Aside from the beauty they add to our community, trees are an integral part of our environment by converting carbon dioxide to oxygen and decreasing air temperatures by offsetting "heat island" effects through the shade they provide. Trees provide erosion control which can protect our waterways.- Plant some trees. Trees can shade your home in the summer. Plant conifer (evergreen) windbreaks to keep winter winds from directly hitting the north side of your home. Organize your community to plant trees in open space areas, schools, and along stream banks. Don't forget to plant street trees in your community. Street trees add value to all of the homes in a neighborhood while placing shade over sidewalks and roadways. The special ambiance street trees create in a neighborhood over decades is irreplaceable.
Plant some trees on your property and get a $25 discount from the State of Maryland for each one. Download directions and coupons at http://www.trees.maryland.gov/. Fall is the absolute best time to plant trees because they will get sufficient watering as they go dormant. The Marylanders Plant Trees Program encourages you to plant substantial size native trees (the list is on the web site) so get the shovel and the wheelbarrow ready for some digging.
The Marylanders Plant Trees program goal is to have 50,000 trees planted on home sites in the State by 2010. Nurseries and Garden Centers in or near Carroll County Participating in the program are:
Dick's Garden Center, 1949 Liberty Rd., Eldersburg. MD
Schott Nurseries, 2932 Basehores Mill Rd., Taneytown, MD
Village Gardens (formerly Metzler's), 935 W Liberty Rd, Sykesville, MD
Glyndon Gardens, 205 Hanover Pike, Reisterstown, MD
Spring Meadow Farms, 15513 Hanover Pike, Upperco, MD 21155
Sun Nurseries, 14790 Bushey Park Rd. Woodbine, MD
DR Snell Nursery, Inc., 1025 Ridge Rd., Mt. Airy, MD 21771
Adopt a Road
Get the family or the neighbors together to clean up the neighborhood a few times a year. It only takes a few hours on a Saturday or Sunday to walk along a dedicated stretch of county road or state highway to pick up the litter that accumulates. And, you get a sign along that roadway that recognizes your group all year round. To adopt a county road, call 410-386-6717. To adopt a section of state highway in Carroll, call 410-848-6565.
Paper or Plastic? - Neither, Thank You!
Take your own re-usable cloth shopping bags with you when you shop. Yes, plastic bags can be recycled, but they are an oil byproduct and if you look at the landscape around you, you'll see it is littered with these lightweight escapees from the waste stream. In a landfill they can take up to 1,000 years to decompose! We all know where paper comes from. The singular use of paper bags for hauling groceries or sundries home is hardly a sustainable use of a forest.
Protect Our Air
The biggest contributors to air pollution outside that of industrial outputs are from vehicle emissions. Each of us can make a contribution to reducing our carbon footprint by reducing our use of our vehicles whenever possible.
- Think ahead. Try to combine trips and avoid unnecessary additional trips to the store or picking up the kids.
- Use public transportation when possible. For those short hauls, walk or bike.
- Don't idle. Please turn the engine off when there's no need to have it running. Unnecessary idling just results in more airborne pollution.
Hold Your Governments Accountable
Let's face it, you can't do it all on your own and you have every right to expect your federal, state, and local governments to set the examples of sustainability. You can ask your elected officials in local government - school board, town, and county governments - what they are doing to assure that every energy efficiency within reason is being achieved and that governments and schools are operated in a sustainable manner.
A well-informed public behaves in an informed manner and can hold its officials accountable. Conversely, a poorly-informed public is pretty well left in the dark and ignored. We encourage you to attend meetings of the Environmental Advisory Council and County Sustainability Committee and to share your thoughts on sustainability and the environment with the Sustainability Coordinator, Neil Ridgely at nridgely@ccg.carr.org.
Please visit this site often and take advantage of the numerous links to web sites that contain specialized information on various elements of renewable energy and a sustainable life style.