[Note: guest post from T.J. Mullen, chairman of the board of directors at Blue Water Baltimore] Lately there’s been a lot of buzz about women business leaders, and how we need more of them. At Blue Water Baltimore, we’re fortunate to have one such leader at our helm. On July 10th I was very pleased…
[Note: This week we are joining author Jennifer Chambers, the Chesapeake Bay Trust, and the Alice Ferguson Foundation in a blog tour to celebrate children as watershed heroes, which is the subject of her new book aimed at young people.] At Blue Water Baltimore, we know that the health of our communities is inextricably linked…
Stormwater runoff is a long-ignored and growing source of pollution and sediment—which hurts the quality of our streams, the harbor and the entire Chesapeake Bay—and causes flooding and property damage. Our 2012 Healthy Harbor Report Card grade of C- illustrates the impact that stormwater pollution can have even in a relatively dry year. Baltimore City…
We are excited to announce that the newly released Healthy Harbor Report Card 2012 contains our annual assessment for the Baltimore Harbor. This year the Harbor received an overall grade of C-. The Harbor’s grade, which is based upon 2012 monitoring data collected by the Baltimore Harbor Waterkeeper, was higher than we expected. Still, the Harbor…
In the next week, there are important hearings about SB 576 / HB 1086, also known as the “Maryland Bag Bill,” to reduce the number of plastic shopping bags that litter our streams. The bill establishes a five-cent fee for single-use plastic and paper carryout bags with the proceeds to be split among retailers, counties,…
[Note: This guest blog post was written by Emily Delaney, a student at Loyola University Maryland. Emily led a Spring Break Outreach trip that included water quality testing in West Virginia coal country and ended with a day of volunteering at Herring Run Nursery.] Spring Break Outreach through Loyola University Maryland is a weeklong service immersion…
At Herring Run Nursery our favorite native shrubs are ones that can multitask: they are beautiful, attract wildlife, and help reduce storm water pollution. One of the very best of multitasking native shrubs is Ilex verticillata, or winterberry holly. A gorgeous landscape plant, winterberry is a native deciduous holly. After the leaves drop in fall,…
If you are as excited about getting outdoors as I am, I encourage you to check out the many ways you can volunteer with us this March. Everything we do at Blue Water Baltimore is designed to result in better streams and healthier communities. We are offering volunteer trainings in FOUR different programs this month!…
If you live in Baltimore, hydraulic fracturing (aka “fracking”) in Maryland might seem like someone else’s problem. After all, it’s not very likely that we’ll see fracking in Patterson Park. Yet, Blue Water Baltimore is taking a strong stance that we need a ban on fracking in Maryland. And we think you should too. Why?…
Two weeks ago, I had the privilege of attending the 2013 Environmental Legislative Summit in Annapolis, hosted by the Citizen’s Campaign for the Environment. Halle, our executive director,had asked me to represent Blue Water Baltimore at the Summit, and I happily agreed. To be honest, though, I always feel hesitant about going to Annapolis. And…