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Want to lessen your environmental impact? So does Kim. She has questions and offers solutions in this occasional column.Last month in this column we talked a little bit about winterizing your home. Experts recommend doing many things to prepare for the winter, including installing energy-efficient doors and windows, maintaining your furnace, adding insulation, and more. But sometimes it can be difficult to know where to start. Here's a tip: BGE offers lots of useful information on its website. And the company also offer customers the option to save on their energy costs and lessen their carbon footprint through participation in one or more of the BGE Smart Energy Savers Programs, which were established in …
Last month Governor Martin O’Malley and U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar together noted that the federal government announced that wind energy projects off the Mid-Atlantic coast would cause “no significant environmental damage.” According to The Washington Post this finding removes “one of several expected regulatory hurdles to wind farm construction sought by O’Malley and governors in other East Coast states.”O’Malley explained that the development would aid efforts in Maryland and elsewhere to make offshore wind a reality.This is a big deal for a number of reasons. Currently, more …
Drafts are blowing through my 38-year-old house. In the family room in particular, it’s icy cold on the (carpeted) floor where my kids play and I’m bundled in my Snuggie on the couch. So far it’s been a fairly mild winter, but those windy days seem to seep through every crack and crevice of the doors and windows and down through the chimney. My back door is the worst offender: if you press your eye to the place where the door meets the wall you can see the backyard. That isn’t right. So, we’ve begun to take steps to make our home more energy efficient and warmer, and to hopefully reduce our …
Each year my family treks to the tree farm, picks one that looks special and cuts it down. I’m torn on whether that is earth-friendly or not. Yes, we eventually kill the tree (often sooner than anticipated) but at the same time, we make an effort to plant trees in our yard each year, and we can be sure the tree farm is re-planting. Ok, ok, I’m probably defending my tradition here even though it might not be the best choice. But the experts say it’s still environmentally better than a fake tree. Fake trees are often made with lead-bearing PVC, “the production and incineration of which …
Earlier this week I read about a couple of recent food recalls that shocked me. I wasn’t shocked by the recalls themselves – after all, these things have become sadly commonplace. I was appalled at the timing of the recalls. On the night before Thanksgiving, Ocean Spray recalled certain lots of their dried cranberries – Craisins. That same evening a grocery chain recalled lots of canned pumpkin. These recalls were suspiciously timed to occur just as people were travelling and families were preparing for the Thanksgiving holiday, probably featuring cranberries and pumpkin pie. An Msnbc.com …
Last week I had 15 lovely sapling trees delivered to my home by the Natural Resources Division of the Department of Recreation & Parks. This weekend will be spent planting them along the banks of the stream that runs along our property. We were lucky enough to qualify for Howard County’s Stream ReLeaf Program. The program is designed to augment stream buffers, which are the protective coverings of trees, shrubs and other vegetation along the banks of a stream, by providing free native trees and shrubs to qualifying homeowners. In return, the homeowner commits to planting the trees and shrubs…
The installation of 2000 solar panels at the site of the former New Cut Landfill has begun. The panels, when operational at the end of November, will cover over two acres of the landfill cap. The solar arrays are expected to produce approximately 90 percent of the energy needs for the adjacent Worthington Elementary School. According to the Office of Public Information, the panels will be “located 6 feet above the ground and will be titled at 30 degree angles to track the sun.” They note that in addition to the long and short term cost savings associated with the project, the County “aims …
We are lucky to live in an area that takes pride in supporting eco-friendly events, and there are a number of really great “green” and conservation-minded events this weekend in Howard County. Besides the very useful recycling and shredding event tomorrow, be sure to check out one of the free family events offered as well. Then on Sunday, educate yourself about “fracking” at a free lecture. Saturday Oct. 15 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. @ the Meadowbrook Park & Ride (5001 Meadowbrook Lane, Ellicott City) Howard County is offering a free document shredding and electronics recycling event. …
