation clinic and co-host of a nationally syndicated show on Air America Radio, will talk on "Our Environmental Destiny: How to Get There in Troubled Economic Times." He will speak at 8 p.m. at Kraushaar Auditorium.

A member of the famous political family, Kennedy helped start the waterkeeper alliance in 1999, and it now has nearly 200 participating groups, including several in Maryland. He is the author of four books and numerous articles on the environment and politics. His talk is free and open to the public, but tickets must reserved in advance by calling Goucher College at 410-337-6333 or by e-mailing boxoffice@goucher.edu

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 5:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Events
        

There's a lot of talk these days about what it'll take to restore the Chesapeake Bay, and farming is in a bit of a hot spot. A group concerned about the environmental impacts of "industrialized" farming plans to hash the topic out at a seminar on Saturday, Nov. 7, in Jarrettsville.

The event, sponsored by Peach Bottom Concerned Citizens Group, features environmental activists, a pair of farmers as well as a former chicken grower, and a state legislator, Del. Wayne Norman, R-Harford County. The seminar runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Jarrettsville Gardens, 3825 Federal Hill Road, Jarrettsville.

The session is free, with lunch provided, but those interested in attending are asked to phone ahead to reserve space (and food?). Call Maria at 717-456-5800.

(2002 Baltimore Sun photo by David Hobby)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 7:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Help youth program, remember a fallen cyclist.

The Tour de Greater Homewood this Sunday from 1 p.m.-4 p.m. will honor John R. Yates, a cyclist who died in a hit-and-run accident at Maryland and Lafayette avenues in August.

Ogranizated by the Greater Homewood Community Corporation, the ride will benefit its  youth programs, for which Yates advocated. There is a suggested donation of $10 for ride participants.

For more details about the tour, including route information go to www.greaterhomewood.org.

Yates joined the GHCC's board of directors in 2004 and served as Secretary. Jack also worked as an educational consultant at the Abell Foundation, and later served as a mentor for Lake Clifton High School’s Educational Opportunities Program, where he counseled graduates of the Baraka School, of "Boys of Baraka" fame. 

The GHCC says its mission is to help neighborhoods in north central Baltimore City to become safer, better places to live. It serves 48 neighborhoods with a combined total of approximately 70,000 residents, or nearly 10 percent of Baltimore City’s population.

Baltimore Sun photo of a "ghost bike" installed in memory of Yates/Barbara Haddock Taylor

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Events
        

Local artist Emily Li Mandri describes her designs as in your face. “There’s nothing subtle about them. They’re meant to make a statement. An art statement,” she says. Known around town as Natty Paint, Emily’s line of hand painted, silkscreened shirts and hoodies has been going strong for almost two years now. She sells at craft shows, local boutiques, and has done a healthy handful of commissions for places like Shine Collective and Bikram Yoga.

When Emily launched Natty Paint, she did it with an eye towards being eco-conscious; using water-based inks and products from American Apparel. Now she’s taken it a step further by producing a vintage line of silkscreened vests, sweaters, dresses, and sweatshirts. And while we may all agree that shopping at thrift stores, consignment shops, and vintage boutiques is inherently more sustainable than buying new, rebuilding a forgotten item into a fresh and wearable piece is indeed an impressive statement in and of itself.

Want your own one-of-a-kind Natty Paint work of art? Visit Emily's web site or, buy online at her Etsy shop.

Images courtesy of the artist

Posted by Christy Zuccarini at 9:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Events, Fashion, Shopping
        

Get up early and go outside Tuesday and thank the guy who makes your sidewalk or alley "cleaner and greener" by picking up all your trash. It Garbageman Appreciation Day!

Baltimore City, the company that does trash pick up and the company that runs the trash-to-energy incinerator in South Baltimore plan to make the guys lunch.

After witnessing some of the stuff these guys have to touch during a ride along after the switch to once-a-week trash and recycling pick up -- I won't go into too many details, but it involves bleech, spoiled food and dead things -- I'm not sure lunch is sufficient.

Speaking of once-a-week pick up, this is probably a good time to ask if the problems with the transition have been smoothed over? Many of the trash guys got new schedules and longer hours with the switch, and many people complained their garbage and recycling wasn't getting picked up. (The trash guys complained people weren't putting stuff out on the right days, in the right place or in a can with a lid, per the law.)

So, what do you think of the job these guys are doing?

Baltimore Sun file photo/Jed Kirschbaum

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Events
        

This year’s Cut the Craft! Arts and Crafts Show will focus on sustainable products from regionally and nationally known artists. The event will be held indoors at the historical Wool Mill in Philadelphia on Saturday Nov. 21 from 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 22 from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. Cut the Craft! is the perfect place to buy and sell one-of-a-kind, sustainable arts and crafts including reconstructed clothing, handcrafted jewelry, alternative toys, avant-garde art, and more.

The application deadline is Oct. 23. To submit your application, visit Cut the Craft! online.

Posted by Christy Zuccarini at 9:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Events
        

Want to dig in the dirt for a good cause? 

Baltimore Green Works, the non-profit, volunteer-driven group that works for environmental education, is sponsoring Make a Difference Day this Saturday from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. in Fort Armistead Park.

Volunteers for the event will help with shoreline cleanup, invasive species removal, tree work and other things. That means lots of time in the dirt, on the water and in the woods.

It's sponsored by Lorenz, Inc. and Baltimore City Recreation and Parks. If you'd like to volunteer, contact Baltimore Green Works at bgw@baltimoregreenworks.com. 

There be other volunteer and learning opportunities. The group offers free and low-cost programming year round. That includes a Sustainable Speakers Series, Community GROWSHOPS and an annual Eco Ball. Check out the events page of the Web site for more information.

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Events
        

The environmental group Greenpeace plans to partner with 350.org (which was founded by author Bill McKibben, who wrote one of the first books on global warming, among others) to host a rally in the Inner Harbor on Oct. 24 to call for action on global warming.

Called the International Day of Climate Action, you can get more info on the local event here. The group plans to march from Port Discovery to Rash Field -- about a mile -- to draw attention to the growing problem.

If you'd like to attend, you can register here. 350.org is also looking for other people to organize such events. You also can watch a clip of McKibben on the Colbert Report below.

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Events
        

Jean Michel Cousteau, son of famed undersea explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau, pays a visit to Baltimore on Tuesday.

Now president of the Ocean Futures Society, Cousteau is scheduled to speak at 8 p.m. at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall as part of the Baltimore Speakers Series. Admission is via a subscription to the entire speakers series.

For those who want to get a free preview, though, he will be speaking at 12:15 p.m. at Stevenson University's Inscape Theatre, 1525 Greenspring Valley Road, Stevenson, MD 21153

I interviewed Jean-Michel nearly 30 years ago, while a reporter in Norfolk, VA.  The Virginia city had offered the Cousteau Society offices and dock space for Calypso, Jacques Cousteau's equally famed research vessel.   The society still maintains its US headquarters in the Hampton Roads area.

After Jacques Cousteau's death in 1997, however, control of the society passed to his second wife, Francine, a development that created a split in the family.  Jean-Michel formed his own Ocean Futures Society in 1999.  From the California-based group, the son produces filmed sea adventures and continues his father's legacy promoting conservation of the earth's oceans and marine life.

(AP 1994 photo)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 7:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Events
        

Community "greeners" get feted on Wednesday (Oct. 21) at Parks & People Foundation's 14th annual Greening Celebration at the Inner Harbor.

The event, to be held from 6 to 8 p.m. at the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute, 701 E. Pratt St., also marks the 25th anniversary of Parks & People.  The foundation has worked since 1984 to restore Baltimore's neighborhoods, expand and improve the city's parks and green spaces, notably the Gwynns Falls Trail, as well as engage youth in sports and the environment.

Admission is free, but RSVP’s are requested. For details, contact Simone Martell at (410) 448-5663 ext. 119 or simone.martell@parksandpeople.org 

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 8:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Events, Going Green
        

A few commenters on our wood stove post pointed out that the Mill Valley General Store on Sisson Street will be holding a free series of green workshops on Saturday. Doors open at 9 a.m.

Baltimore Biomass will be touting their corn stoves, Falkenham's Hardware will be demonstrating DIY projects for the winter, Molly Gallant will be showing how to plant trees in the fall, and Clean Currents will be talking about buying renewable energy.

The first 100 people to arrive will receive a goody bag and a free tree from Tree Baltimore. For more info, visit Mill Valley's web site.

Anyone planning to attend?  

Posted by Kim Walker at 1:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Events
        

The American Craft Council is looking for 15 rising craft artists to participate in the AltCraft section of their annual flagship show in Baltimore on Feb. 25-28.

AltCraft celebrates the innovative techniques and materials of the burgeoning handmade movement. This is an opportunity for talented artists and indie designers to gain national exposure at a well-established show, which typically attracts more than 25,000 guests annually.

Applicants are eligible only if they have NOT shown in an American Craft Council show previously. Embellished commerically-bought items (such as t-shirts and notecards) are not eligible. The deadline has been extended to Monday, Oct. 19.

Crafters, you are asked to submit:

3 low-resolution images of your work
a brief description of your work (materials, dimensions, techniques)
contact information (mailing address, email addresses & website)
if the application is for the Baltimore, Atlanta or both

Send submissions and inquiries to Erika at altcraft@craftcouncil.org. Finalists will be announced in mid-November. To read more about the show, visit the ACC web site.

Image courtesy of The American Craft Council

Posted by Christy Zuccarini at 10:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Events
        

In the spring you clean your basement. And if you live in Baltimore, in the fall you clean your backyard. Baltimore's 2009 Fall Cleanup is slated for this Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. 

Public Works is asking neighborhoods to pick an alley, lot or illegal dumping site for special attention. Officials say if community representatives call 311 to register, they will be provided with containers for debris collection (on a first come, first served basis.)

Those participating are asked to bag and stack debris at designated point so it can be picked up on Monday. The city will give community reps the location when they register.  

So, if you're an organizer, call 311 and get recruiting volunteers. If you want to volunteer, call your community association.

Baltimore Sun file photo of a Fall Cleanup/Chiaki Kawajiri

Continue reading "Baltimore's Fall Cleanup is this weekend" »

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Events
        

Some of us have a hard time looking beyond today. But when it comes to thinking about growth and development - perennial hot topics virtually everywhere - what if we took a longer view? What do we want our communities to look like? Not next year, or ten or even 20 years from now. A century from now.

That's what nearly 100 businesses, civic and environmental groups and government agencies and hundreds of citizens have done in the region bordering Washington's Puget Sound. Starting four years ago, the participants hammered out the "Cascade Agenda," a call to conserve working forests, farmlands, shorelines, parks and natural areas while also making cities and towns attractive places to live, work and raise families.

Now, in Maryland, environmentalists and development interests who are often at odds want to see if taking a similarly long view here can lead to some broad agreement on how and where to grow in this state. They've come together to examine the Cascade effort and how it might work in Maryland at a one-day conference Oct. 28 at Martin's West in Baltimore County.

Continue reading "What will Maryland look like in 100 years?" »

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 12:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

On Saturday, Oct. 17, the Baltimore Urban Agriculture Task Force will host its first annual Harvest Festival from 2-5:p.m. at 4500 Harford Road (where the Hamilton Tuesday Market is typically held). The event is open to anyone interested in learning more about Baltimore's fresh food movement and connecting with local community gardeners. So come enjoy locally grown food, information booths, kid's activities, storytelling, and traditional contra dancing music by Megan and Charlie Beller.

Harvest Fest is a free event, with a suggested donation of $5-$10. For more information or to volunteer, contact Drew Harris at drew21211@gmail.com or visit www.baltimoreurbanag.org.

Image courtesy of BUATF

Posted by Christy Zuccarini at 9:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Events
        

Looking for craftwork with a green flavor? There's a new glass gallery opening this month in Baltimore that proclaims itself "100 percent green."

Portable Rainbows Glass Art Gallery, at 6500 Brook Avenue, will get all of its electricity from wind power, purchased through a local renewable energy brokerage, according to scupltor/owner Frances Aubrey. Aubrey says she gets her glass from an environmentally conscious Oregon source, and she volunteers her time in working to get climate-change legislation passed.

Besides its green pedigree, the gallery will be a bit different in its emphasis - featuring methods of creating glass art other than blowing, such as fusing, slumping, casting, and painting. Aubrey says she'll display and sell glasswork from several other local artists as well as her own sculptures and jewelry. Sculptures are to be priced from $300 up, and glass jewelry under $100.

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Buy local, Events, Fashion
        

Global Exchange and Green America's Green Festival will take place Oct. 10-11 at the Washington Convention Center. Organizers promise 125 speakers and 350 exhibitors as well as films and workshops. Scanning the schedule, I spotted a few Baltimore area companies, including alterego, which offers sustainable building materials, and chocolaterra, which uses organic ingredients and fair-trade certified chocolate.

I'm looking forward to Ed Begley Jr.'s presentation, "Live Simply So Others Can Simply Live" and workshops on indoor composting, greening your home on a budget and making beauty products from items in your refrigerator.

Is anyone planning on going?

Posted by Kim Walker at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Events
        

Don't throw away old paint and pesticides! Baltimore plans a hazardous waste pickup this weekend, Oct. 10 and 11, from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute parking lot.

That's at Falls and Cold Spring Lane (use the Cold Spring entrance). 

Residents can drop off paint, pesticides, herbicides, car and household batteries, propane tanks, drain cleaner, gasoline, pool chemicals and other items.

The city will not take mixed refuse, unknown or unlabeled materials, acids, asbestos, ammunition, explosives, fire extinguishers, fireworks, industrial or medical wastes, acetylene tanks, small propane cylinders and radioactive materials, including smoke alarms with a radioactive symbol and mercury (thermometers or switches).

You must show proof of city residency, such as a driver's license or telephone or tax bill.

For more info, go here or call 311 for more information.

Baltimore Sun file photo of a similar event in Carroll County/Kim Hairston 

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 10:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Events
        

How do growth and development affect the health and welfare of poor and minority communities? The Maryland Commission on Environmental Justice and Sustainable Communities plans to tackle that question and discuss solutions at a symposium tomorrow (Saturday, Oct. 3) at Morgan State University.

The session is from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the William Donald Schaefer Engineering Building (Building 43). For directions, go here. And for more on the commission and environmental justice, go here.

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 11:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

This Sunday, Oct. 4, offers two great reasons to get up and out of the house early: taste locally produced foods prepared by top area chefs at the Baltimore farmers market, then tour solar-powered homes and businesses and get your questions answered about renewable energy and energy-efficient design.

At the downtown farmers market, from 8 a.m. 'til noon, you can see and taste foods prepared by a dozen local chefs paired up with market farmers. The event is sponsored by Toyota, which will be offering marketgoers rides in a 3rd Generation Prius or a 2009 Highlander Hybrid. Check it out, underneath the Jones Falls Expressway at Holliday and Saratoga streets.

If you're not too stuffed after that, you can take a free, self-guided B'more B'green Solar Tour of 10 area homes and businesses. Sponsored by solar energy businesses and trade groups, it's a chance to see and learn about ways to green your nest with everything from solar arrays to green roofs, strawbale walls, rain barrels and more. You've got to love the tour's name - though we have to point out it's in no way afffiliated w/ our B'more Green blog. The places are open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. And at the end, there's a picnic at Black Ankle Vineyard, a green-certified winery in Mt. Airy.  To learn more and get a map of places to visit, go here.

(Baltimore Sun photo by Algerina Perna)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 8:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

The Chesapeake Sustainable Business Alliance (CSBA) will hold its next monthly meeting at the lovely Boordy Vineyards in Hydes, Md. A discussion panel of local food producers will include Joan Norman of One Straw Farm, Kate Dallam of Broom’s Bloom’s Dairy, Bobby Prigel of Bellevale Creamery, and Bob Deford of Boordy Vineyards. These panelists will talk about the development of sustainable agriculture in the Chesapeake region. The meeting will also feature wine tastings, local food, and chocolate truffles by Chocolaterra.

There’s plenty of free parking at Boordy. Registration begins at 6 p.m. and the evening will wrap up around 8. Click here to register.

Image courtesy of CSBA

Posted by Christy Zuccarini at 10:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Events
        

Get a good look at some of Baltimore's parks and its harbor from a bicycle this Sunday. It's the annual Tour du Port bike ride around the city.

It begins and ends in Canton Waterfront Park. There will be on-sight registration from 7 a.m.-8:30 a.m. for $60 or register here for $50.

Routes are 12, 20, 41 and 51 miles. Riding starts at 7:30 and there are snacks along the way. Lunch is also served on the waterfront at the end.

The event benefits One Less Car, a nonprofit that adocates for better bike and pedestrian access and mass transit.

(I've done this ride, and be mindful that the roads are not closed for the event. With so many riders and the early hour, it feels pretty safe. And it wasn't as hilly a ride as I was expecting. Still, don't forget your helmet.)

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Events
        

If you've never visited the isolated watermen's communities on Smith and Tangier islands in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay, you've really missed an eye-opening cultural experience. Imagine having to catch a boat to go to school, as kids do on Maryland's Smith, or depending for a living on what you can find and catch from the water surrounding your home.

Tonight (Sept. 29), there's a chance to pay a virtual visit to one of these island communities for a few hours without needing to get in a boat or a plane to get there. A new one-act play about the watermen of Tangier Island will be performed at 7 p.m. at the Annapolis Maritime Museum. “Fishing Gone,” written by Roger Vaughan and directed by Joel Kolker, stars Lisa Wheatley, a Tangier Island resident, who plays herself as Lisa. After the show there'll be a discussion led by Peter Lesher, curator of collections at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels.

Admission is free. The play will be at the Annapolis museum, at 723 Second St. in Eastport. For more info, go here or call 410 295-0104.

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 11:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Events
        

A New York-to-DC charity bike ride to push for climate action passes through Maryland this week. The second annual Climate Ride, organized to raise funds for promoting public awareness of climate and energy issues, stops off in Reisterstown Tuesday night.

The riders - reportedly ranging in age from 12 to 82 - will be greeted at the Pearlstone Retreat Center by Denmark's ambassador to the United States, who'll talk about the international climate summit planned in his nation's capital in December. Other speakers include Mike Tidwell, head of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, and a leading Danish cycling advocate. The 7 p.m. event is open to the public, but seating is limited; email caeli@climateride.org if you'd like to stop by.

The 300-mile ride, sponsored by the water-filter maker Brita, pedals on through Maryland Wednesday and finishes in Washington with a rally on the Capitol Lawn, which is open to everyone. For details of that event, go here.

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Events
        

Now the anti-sprawl group 1000 Friends of Maryland is trying a new tack to keep farmland from growing houses. It's decided to extend a hand to farmers, offering to support tax reforms, public funding and other incentives to keep farming profitable and the developers at bay. Under the slogan "Keep Farmers Farming", the Baltimore-based group is launching its new campaign tonight with a $65-a-head bash at the Green Spring Valley Hounds hunt club in Reisterstown, featuring locally produced food and drink, and a chance to meet and mingle with the farmers who produced it.

"We've always supported agriculture," maintains Dru Schmidt-Perkins, Friends' executive director.  The group has long advocated for farmland preservation as a key part of the state's Smart Growth policy, which seeks to preserve rural and environmentally sensitive lands by steering development into existing urban areas.   But Friends has favored putting more teeth in the state's growth management laws, something farmers have tended to fight because they have more clout at the county courthouses.

Now the group has decided to throw its lobbying weight behind helping farmers in the belief that the best way to save the farmland is to help ease the economic pressures driving farmers out of business.

"There isn't going to be a fresh peach on every (Baltimore city) student's desk next fall if the farmer who raises the peaches is gone," Schmidt-Perkins says.  "We have to make farming work because we have to eat.  We're not going to get at climate-change issues, transportation issues, healthy food issues unless we have a really strong agriculture system nearby."

Continue reading "Can farmland be saved without the farmer?" »

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 6:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

A bunch of lawyers paid a call on a West Baltimore school this morning...

No, that's not the opening line for another lawyer joke. These legal beagles dropped by Franklin Square elementary/middle to plant some trees with the kids.

It's part of a campaign launched by members of the American Bar Association who deal with environment, energy and resources issues.  They're in town this week for their fall conference, and some of them came in a day early to participate in this demonstration of pro bono planting prowess.

Working with students from Franklin Square and Chesapeake Alternative Academy, the 16 lawyers planted 11 red maples and one river birch and helped weed the school grounds, according to Lynne Van Buskirk of the ABA.  Partners on the project included the Parks & People Foundation and the Alliance for Community Trees.   It's the opening act in an ambitious effort by the ABA's environmental section to plant one million trees nationwide over the next five years.  Their aim is to stress the benefits of trees, particularly in combatting climate change.

Maybe it's also a bit of community service - penance if you will - for all the trees that have been chopped down to print the mountains of briefs generated by the legal profession?

(Photo courtesy of the ABA's Lynne Van Buskirk)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 3:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Events
        

Clean water comes at a price, but why can't you have fun while doing your part? The Baltimore Harbor Waterkeeper is holding its second annual Trash Bash on Saturday, Sept. 19 to raise awareness and funds to support the nonprofit effort to clean up the harbor.

There'll be open-air music by Can't Hang, S.T.O.R.M., and Derek Sholl, a selection of eco-vendors to browse and booths selling beer and food. The bash is to run from 2:30 to 8:30 p.m., so paddle, pedal, walk or drive over to Nick's Fish House, 2600 Insulator Drive, on the Middle Branch off Hanover Street.  For directions, go here.

Tickets are $25 general admission or $100 for a VIP party featuring a seafood dinner, drinks and a silent auction. But you can get discounts of $5 or $25, respectively, if you buy tickets online by 3 p.m. Friday. Just click here to do that. 

That way you can help Eliza Smith Steinmeier, the waterkeeper, seen at left in her boat, get trash, sewage and other gunk out of the harbor without getting your hands dirty - provided you don't fall in the water!

(Baltimore Sun file photos by Elizabeth Malby & Glenn Fawcett)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 3:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Waverly’s first collaborative public art space and community garden, Tinge’s Commons, will hold its second garden party and public art exhibit on Sept. 20 from 4-7 p.m. The event will include food from the community garden and a new art installation from local artists Cyle Metzger and Colin Benjamin titled Color Path Projections. Metzger and Benjamin have created structures that utilize playful color and dynamic spatial relationships to enhance the pedestrian experience within Tinges Commons as well as challenge guests to reconsider their engagement with public space. Color Path Projections will remain on exhibit through Oct. 17.

Tinges Commons is located at the southeast corner of Frisby and 33rd streets. For more information, contact Graham Coreil-Allen at detourne@gmail.com.

Image courtesy of Graham Coreil-Allen

Posted by Christy Zuccarini at 6:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

It's not too late to head to the beach. Why not plan on hitting Assateague Island National Seashore on Saturday (Sept. 19) and spend a few hours picking up butts and other trash littering the sand?

The ponies, birds and fish will thank you, and you'll be in great company. Last year, 2,600 volunteers collected something like 20,000 pounds of trash - everything from cigarette butts and drink cups to bicycles, porch blinds and a lawnmower.

The Assateague trash roundup, sponsored by Delmarva Power, is part of the 2009 Coastal Clean Up Day, in which volunteers police beaches all around the country. Trash bags will be provided, so  just bring work gloves, sunscreen and bug spray. For more info, go here or contact Assateague Coastal Trust by phone 410-629-1538 or email mail@actforbays.org

(July 2009 photo by Kim Hairston of The Baltimore Sun)

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The Historic Annapolis Foundation is hosting a four-part Green Lecture Series in October that will include information on gardening, construction materials, low-cost greening and solar power. 

The lecture will be held in downtown Annapolis at the James Brice House, 42 East St., at 7 p.m. October 7 and 21 and November 4 and 18. There will be a wine and cheese reception after each one so participants will have a chance to mingle with the speakers. Admission is $15. 

The speakers are shop owners, professors and non-profit workers.

For reservations and information, call 410-267-8146 or go to annapolis.org.

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Categories: Events
        

Live music at Refest 2008 If you’re a resident of Remington, don’t miss the opportunity to spend some quality time with your neighbors Saturday at Remfest 2009, sponsored by the Greater Remington Improvement Association with support from the Baltimore Community Foundation. Festivities will begin at 4 p.m. in the field next to the GreenMount School (501 W. 30th St.) and include a flea market, freecycling, soccer, arts and crafts, live music and tree plantings. Neighbors will also have the opportunity to tend to the gardens they’ve planted during prior GRIA-led gardening workshops. GRIA is a resident-based group working to make Remington a safer, greener, more vibrant and socially connected community. To read more about their work visit their web site.

Image courtesy of GRIA.

(An earlier version misstated the date of the event. B'More Green apologizes for the error.)

Posted by Christy Zuccarini at 5:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Events
        

Who knew there was a creek in the Baltimore area with the savory-sounding name Bread and Cheese?

Well, there is, sure enough, in Dundalk. Unfortunately, as the photo above shows, this tributary of Back River and the Chesapeake Bay could use some help looking more appetizing.

There's a stream cleanup planned between Merritt Boulevard and Plainfield Road on Saturday, rain or shine, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Baltimore County is providing dumpsters and some gloves and hand tools, and area businesses have pledged water and snacks. All that's needed are volunteers like you, willing to wade in and reclaim a stream from bottles, bags, shopping carts, concrete blocks and assorted other human flotsam.

If you want to pitch in, wear boots or tennis shoes you don't mind getting a little wet. Long pants, gloves, hat, sunscreen and insect repellant also are recommended. A few more rakes, shovels, saws and axes wouldn't hurt, either. Nor would wheelbarrows or wagons.

To get there, go to Merritt Boulevard, turn on to German Hill Road headed east, then turn left (North) onto Plainfield Road. At the bottom of the hill you will see the three large dumpsters. Parking is available on the street or in a parking lot at the top of German Hill Road.

For more information, contact the cleanup's organizer, creekside resident John Long at (410) 285-1202 or Clean_Bread_And_Cheese_Creek@yahoo.com  And for more on the stream, go here.

(Photo by Kharstin, used here with permission of John Long)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 3:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

Seems like everyone is shopping at a local farmers' market or organic food market these days. But for those who want to eat green, that may not do it all.

To help answer questions about how to eat green, the Johns Hopkins Center for Liberal Arts is sponsoring a three-part lecture series.

They will not only address the terms -- "free range" to "organic" to "wild caught" --but talk about the issues of how much resources are needed to grow or harvest food, how much pollution is produced and how much damage is left behind.

Mark Rifkin, a nutritionist, will walk you through it all. 

The sessions are $90 and are held on Mondays, from 6:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m. Nov. 2-16.  For more information or to register, call 410-516-8516 or click here.

Baltimore Sun file photo 

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Categories: Events
        

Red Clover Collective in Better Waverly

Interested in learning how to make your own all-natural cleaning products? Join the Red Clover Collective and local crafter Aliza Sollins of The Baltimore DIY Squad on Sept. 20 from 1-4 p.m. for a discussion and workshop about eco-friendly cleaning products and methods. You’ll learn how to make homemade laundry detergent, dish soap, and all purpose cleaner – bring your own empty bottle to fill with the cleaning solution of your choice.

The Red Clover Collective is an urban intentional community located in Better Waverly. The cost for this workshop is $5 and space is limited. Sign up here or visit redclovercollective.org to read more about their work in Baltimore.

Image courtesy of Red Clover Collective.

Posted by Christy Zuccarini at 7:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: DIY, Events
        

On Sept. 14, the Chesapeake Sustainable Business Alliance will hold their first meeting of the new program year at Gertrude’s Restaurant at the BMA. You can expect to learn more about the CSBA’s member benefits while networking with members and other local, sustainable businesses. The program includes local fare prepared by celebrity chef John Shields, who will also speak about serving local food. Keith Lasoya of Waste Neutral Group will also hold a discussion about commercial kitchen waste composting.

The program begins at 6 p.m. and runs until 8. Register here.
Image courtesy of John Shields

Posted by Christy Zuccarini at 6:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Events
        

Can't get enough green in your life? Want to learn more about environmentally conscious products and energy-saving technology right here in the Charm City metroplex?

Well, then, the Greentech Maryland Conference and Expo may be for you. Marketed under the slogan "Wow! I didn't know that!" the shindig promises to have one of General Motors' futuristic fuel-cell concept cars on display, and more info about the all-electric Volt, which GM claims will go a fantastic 230 miles per gallon of gas.

The lineup of speakers - all supposedly strictly limited to 10-minute, "Twitter-style" talks - includes local politicos as well as a slew of folks from area corporations and businesses touting their green cred. It runs from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Friday Sept. 18 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Timonium, 2004 Greenspring Drive. (And yes, that's even reachable by light rail.) It's not free - $60 for the day, but lunch is included. For more info and to register, go here.

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 6:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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There have been a lot of films, books and lectures recently about what's wrong with American agriculture. Well, now you can get all the info in one place.

The Creative Alliance at the Patterson (3134 Eastern Ave. in Baltimore) is screening "Fresh," a film about the food chain and was to improve things.

The film by ana Sofia joanes (that's the way she writes it), is presented by the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, the Rodgers Forge Farm Initative and Hamilton Crop Circle.

The Creative Alliance describes the film this way: "Hear the stories of farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system: urban farmer, activist, and 2008 MacArthur 'Genius' Award fellow, Will Allen; sustainable farmer and entrepreneur, Joel Salatin (from Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma); and supermarket owner, David Ball, who is creating a new market model for family farmers. 'Fresh' offers a call to action... with actionable solutions. Local-food bazaar precedes the screening and a panel discussion w/ local farmers and experts follows."

The show is at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 10. A local food bazaar is at 6:30 p.m. And there will be a panel discussion with local farmers and food experts after the film.

Continue reading "Coming to Baltimore: "Fresh," a film about food" »

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Categories: Events
        

The 128th Maryland State Fair starts this weekend, and the Maryland Department of Agriculture plans to have some eco-friendly and consumer-focused displays that you may want to check out.

There will be displays on conservation, sound farmland management practices, better use of fertilizer, reducing pesticide use, water conservation and the benefits of buying local. They will be in the Farm and Garden Building.

The Ag department promises interactive activites, including a watermelon seed spitting contest, make your own slime and a Q&A on lawn and garden issues with the experts.

The fair in general, which runs from 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Aug. 28-Sept. 7, will also offer livestock and horse shows, rides and games and other entertainment.

And don't forget the food and beverages (no word on recycling bins.) 

Admission is $8 for adults, $6 for kids.

The Maryland Transit Administration advises patrons to take the light rail to the Timonium stop. There will be 400,000 people and not enough parking. You can also take local buses No. 8 or 9.

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

Mark your calendars for world peace. In September, Partners in Peace Unlimited and the Peace Sisters will host the World Peace Party in honor of International Peace Day. The afternoon will include Native American flute music by Jan Seidan, performance by musician Alina Lightchaser, a drumming circle, dances of universal peace, a peace pole planting ceremony, children’s activities, local organic fare and other vendors. Bring your lunch, a lawn chair and a drum if you have one to Sweet Peace Farm in Westminster. See more details below:

When: Sept. 20, noon-5 p.m. (rain date is Sept. 27)

Where: Sweet Peace Farm, 3761 Black Woods Rd, Westminster

If you’re interested in being a vendor or sponsor, contact Nancie at nancie@greatestpossibleyou.com.

Image courtesy of bitzi.

Posted by Christy Zuccarini at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Events
        

Looking for a fun weekend activity that doesn't require skill and doesn't pollute? How about tubing in Gunpowder State Park. We went Sunday. The water was cold, but the scenery was fantastic.

The park is almost 18,000 acres in Harford and Baltimore counties. They protect the stream valley of the Big and Little Gunpowder Falls and the Gunpowder River. There are 100 miles of trails, including the 21-mile North Central Railroad Trail, called the NCR, which runs along the portion of the river you can float in.  

You can rent a tube at Monkton Bike Inc. I think it was $10 for a nice big tube. They can also give you directions on getting in and out of the water and estimated times.

My friend Craig organized my trip and brought along his own tubes and snacks. We unintentionally got a little ambitious and stayed out for more than three hours. The water was low and moving VERY slowly. Good thing at the end, there was ice cream, a bathroom and a towel.

Baltimore Sun photo of tubing on the Gunpowder/Kim Hairston

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 2:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Events, Parks
        

If you have not visited the National Aquarium this summer, there is still plenty of time to see their mesmerizing $2.2 million exhibit, “Jellies Invasion: Oceans Out of Balance” at the Marine Mammal Pavilion.

The exhibit displays nine different species of jellyfish and explores their 650 million-year-old history on earth. Underlying this fascinating presentation of these mysterious and gelatinous invertebrates – some of which can be found in the Chesapeake Bay and Inner Harbor – is a slightly portentous message about their unwavering ability to survive even the most intolerable conditions and what that means for aquatic ecosystems on the whole.

Tickets range from $15-$25 and can be purchased online or by calling 410-576-3800.

Image courtesy of the National Aquarium in Baltimore.

Posted by Christy Zuccarini at 5:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Events
        

On Aug. 15, Sustainable Urban Infrastructure Inc. and Baltimore Biomass will hold "Super Green" workshops that teach how to heat homes using locally grown, sustainable Biomass, produce solar electricity, build rain barrels, and construct vegetable boxes. The 45 minute workshops will be held at 10 a.m., 11 a.m., noon and 1 p.m. at the Mill Valley General Store, 2800 Sisson St. There will be food and drink for purchase.

The first 200 people who pre-register for the workshops at www.baltimorebiomass.com will be eligible for giveaways of seeds, DIY handouts and more.

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 5:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Events
        

Now that the sun is out, pack your picnic blankets and head over to Boordy Vineyards for a relaxing evening of free wine tastings, organic heirloom veggies from Stayford Farm, and the soothing sounds of Bossalingo. Festivities begin at 4 p.m. and end at 8. For directions, visit Boordy’s web site.

Baltimore Sun file photo

Posted by Christy Zuccarini at 4:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Events
        

In an effort to promote local watermelons, the state Department of Agriculture and the Mar-Del Watermelon Association are hosting a MAR-DELicious Watermelon event from 3 p.m.-6 p.m. Aug. 7 at Annapolis City Dock.  

There will be free slices!

There will also be watermelon royalty: Maggie Bailey, National Watermelon Queen; Jessica Haden, Mar-Del Watermelon Queen; and Jessica Suddarth, Florida Watermelon Queen.  Other dignitaries will include Buddy Hance, the Maryland Secretary of Agriculture and Maryland and Delaware watermelon farmers.

If this isn't enough, they're handing out watermelon recipe cards, too.

Baltimore Sun file photo

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 12:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Events
        

Continuing their campaign to highlight unresolved pollution problems at the Sparrows Point steel-making complex, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and Baltimore Harbor Waterkeeper have scheduled a "town hall" meeting in Edgemere on Tuesday, July 28.

Nearly two months ago, CBF and the Waterkeeper formally notified state and federal environmental agencies and the current and former owners of the steel mill of their intent to sue in federal court to force cleanup of lonstanding pollution problems there. Bethlehem Steel Corp. signed a consent decree to clean up in 1997, and subsequent owners have agreed as well, but progress lags.

The meeting will be from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the North Point Fire Hall, 7500 North Point Road. For more on the threatened lawsuit, go here, here and here.

Meanwhile, some residents are continuing their attempts to organize a class-action lawsuit seeking to collect damages for the pollution they've been exposed to. Russell Donnelly told my colleague Mary Gail Hare that about 50 people have agreed so far to join a lawsuit. The group has extended to September the deadline for signing up. For more information, go here and here.

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 6:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Make your way to Waverly on Sunday to see Waverly Pastoral , an art exhibition featuring work that explores natural spaces in urban environments. The event will include Liz Donadio’s large-scale photographs documenting discrete pockets of greenery in Waverly, as well as Clarissa Gregory’s sculptural forest installation made from scavenged materials. Combined, these installations offer viewers a poetic situation of half reality and half fantasy.

Waverly Pastoral will be held in Tinges Commons – a community garden and contemporary public art space on the southeast corner of Frisby and 33rd streets. Organic food from the garden will be served.

All in all, this event should be a great opportunity for neighborhood residents and the public e to learn more about the Waverly’s potential for sustainable green projects.

Festivities will run from 4-8 p.m. For more information, contact Graham Coreil-Allen at detourne@gmail.com.

Image courtesy of Graham Coreil-Allen

Posted by Christy Zuccarini at 4:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Events
        

The Wailers Band toddler t-shirt by Sweet Peptia, You ComPlate Me friendship necklaces by The Broken Plate.

Bring your old T-shirts to Artscape this weekend. Local crafter Sweet Pepita, who makes one-of-a-kind clothing from recycled and organic fabrics, will be waiting with open arms to take them off of your hands and use them in future projects.

If you have any dishes you no longer need (even if they're a little bashed up) bring them along too. The Broken Plate Pendant Company will take whatever you've got and turn it into unquestionably gorgeous jewelry.

Both vendors will be located in the DIY section.

Posted by Christy Zuccarini at 4:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Events
        

At last year's Hampdenfest, the Baltimore Etsy Street Team held a successful craft supply drive for Art with a Heart, Inc. They've decided to do it again at one of their largest group venues, and "America's largest free art festival" ArtScape.

So help them help Art with a Heart, Inc. carry out its mission by bringing craft supply items to one of the BEST artists at Artscape. As a "thank you" for your donation, BEST is offering a 10 percent discount off a single item purchased at Artscape from one its artists. You may bring any unused craft (or office) supplies or gift card to the BEST tent at ArtScape or to any of their participating artists at ArtScape to receive the discount. One discount per person, and the offer is only valid on purchases made at Artscape on July 17-19.

Participating BEST Members:

BlockPartyPress
DandelionBlu
ElisaShereJewelry
greenstarstudio
JenMenkhaus
JennyJen42
JillPopowichDesigns
SweetPepita
TheBrokenPlate
TigerLillyShop
Yummy & Company

Items they are looking for include markers, glue, erasers, pencils, tape, Mod Podge, paint brushes, single hole punchers, scissors, aluminum foil, disposable/plastic bowls, clay, tag board/poster board, thread and more.

All donations will go to Art with a Heart, Inc. Art with a Heart, Inc. provides art activities to disadvantaged families and children, and to people with developmental and physical challenges, at local shelters, senior centers, public schools and community centers.

Posted by Christy Zuccarini at 4:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Events
        

For the past couple of years, the Southern Maryland Agricultural Development Commission has enouraged people around the state to show their support for local farms and the environment by buying local foods. The annual Buy Local Challenge begins this Saturday.

Participants can be counted by taking a pledge to eat one thing from a local farm every day of Buy Local week. Or they just make an extra effort to buy local produce during the week at one of the state's many farmers' markets. So far, 293 people have signed up, and several area counties, including Anne Arundel, Howard and Harford, have signed on.

Supporters say buying local provides consumers with fresh food. And it helps the environment because less fuel is used to transport the food. They also say if every household in the state purchased $12 worth of farm products for eight weeks, or the summer season, more than $200 million would be put back into the farmers' pockets.

If you need some ideas on what to do with local food, here are some tips and recipes.

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 3:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Events
        

What better way to spend your Saturday than doing a little tidying up, and then reward yourself with a nice cookout?

The C.A.R.E. Community has organized a cleanup starting at 9 a.m. Saturday morning for the neighborhood around Madeira Street Garden, in the 400 block N. Madeira St. Alex Van Breukelen of the group's "cleaner greener" committee reports that the city is expected to drop off a Dumpster to receive debris collected by residents and other volunteers (outside help welcome).

The city also is to deliver 130 recycling containers at the garden, paid for by the Baltimore Community Foundation and Banner Neighborhoods, to be distributed to residents who signed up for them. City officials will be on hand to explain the new trash and recycling rules.

Then, once the serious business has been taken care of, grills get lit at noon for a neighborhood cookout. For more info, contact Alex at 910-207-1111.

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 9:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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On Nov.14, the Watkins Nature Center in Upper Marlboro will host “Trash to Treasure: A Green Craft Fair.” This event will be the first of its kind within Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission.

The nature center is looking for individuals and organizations that create arts and crafts from reused, recycled, responsibly harvested/natural or sustainable products. If you are interested in being a vendor, RSVP to Carla.rohde@pgparks.com.

Posted by Christy Zuccarini at 5:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Events
        

Think the hard labor of farming can change the criminal mind?  

Might want to check out the National Geographic Channel at 8 p.m. tonight for the sequel to an award-winning documentary made a decade ago called The Farm.

It’s about the lives of six "lifer" inmates serving their time in the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, a notorious prison known as "The Farm." It’s a real farm covering 18,000 acres of a former slave plantation.

You can see the original film here. According to a release from the filmmakers, the warden has used the hard labor of farming, as well as some religion, to rehab his hard-core charges – more than half of the inmates are murderers and 95 percent of them will live the rest of their lives in prison.

Filmmakers say The Farm is now a "vibrant, almost self-sustaining agricultural community raising millions of pounds of vegetables, hundreds of workhorses, and thousands of cattle -- even though the grass-fed beef they raise is considered too much of a luxury for the prisoners, and is sold in the marketplace."

Photo of inmates being lead by a guard on horseback in "The Farm," courtesy of National Geographic

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 11:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Events
        

Explore the beauty of the Chesapeake Bay's rivers, and learn firsthand about the threats to their vitality, by spending some time on - or in - them.

The Sojourn on the Patuxent, a leisurely five-day canoe/kayak trek covering 20 miles of the river, pushes off on Thursday, June 18, from around Upper Marlboro. It features a blues and folk concert, talks by local experts, an owl prowl, moonlight creek paddle, camping and camaraderie. You can join for as short or long a time as you like, but space is strictly limited. For registration or other information, go here or call Patuxent Riverkeeper at 301-249-8200 ext 2.

If that's not enough, or too soon, then there's the Potomac River Ramble from June 24 to 28, another paddling expedition that features riverside camping, catered meals, live music, restoration projects and environmental education. Sponsored by the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin and River and Trail Outfitters, this year's ramble takes in both the "nation's river" and one of its tributaries, the Monocacy, starting at Pine Cliff Park in Frederick. Learn from experts about the river's ecology and its problems, including aquatic species and inter-sex fish. No paddling experience required. For more information go here.

(Photo courtesy of the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 8:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Events
        

Like all things berries?

The 4th Annual Native Berry Festival is June 20 in Herring Run Park, off Belair Road, from noon to 5 p.m. There will be live music, native plants, exhibitors, games for kids, and yes, lots of native berries and berry related events -- including a native berry dessert contest.

The event is FREE. 

About that berry contest: Celebrity judges include the chef-owners of Clementine and Chameleon and others. The winning dessert will be featured for a limited time on the menu at Clementine. (For a donation, you can get a taste of the entries.)

There will also be food from Big Bad Wolfe BBQ and drinks from Brewers Art and Boordy Vineyards for sale. Live music from the Stone Hill Allstars,  Joy Ike and Satabdi Express.

Also on hand will be an actual FEMA trailer, named the Armadillo, deployed after Hurricane Katrina that MIT in Boston turned into a mobile and sustainable community garden.  There will be instruction on how to build gardens out of other recycled materials. 

Side Street Projects -- a mobile artist nonprofit based in Pasadena, Calif. that recently won The Armadillo after a nationwide search by MIT -- is offering the container for show. The group is seeking donations of clean 2-liter soda bottles, plastic grocery bags, and old telephone and Internet cables for use at the planter workshop.

The event will benefit the Herring Run Watershed Association, which works on watershed restoration, tree plantings, rain gardens, stream clean-ups and stormwater management. For more information, call 410-254-1577.

Baltimore Sun photo of Herring Run Park by Kim Hairston

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

Earrings made from recycled vintage plates by The Broken Plate Pendant Company, who will be at Great Grapes this weekend.

Don’t miss the Great Grapes Wine Festival on Saturday and Sunday at Oregon Ridge Park in Cockeysville from noon-6 p.m. Enjoy local wines, organic food and handmade goods from area crafters. Tickets are available online at www.uncorkthefun.com.

Posted by Christy Zuccarini at 4:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Events
        

Baltimore's Department of Recreation and Parks has a bunch of stuff going on this weekend, if you're looking for something outdoorsy to do:

--Morning canoe/kayak escape at Middle Branch Park, 3301 Waterview Ave., 10 a.m. Saturday, 410-396-0440, pre-registration required 24-hours in advance, recommended for 5 and up, $5. Paddle around and see the city from another view.

--Butterfly Flowers at the Carrie Murray Nature Center, 1901 Ridgetop Road, noon-2 p.m. Saturday, 410-396-0808, for all ages, $3 for adults, $1 for kids 5 and under. Learn which flowers are best to attract butterfies and get answers to other questions.

--2nd Sundays in Leakin Park, 4921 Windsor Mill Road, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday, 410-396-0440, for all ages, free. See animals, ride trains, go for a hike or just tour the mansion and grounds.

--Tour Dem Parks, Hon Bike Ride, Carroll Park, 1500 Washington Blvd., 8 a.m.-1 p.m., 410-926-4195, all ages, $35, first 400 riders get a t-shirt. See the parks and enjoy jazz and BBQ afterward.

Baltimore Sun file photo/Lloyd Fox 

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Events
        

More than 100 especially eco-conscious Maryland high school students will compete in the Envirothon, a three-day natural resources competition in the coming week at Mount St. Mary's University in Emmitsburg.

These kids are tops in their counties, and the winner from the next round will represent the state at the Canon Envirothon, the largest environmental education competition in North America, in Asheville, N.C., August 2-8.

The event is only open to family and guests of competitors, but I thought it would be nice if the kids got some recognition for a job already well done. And, more importantly, if you have a high school student who wants to get involved, even start a group at his or her school, contact Beth Horsey at the Maryland Department of Agriculture at 410-841-5865 or horseyea@mda.state.md.us.

The event is sponsored by soil conservation districts and the state Soil Conservation Committee.

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Events
        

It’s only been a couple of weeks since the Tuesday Market in Hamilton started up and the feedback so far has been positive. “The market is a great and a welcome change to the neighborhood,” says Hamilton resident Elizabeth Fletcher. “I think it will be a huge success in the future. And hopefully I will be one of the vendors.” She adds, “It’s a great family outing and it is dog friendly.”

Hosted in a formerly abandoned filling station at 4500 Harford Road, this weekly market features locally grown food, native plants, handmade goods and live music. Stop by and check it out from 4-8 p.m. If you’re interested in becoming a vendor, contact Adam Fisher at tuesdaymarket@hamiltonlauravillemainstreet.org.

Posted by Christy Zuccarini at 3:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Events
        

Take a ride around the city on your bike and change the car culture.

One Less Car, which advocates for biking, walking and mass transit, has opened registration for its Tour du Port.

The event is Oct. 4, and riders meet at the Korean War Memorial in Canton at 7:30. Rides range from 12 to 51 miles.

There are refreshments on the ride and food at the end. Last year, that meant peanut butter bagels during the ride and pizza on the waterfront at the end. Commemorative t-shirts are extra.

Mostly, I found drivers are okay with all those bikers on the road. Anyone done the ride? Do you regularly ride to work in traffic and have tips for the rest of us? What should One Less Car or transportation planners be doing to make the ride better?

Image courtesy of One Less Car

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Events
        

The future of Baltimore as a sustainable, as well as cleaner and greener, city will be the topic of a workshop to be held June 11 at the Maryland Historical Society on Monument Street.

The event is being hosted by the Cambridge, Mass.-based Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and the Baltimore-based Parks & People Foundation’s Urban Resources Initiative. It’s one in a series of symposiums around the country based on geographer Rutherford H. Platt’s book and DVD called The Humane Metropolis.

It will highlight locally based strategies for urban improvement. There will be 30 speakers including Mary Washington from the Parks & People Foundation, Lenneal J. Henderson of the University of Baltimore, Baltimore City Recreation and Parks Director Wanda S. Durden and Dr. Steward Pickett of the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies.

There will be sessions on such topics such as urban parks, growing food, reviving urban streams and urban ecology. The workshop is booked but there is a waiting list.

Photo coutesy of Rutherford H. Platt

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

The 7th annual Tour dem Parks, Hon! bike ride is June 14.

There are several options for rides: 12, 20, 35 or 64 miles, but they all wind around Baltimore parks and neighborhoods.

The event begins and ends in Carroll Park in southwest Baltimore, 1500 Washington Blvd., and it’s sponsored by the Baltimore City Department of Recreation and Parks and the Baltimore Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Committee.

There’s a barbecue and jazz as a reward for finishing.

The cost is $30 for singles and $45 for couples. JThe cost is $35 for singles and $50 for couples. Kids under 10 are $5 and teens under 16 are $15. The money goes to improve the city park system.

You can register online or get more information at tourdemparks.org.

Know of a green event? Let us know.

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 7:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Events
        

If you're looking for a volunteer opportunity and don't mind getting a little dirty, the National Aquarium people are headed to Poplar Island in the upper Chesapeake Bay, about 34 miles south of Baltimore, to plant marsh grasses.

The 1,000-acre commuity was once thriving, but by 1994 there was just four acres. New grasses will provide habitat for wildlife, reduce potential for erosion and stabilize the site, the aquarium officials say. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Maryland Port Administration, the Maryland Environmental Service, and the aquarium are working on this restoration project and hosting events today through Saturday.

Volunteers must be at least 10 years old because of work conditions.

For more information, call 410-659-4274 or e-mail to conserve@aqua.org. To sign up, click here.

Photo courtesy of the National Aquarium

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 11:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Events
        

Ever wonder what to do with your dusty old books or last year’s holiday wrapping paper? Sign up for Tilt Studio’s new series of book making classes, which are being held at the gallery in Charles Village. The classes are part of an effort that Tilt is making to expand its artist community and enrich artist talents. Here’s the scoop:

DATES & CLASSES

Saturdays June 12-27 10 a.m.-noon

2616 N. Calvert St. Baltimore, 21218

Learn from 3 different teachers as they explore the art of paper making, bindings and paste papers.

Price: $35 a class

June 13: Paste Papers
Creating Paste Papers can be fun and messy. Bring your studio clothes. Sam Merrick will teach the ways of creating painting and mark making techniques.

June 20: Covers
Bring your paste papers, wrapping paper, or fabric and learn the ways of making book covers.

June 27: Rebinding
Old made into New. Using the Coptic binding technique, Christopher Cass makes old books into working journals.

For more information, contact Jessica Pegorsch at jmp@tiltstudioinc.com.

Local crafter of machines uses recylced materials and handmade papers for her hand bound books.

(Image courtesy of of machines)

Posted by Christy Zuccarini at 4:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: DIY, Events
        

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources is holding an hour-long workshop at noon on June 19 to show Marylanders how to use 55-gallon rain barrels to collect roof water runoff. You can even make them pretty like these ones from a Chicago-area home.

DNR says a 1,000-square-foot house produces more than 630 gallons of runoff during a summer storm. Barrels slow the runoff of the nitrogen-rich water into the streams and Chesapeake Bay.

Cost is $80, which includes a barrel. The registration deadline is June 10. Click here for the registration form. Call 410-260-8715 with questions or e-mail Elena S. Takaki at etakaki@dnr.state.md.us.

(Just one side tip from a farmer I know: If you want a rain barrel but worry about mosquitoes, buy a few goldfish. They can live in the barrel and eat the larvae.)

Photo from the Chicago Tribune

Posted by Meredith Cohn at 7:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Events