Category: Planet

Maryland Master Gardeners aims to educate the community on sustainable gardening practices that enhance local landscapes and communities. Begun in 1978 and affiliated with the University of Maryland, the Master Gardeners Program utilizes University of Maryland professionals expertise in teaching students sustainable gardening. These students agree to then go on and teach local residents how to cultivate beautiful and productive garden spaces and manage local landscapes. Learn how to cultivate more useful soil and eradicate pesticides from your local landscapes by learning about local Master Gardener programs.

Tree-Mendous Maryland:Planting Trees for Healthy Communities and a Cleaner Chesapeake Bay. Whether you’re a home-owner, a county or municipal government, school or environmental group you can help donate, plant or dedicate a non-invasive tree to an organization of your choice. Buy a native tree for yourself, Tree-Mendous will give you great tips on planting, mulching and watering. Although it’s not mentioned they advocate non-toxic fertilizer we as consumers can offer a remedy. Mention it the next time you buy any tree or plant.

Maryland Animal Advocate is an all volunteer, non-profit foundation working to resue homeless and abandoned cats and dogs from the suburbs of Baltimore County to Annapolis. There program practices safe veterinary care to maintain the health and happiness of the feral and non-feral animal population. Started by several animal protection activists in 1994 MAA wishes to embrace an “egalitarian spirit” among people and animals alike.

This guy thinks that the “sea, birds, and fish are beyond the environment.” In other words not a part of it…hmm..? Check it out.

Is urban ecology an oxymoron? Not at all. The sooner we recognize that cities, people, and nature are inextricably linked, the better off we will all be. In order to broaden our focus from fixing what’s broken, we can treat this city as a design problem, as a system of interrelated parts, and begin to look for connections. Just by looking, we will surely find them.

As part of the 2008 Urbanite Project, I saw firsthand the critical connections between urban fishing, water quality, and public health. (”Fishing for Solutions,” March 2008 Urbanite.) Our proposal is to convene a diverse commission that would tackle the complex problem of Baltimore’s storm-water and waste-water with an ecological mindset.

The urban ecosystem is a system of networks and relationships, using nature as a mentor for how to foster healthy connections and environments. We can together consider both natural systems and human systems, for the benefit of both. Natural systems include sunlight, rainwater, clean air, wind, gardens, trees, and wildlife. Human systems include housing, stores, schools, jobs, history, arts and culture, and infrastructure.

The magic lies in the connections between these elements. Continued

The amount of carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere has raised about 35% since the Industrial Age, which would be just another boring statistic if it wasn’t for the fact that the gas plays a crucial role in climate change. The levels of CO₂ have been climbing, due in large part to what is often unnecessary human activity, and raising the global temperature all the while. In addition to these emissions, we’re also responsible for producing mass amounts of wasteful electricity and the burning of other fossil fuels like coal and natural gas. But whereas these actions once had practically imperceptible effects on our environment, our Earth is now starting to tell us otherwise, and it may not be too late to undo some of the damage. And fortunately for all of us, there are people out there that can help us do just that, whether you’re 20 years young, 80 years old, or somewhere in-between. Continued

Since 1954, The Cylburn Arboretum Association has been working to protect the Cylburn Arboretum, a nature preserve and city park of over 200 acres located in Baltimore City. The association is a volunteer organization whose mission in part is to work with the city to preserve Cylburn’s historic grounds and buildings through its horticultural and educational activities. They work cooperatively with the city of Baltimore Department of Recreation and Parks - Horticultural Division to sponsor year-round events for children and adults.