What makes a community thrive? Neighbors like Cynthia Tensley, that's for sure! This month, we’re shining the spotlight on this amazing woman who is also the President of the Carrollton Ridge Community Association. Inspired by her faith and the joy in helping others, she’s worked with neighbors to clean up alleys and transform vacant lots into community gardens and gathering spaces. 

Baltimore is working to cut city-wide food waste in half by 2030 with the support of our Food Matters Program. Food waste reduction is being approached in several ways including by: engaging with schools and institutions to reduce food waste in their cafeterias; creating a network of community compost locations; and Farmers’ Market residential food-scrap collection programs at both the 32nd St and JFX markets. Between May and December of 2019, we diverted 20,000 lbs from our landfil l via our market drop-off programs alone! We partner with three local farms ( Liberty Delight Farms , Albright Farms , and Pahl's Farm ) that receive the compost and then use the rich organic nutrients to feed their pigs!

You can drop off your compost at the 32nd St Farmers Market Saturdays from 7am-noon @ 32nd St and Barclay St all winter long. Not sure what can be composted? Download this informational sheet. Fun fact- you can keep your organic food scraps in your freezer until you are ready to drop them off so they don't smell or attract pests!

If you are part of an environmental / nature-based organization who is interested in becoming a 'green' YouthWorks host site this summer, keep reading. Baltimore's Cities Connecting Children to Nature team held a webinar detailing how to become a host site. The program is part of a larger city strategy to increase youth exposure to nature-based environmental careers. Host site registration is open through March 31st. You can also read more about our office's work with this program here.

On Monday, January 13th, Mayor Young signed the Comprehensive Bag Reduction Act into law after the bill passed through City Council on November 18th. This law bans the retail distribution of plastic grocery bags but allows Baltimore retailers to charge customers 5 cents for distribution of other bag materials such as paper. The overall goal is to encourage residents to switch to using reusable bags to reduce single-use items. Retailers have one year to make adjustments before the law goes into effect. Single-use plastics are a serious challenge for our city and our world. They are made from fossil fuels and contribute to climate change through their extraction, manufacture, and transportation. They also pollute our environment, clog storm drains, degrade the quality of our waterways, and kill marine life.

In the winter, our BGE bills are at their highest, but most of that energy is getting wasted! One way to save energy (and money) this winter? Turn down your thermostat just 2 degrees. 

Baltimore has some beautiful houses, but they’re old and leak a lot of heat. Try sealing the cracks in your window frames and doors with weather strips. If you want to go even further, you can also have energy-saving equipment installed by the Baltimore Energy Challenge or get your home retrofitted through Retrofit Baltimore. 

Let us know what your green resolutions are for 2020! Tag us on social media #sustainbmore so we can follow along with your progress and hold each other accountable!