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Sustainable Maryland Update
January 2017


New Year's Resolution: Get Sustainable Maryland Certified! / Congrats to Perryville on New Green Team / New MOST Center Videos / UPDATE: Prince George's County Pet Waste Management / EFC is Hiring! 
    
Our monthly sampling of news, resources, events and other items of interest from across the sustainability spectrum in Maryland. 

SM staff were in Perryville (Cecil County) in December for their first Green Team Meeting and Training
GRANT OPPORTUNITIES
EVENTS CALENDAR


Cultivate the Chesapeake Foodshed Conference
Dates: January 11-13
Location: College Park

Talk: How Washington DC Became One of the Greenest Cities in the World
Date: January 23
Location: Washington DC
Working Together: Healing Our Climate and Our Nation
Location: University of the District of Columbia
Dates: January 26-27
Looking Ahead

Architecture and Design Film Festival DC
Dates: February 22-25
Location: Washington, DC
Green Matters Symposium: Restoring and Renewing Our Urban Landscapes
Date: February 23
Location: Silver Spring
Bethesda Green - Fields of Green Internship Fair
Date: February 23
Location: Bethesda
National Bike Summit
Dates: March 5-7
Location: Washington, DC
    

   
SUSTAINABLE MARYLAND COMMUNITIES IN THE NEWS


Hyattsville Sees Success with BigBelly    

Residents Send in More Than 500 Letters to Protect Cheverly Green Space

Gaithersburg Hosts Solar Power Workshop

Dockless Bikeshare Expands to Takoma Park
REMINDER: SUSTAINABLE MARYLAND CERTIFICATION DEADLINE IS JUNE 30, 2018

It's not too early to start thinking about getting your community Sustainable Maryland Certified this year! How? First, if your community is not registered yet, pass the resolution to enroll in the program. If you are registered and have a Green Team, start identifying which Actions have been completed, and others from your Action Plan that can be completed in the next 6 months. Feel free to contact Mike Hunninghake at 301-405-7956 or [email protected] to schedule a phone call or visit to assess where your community stands currently, and to receive guidance and technical assistance in achieving certification or re-certification in 2018!

UPDATE: PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY PET WASTE MANAGEMENT - PHASE 1 COMPLETE; PHASE 2 BEGINS IN FEBRUARY
  
Sustainable Maryland staff are wrapping up our first year of work assisting Prince George's County's  Department of Environment with rolling out its Pet Waste Management initiative. This project, funded through a grant from the Chesapeake Bay Trust's (CBT) Prince George's Stormwater Stewardship Grant, enabled our staff to support municipalities in the County in their efforts to improve local water quality and neighborhood quality of life.

Stanley Mosely, Cottage City Town Administrator, with new "Scoop That Poop" car magnets
 
SM staff worked with the following towns in 2017 to install pet waste stations and conduct targeted outreach campaigns to residents:  Brentwood, Bladensburg, Cottage City, Edmonston, District Heights, and Landover Hills.

New pet waste station installed in District Heights  
Sustainable Maryland has received another round of funding from CBT to work with the following municipalities in 2018:
Berwyn Heights, Capitol Heights, Colmar Manor, Forest Heights, Hyattsville, and Seat Pleasant. We will also be working with several homeowners and civic associations in the county.
 
Contact Mike Hunninghake  at [email protected] or 301-405-7956 for more information about this ongoing initiative.
 
NEW MOST CENTER VIDEOS FEATURE P3 STORIES FROM TWO MARYLAND COMMUNITIES
 
The Municipal Online Stormwater Training (MOST) Center has released a four-part video series entitled " Public-Private Partnerships: Leveraging the Strengths of Government and the Private Sector ." These educational offerings highlight local leaders who are partnering with the private sector to better manage stormwater and achieve shared community goals. Two videos offer Maryland-based perspectives.
 
In Part 1 "Clean Water and Economic Opportunity," Adam Ortiz, Director of the Prince George's County Department of the Environment, describes how economic development was a core program goal in the County's Clean Water Partnership. In Part 3 "Full-Delivery Contract Model," Erik Michelsen, Administrator of Anne Arundel County's Watershed Protection and Restoration Program, discusses the County's first-of-its-kind contract system for implementing stormwater projects to comply with federal permits.

Tune in to the series to hear successes and lessons learned from seasoned practitioners to help evaluate if the P3 model could be an effective strategy in meeting your own community stormwater needs.

For additional information about this video series and other stormwater education and training offerings, please visit the MOST Center
.

EFC RECEIVES CBT GRANT TO HELP MONTGOMERY COUNTY CIVIC ASSOCIATIONS WITH STORMWATER MANAGEMENT
Rain Barrel Edmonston Town Hall
The Environmental Finance Center (EFC) has received a $77,000 grant from the Chesapeake Bay Trust to work with Montgomery County civic associations and their residents on stormwater management outreach and education. EFC staff will be convening stakeholders within the following communities to address issues like pet waste management, litter reduction, and pesticide reduction:

  • McKenney Hills-Carroll Knolls Civic Association
  • Wheaton Hills Civic Association
  • Glenmont Forest Neighbors Civic Association
SM staff will be working with civic association boards to publicize the County's rebate and incentive programs, and develop basic stormwater priority plans for each community.     
 
EFC IS HIRING! PROGRAM MANAGER POSITION - APPLICATION DEADLINE: JANUARY 31

The Environmental Finance Center (EFC) at UMD is looking for a Program Manager to provide program development, program management, and outreach leadership that supports and expands the EFC's programs and communications efforts. Demonstrated understanding of, and experience with, water resource, climate, sustainability and resilience issues, particularly at the community level is required. Understanding of methods used to finance community-based environmental efforts also preferred. Application deadline is January 31. Click here for more information and to apply. 
 
QUOTE

"We have a new normal. 2017 was not an outlier...We must have on our radar the trend of new magnitudes."

--Ernst Rauch, head of Munich Re's Corporate Climate Center, commenting on insurance pay claims of around $135 billion for 2017, the most ever, following a spate of hurricanes, earthquakes and fires in North America.
 
 
 

Sustainable Maryland is an initiative of the Environmental Finance Center at the University of Maryland. It is a free and voluntary program designed to help Maryland communities choose a direction for their sustainability efforts, improve access to resources needed to implement action, and recognize their accomplishments. Our sponsors include the US Environmental Protection Agency and the Maryland Municipal League. For more information about how your municipality can register in the Sustainable Maryland program, plus customized Green Team training and access to student resources that are available to provide consultancy services for municipal planning, please contact 301-405-7956 or [email protected]   

Mike Hunninghake
Program Manager 
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