All Posts Tagged With: "DIY"

In honor of Green Week Baltimore I wanted to highlight a few important efforts that I’ve come across in the past couple of months. The MTA of Maryland has implemented a Green Facts page on their website. This interactive page provides information on all the energy alternatives which are taking place within our Mass Transit system. We currently have 10 hybrid diesel-electric buses and coming soon are some 100% biodiesel conversions and much more. Parks and People Foundation of Baltimore has created the Community Greening Resource Network (CGREN) , a membership program supporting Baltimore City community gardeners with materials like seeds, plants, tools, and educational hand-outs and downloadable PDFs. There are a list of upcoming events and workshops on their calender and ours that include information on composting, rainbarrel systems, etc. This year I’ve signed up to be a member of the Village Green Community Garden in Remington and will be making visits around to as many other community gardens as I can. Check back soon to hear more about the exciting momentum stirring around urban farming city-wide! In addition to active green spaces, the city has also set a goal of increasing its tree canopy from 20 percent to 40 percent. The Growing Home program is an innovative public-private partnership between Baltimore County, Baltimore City, Harford County, 50 local retail nurseries and garden centers, and homeowners to increase the tree canopy in the region by offering homeowners comprehensive education about planting trees and a cash incentive, the $10 Growing Home Tree Coupon redeemable toward the purchase of a qualifying tree with a retail value of at least $25.

I leave you with this quote from critic and urban activist Jane Jacobs, "No one can find what will work for our cities by looking at..suburban garden cities, manipulating scale models, or inventing dream cities. You’ve got to get out and walk." Be the green you wish to see in the world. There are hundreds of ways to get involved. Check our calender for more Green Week Events.

Other urban farming/gardening resources:

Intervale Center

Growing Power

Rhizome Collective

Fresh Start Farm

Everyone is familiar with those lists of 10 things or 20 or 100 things you can do to lower your carbon footprint and to live a more healthy, energy efficient lifestyle, right? Well, we thought you’d like to tell us and our web audience what’s missing from those lists. What have you tried?

The purpose of this project is to have a platform to amplify the importance of small deeds that help the environment and to visualize how each person is contributing to a lighter load on our planet. It’s like a doodle conversation on cocktail napkins.

Remember postcards? Those analogue relics that people used to use to communicate with each other? Being artistic types, we would love to receive one from you. We picture papering the walls of our office with them — great creative works of art, showcasing the wealth of earth-concerned actions in our communities.

And we close with those famous Margaret Mead words: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

Send your ideas by MARCH 20th to :
GOforChange
2002 Clipper Mill Park Rd.
4th Floor
Baltimore, MD 21211

The first 20 people that send us a card will received a FREE pdf copy of our 25 page Your Green Home Manual. It’s full of great information and beautiful drawings!

The egg has been an important part of our diet for centuries. Hens have been domesticated in Europe since 600 B.C. and were probably first brought to the New World by Columbus in 1493. Offering 13 essential nutrients, it’s no wonder the egg has remained a staple for this long. According to Mother Earth News, hens raised in a pasture and on a plant-based diet produce eggs that have:
• 1/3 less cholesterol
• 1/4 less saturated fat
• 2/3 more vitamin A
• 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids
• 3 times more vitamin E
• 7 times more beta carotene

If you’re finding that free range organic eggs from the store just aren’t the right price, consider owning a few hens. The city allows up to three, as long as they are at least 20-25ft from any one resident. That’s perfect for any row home in Baltimore. I’ll be helping a neighbor build a chicken coop come spring, next to the Remington Village Green Community Garden . Check back in the next couple weeks for more hen info, progress on the coop design and other experiments!

A couple of years ago, I worked for a Poster Restoration Company and walked passed this impressive fence design every day. I knew nothing of its creator, but could tell that the posts are made from chunks of salvaged concrete. Natural builders have coined the name "urbanite" for this repurposed concrete material. (Yes — that’s "urbanite" — same name as our beloved local magazine !) I was particularly impressed with the detailed wood cuts that form so nicely around the posts.

Read on to see other uses for urbanite. Continued

ISky was created in 2007. With its offices located in Takoma Park, Maryland, 1Sky is helping raise the bar for leadership on climate change action in the context of the 2008 elections and the new Obama Administration. Their goal is to “create bold federal action by 2010 that can reverse global warming,” by “identifying steps our leaders need to take in order to shift our nation away from global warming and toward the prosperity of a green economy.” They have engaged a network of leading scientists and economists to create the 1Sky Solutions and have a growing number of allies working directly with them for this same common goal.
A few solutions are to:
* CREATE 5 MILLION GREEN JOBS in order to conserve 20% of our energy by 2015.
*FREEZE CLIMATE POLLUTION levels now then cut by at least 25% below 1990 levels by 2020 and 80% by 2050.
* NO NEW COAL PLANTS that emit global warming pollution; invest in renewable energy.
One of my personal highlights from their site is a list of Climate Matters Video contest winners. My favorite is “This Lawn is Your Lawn” by Roger Doiron which is also a part of a website called EatTheView.org that is petitioning for President Elect Obama to act on climate control and send a message to millions of Americans by planting a garden on the White House lawn. After watching I can’t help but note artist Fritz Haegs project Edible Estates which expressed similar sentiments about the front lawn at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. Haeg visited Baltimore this past spring to continue his project on a front lawn in West Baltimore where artists, homeowners and community peoples participated in planting a vegetable garden. Haeg’s visit was also in tandem with the addition of several DIY community lead gardens on abandon lots around the city; Participation Park and Village Green Community Garden in Remington , to name a few that started in 2007. Mayor Sheila Dixon expressed her interest and support of revitalizing grassroots efforts for healthy food = healthy communities by visiting a few gardens Sat. Oct. 18th, which came just three days after she joined Robert F. Kennedy, Jr , the nations forerunner in environmental activism, and 9,000 other delegates at the Baltimore Convention Center for the National Recreation and Park Association Congress and Exposition.

This past weekend I visited a Baltimore Free Store event usually held on monthly at different locations around the city for one day only. Here, you can find goodies of all kinds on display, free of charge. There were lots of toys, clothes and household trinkets, suitable for gifting — or, as raw materials for your creative urges. I got a couple shirts, a sweater and some retro fabric. There’s nothing like making something wonderful out of free stuff.

Then it was off to the Charm City Craft Mafia Show at St. John’s Church. Some favorite new discoveries came from Caitlin Phillips, Rebound Designs, and Baltimore’s own Spinster Yarns and Fibers . Continued

It’s the title of a new book by Rhizome Collective members Stacy Pettigrew and Scott Kellogg. I was fortunate to hear Scott speak last night about this excellent city living users guide to a more holistic life. The talk began as I sat on a couch watching the sun go down though the brilliantly lit stain glass windows of the St. John’s church.

The book, as Scott describes highlights proactive uses for basic humans needs; how to pasteurize your own water because who needs all that added chorine from the water treatment plant. There are plants that can be easily grown in your small cement padded backyard, for example duckweed that has, as Scott mentions has, “more protein and nutrients then some meats.” After the talk Red Emma’s hosted a reception complete with yummy vegetarian bean and corn dishes!