As a staff member who spends most of her time in front of a computer and out in the field assessing homes for runoff reduction opportunities yesterday was an exciting change of pace and more than a little bit rewarding. I’ve spent the past three years working for Blue Water Baltimore (and the Jones Falls…
Stewards of streams and rivers in highly developed areas like Baltimore inevitably spend more of their energy on restoration than on conservation. We often feel this dynamic at Blue Water Baltimore. Occasionally, though, a true conservation opportunity arises and recently one has: preserving Dipping Pond Run. Dipping Pond Run is an intact stream system and…
In the United States we are blessed to have tremendous protections afforded to us by the Clean Water Act and other Federal and state environmental laws. Citizens of other nations lack the most basic legal protection preventing sewage or untreated industrial waste from contaminating their drinking water and natural resources. However, great legal protections do…
Have you ever wondered where those blue and white barrels come from, those “rain barrels”? You may have heard that they’re recycled, but what does that mean? And how about “food-grade”? Come along for a trip from start to finish in…The Life Of A Rain Barrel! Let’s start with one of our most consistent sources…
Rain is great. I heartily encourage my kids to stick out their tongues and catch a few cold drops of precious spring moisture every April. Rain on impervious surfaces, however, is bad. In our developed environment, impervious surfaces such as streets, sidewalks, parking lots, and roofs are often more prevalent than green space. And lacking…
[Note: This post was written by T.J. Mullen, President of BMP Inc. and Chairman of the Blue Water Baltimore Board of Directors.] My son Jack and I accompanied a lively group from Blue Water Baltimore to Annapolis on Wednesday, March 28th 2012, for the Rally for Clean Water, organized by the Clean Water, Healthy Families…
Last week, in the first part of this two part series on water pollution, I explored the connection between energy, water, and pollution. This week my focus is on the home: how water and pollution are connected to where we rest our heads. You’ve likely heard the terms stormwater and urban runoff (if you’d like…
[Note: This post was written by Dana Puzey, program manager for the Water Audit program, and is the first of a two-part series on how you can reduce your ecological footprint as an individual.] When you are tuned into local environmental issues, you hear the rallying cries against water pollution all the time: Save the…
This is meant to be a blog post about Blue Water Baltimore’s advocacy work – and it is – but I’m going to make it a wee bit personal. My name is Mike Aaron. I’ve now been working for Blue Water Baltimore for five months. I was hired for both administrative and advocacy support, which…
Controlling stormwater pollution is a year-round concern, one that matters in winter just as much as spring and summer. When the temperature drops, vast amounts of deicing chemicals are dumped by the truckload across our roads, sidewalks, and driveways. With each thaw, all that salt washes directly into our waterways. Freezing temperatures also lead to broken pipes, which…