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.
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
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"" »
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)
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
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.
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)
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)
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
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)
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
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
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
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.
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.
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.
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Bill McKibben | ||||
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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)
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
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?
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
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" »
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?" »
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
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.
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?
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
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.
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)
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
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.)
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.
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.
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?" »
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)
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)
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
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)
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.
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.)
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)
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
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.
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
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.
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.
Go to the Creative Alliance Web site for tickets. They're $12. And in the meantime, check out this video clip:
Continue reading "Coming to Baltimore: "Fresh," a film about food" »
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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
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
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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)
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
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.
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
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.
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.
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
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
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.
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
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)
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
The Baltimore Green Map is celebrating its first year's accomplishments this Friday (World Environment Day) from 5:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m. at the Rawlings Conservatory in Druid Hill Park.
The map site is a collection of ecological resources offered up from local people. It's now topping 2,300 visitors a month. There are icons, which conform to a network of international mappers, and pinpoint farmers' markets, museums, parks, consignment shops, green buildings and even places in need of cleaning.
Take a look for eco-opportunities in your neighborhood. Or stop by the event. There will be map displays, interactive demonstrations and opportunities to add sites. There will also be music and food, thanks to co-hosts Friends of Druid Hill Park. RSVP at rsvp@baltogreenmap.org.
The Friends of Druid Hill Park are our co-hosts for this event which will include map displays and interactive demonstrations, music, light refreshments and, of course, opportunities to add sites to Baltimore's Green Map. (We thank Dogwood, Gertrude's, Golden West, Whole Foods, Zia's Cafe, Clipper City and Woodhall Winery for their contributions to the festivities.)
Attention conservation organizations! The annual National River Rally heads to Baltimore this weekend.
It's a series of workshops, lectures and exhibits aimed at the environmentally minded. There will be sessions on non-profit management, fundraising and techbology, among others.
More than 500 groups are expected from around the country for the event, sponsored by the River Network.
You can sign up on the spot, at the Hyatt Regency, on Friday. Here are some contacts and information.
If you go, report back.
Photo courtesy of River Network
Clear the trash and the weeds and give the fish, birds and wildlife a good home.
That’s the message from the Gwynns Falls Trail Council, which along with the outdoor store REI, is hosting National Trails Day, with a service project focused on the Middle Branch Park of the Patapsco River.
Participants will meet at Middle Branch Park, 3301 Waterview Ave., clear the Middle Branch from 8:30 a.m.-1 p.m. on June 6.
For more information or to register, call 410-448-5663, ext. 113, or e-mail info@gwynnsfallstrail.org.
Baltimore Sun file photo
Meredith Cohn has been a reporter for more than 18 years and has covered a variety of subjects, from airlines and agriculture to politics and health and fitness. She's gained an appreciation for the environment as a biker, runner and dog walker. She also hopes this blog means coworkers will stop staring when she carries home recyclables from the office.
Tim Wheeler reports on the environment and Chesapeake Bay. A native of West Virginia, he has focused mainly on Maryland's environment since moving here in 1983. Along the way, he's crewed aboard a skipjack in the bay, canoed under city streets up the Jones Fall from the Inner Harbor, and gone deep underground in a western Maryland coal mine. He loves seafood, rambles in the country and good stories. He hopes to share some here.