Carbon Neutrality Goal Announced, New Staff, Funding Opportunities, and More! |
Dear Baltimore Office of Sustainability Friends,
We want to wish everyone a Happy and Sustainable 2022!
The City of Baltimore has started the New Year off strong with a bold new commitment to achieve Carbon Neutrality by 2045. You can read more about this Scott Administration commitment under Office Happenings or check out the full press release. Another exciting advancement is the selection of a date for our 2022 Sustainability Open House. It will be June 8th, 2022 at the Shake & Bake Family Fun Center from 6-8 pm. Please save the date for this exciting event! We are looking for organizations from across the city to table and share their community-based initiatives that support sustainability and social equity. If your organization is interested in showcasing your work at the event, please complete this form. For questions, email us at sustainability@baltimorecity.gov.
Sustainability news is good news, so please keep reading!
Warm wishes for a happy and healthy start to 2022,
Baltimore Office of Sustainability Staff
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Teresa Stephens -- Upton Gardens of Hope |
For years, the vacant lots in West Baltimore that would become Upton Gardens of Hope were the dumping ground for everything from tires to building materials. The garden's founder, Gloria Luster, started the project with the goals of reducing the amount of illegal dumping, beautifying the area, and inviting residents to grow vegetables and flowers together.
In 1993, Teresa Stephens had recently returned to Baltimore after graduating from West Virginia State University. She connected immediately with urban gardening and became a Master Gardener via training from the University of Maryland Extension. Now, in addition to managing more than 15 plots at Gardens of Hope, she works with residents of Upton to “try gardening” organically in a free neighborhood space. The neighborhood accesses the lots through the City’s Adopt-A-Lot Program, which licenses vacant lots on a yearly basis at no cost to groups who commit to using the land as community green space. More than fifteen families participate in growing their own food at these spaces in Upton.
“There’s a change in people when they garden and finally see the results that great food and spaces bring when maintained by people who love the community... it’s an amazing transformation,” says Teresa.
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You don’t have to be a climate scientist or city planner to help improve the sustainability and resilience of Baltimore. Everyone has a story to tell about making Baltimore a stronger, fairer, and safer place for all of us. We’ve been collecting stories on our website, and we invite you to share yours with us by posting on social media with the hashtag #EveryStoryCounts and/or by emailing us.
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Mayor Scott Sets Goal to Achieve Carbon Neutrality by 2045 |
On Tuesday, January 18th, Mayor Brandon M. Scott announced an updated set of greenhouse gas emissions reductions goals for the City. Most notably, the Scott administration set a target to achieve Carbon Neutrality by 2045. The City is also aiming for a 30% reduction in emissions by 2025 and a 60% reduction by 2030. The 30-60-100 goal sets science-based targets that are more ambitious than the current State of Maryland goals and could ensure that residents see benefits, such as savings on energy bills, sooner. “Among our city’s challenges is the urgent need to respond to the climate emergency and chart a path for Baltimore toward reducing our greenhouse gas emissions while also working to adapt to existing threats, such as extreme heat and flooding,” said Lisa McNeilly, Director of the Office of Sustainability. “We are being proactive and updating Baltimore’s carbon neutrality goals to pave the way for us to tackle climate change head-on.”
As of 2017, the City had reduced emissions by 13% and anticipates seeing a reduction of 15-20% for 2020 (below 2007 levels). Wondering what you can do to help Baltimore meet these new goals? Baltimore's Climate Action Plan Update process is currently underway and there will be several ways for residents to engage. Please fill out this form if interested in getting involved or reach out to Climate Community Engagement Fellow Kas Tebbetts.
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New Staff -- Joanna Birch |
Joanna Birch is the City's new Floodplain Manager! Joanna was born and raised in Maryland. She's originally from St. Mary's County and grew up surrounded by water. She has more than a decade of experience working in data-driven mapping and environmental compliance in both the public and private sectors. Joanna holds a BS in Environmental Science from the University of Maryland, a Master of Arts in Teaching from Goucher College, and a Master's Certificate in Geographic Information Science from Penn State University. Her interests and hobbies include gardening and houseplants, spending time on the water, doing anything crafty, and making maps. Joanna can be reached at joanna.birch@baltimorecity.gov. |
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Environmental Offset Grant Recipients Announced |
Each year, the Office of Sustainability awards grants for environmental projects using some of the funds collected as mitigation for development projects with environmental requirements. For 2021, funds were awarded from both the Critical Area Management Program fund and the Forest Conservation fund. This grant opportunity is intended to encourage existing and prospective grantees to develop exciting ideas for projects that will restore and expand our tree canopy and urban forests, improve the quality of our waterways, and improve quality of life in Baltimore. The following 11 projects were funded:
- Creating a Green, Outdoor Education Space in an Urban Setting - Baltimore Community Tool Bank
- Engagement, Edge Management, & Equity through Urban Forest Restoration - Baltimore Green Space
- 21st Century Green School Campuses Initiative - Baltimore Tree Trust
- Baltimore Harbor Water Quality Monitoring Program - Blue Water Baltimore
- Tale of Two Gardens (Tree and Pollinator Gardens Enhancement) - Charm City Land Trusts, Inc.
- Masonville Cove Environmental Education Programming - Living Classrooms Foundation
- Johnston Square Environmental Clean and Green Apprenticeship - Rebuild Johnston Square Neighborhood Organization
- Tench Tilghman Environmental Restoration Project - Southeast Community Development Corporation
- The Stillmeadow Peace Park - Stillmeadow Community Projects, Inc.
- Broadway East Greening Initiative - The 6th Branch
- The Great Baltimore Oyster Partnership - Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore
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Sustainability Highlights |
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A map of CBT projects in Baltimore. |
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Chesapeake Bay Trust Open Funding Opportunities |
The Chesapeake Bay Trust (CBT) was created in 1985 by the Maryland General Assembly as a nonprofit grant-making organization dedicated to improving the watersheds of the Chesapeake Bay. CBT has six programs that are currently open for applications from Baltimore-area applicants, including the recently-announced Urban Trees Grant Program. The Urban Trees Program was called for by the Maryland General Assembly as a component of a 5,000,000-tree goal by 2031 and will fund tree planting projects in urban, underserved communities. The six programs currently accepting applications will fund research, hands-on restoration, outreach, and environmental education projects throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
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Attendees of the Trauma-Informed Care Press Conference. |
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Mayor Scott Announces $1.4M in Funding for Trauma-Informed Care Practices |
The City of Baltimore's Trauma-Informed Care Task Force was established in 2021 to explore and develop ways to prioritize the health and healing of our communities. On December 17th, Mayor Brandon Scott, Council Member Zeke Cohen (who chairs the task force), and task force leaders held a press conference at which the Mayor announced an investment of $1.4 million from the American Rescue Plan Act to support the work of the task force by funding things like community trainings for how to spot and respond to signs of trauma. Staff from the Office of Sustainability participate on the Policy Committee of the task force and recently presented to other members about the healing power of nature for youth. For more, check out WYPR's coverage of the press conference.
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Books + Articles our Staff are Reading |
Baltimore was recently featured, along with longtime partner in food waste reduction NRDC, on Aljazeera's The Take podcast. Listen to the full episode to learn more from Baltimore food-waste-reduction experts!
"They’re harmful to health, environment, and human rights - and now poised to dominate this century as an unchecked cause of climate change."
"...what can we do to reduce future harm? One big thing is to identify emerging threats and opportunities to protect biodiversity and proactively shape policies and actions to prevent harm early on. To this end, a group of scientists and conservation practitioners led by William Sutherland, professor of conservation biology at the University of Cambridge, each year creates and publishes a “horizon scan” of global trends with impacts for biodiversity. Read on for this year’s top picks..."
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To make this year more sustainable, consider small, simple changes you can commit to daily and maintain throughout the year. Don't overwhelm yourself with implementing these changes perfectly - set small, attainable goals, and soon they will become habitual!
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Bring a reusable bag when shopping at any retailer. This prevents waste and saves you money (the citywide Plastic Bag Ban went into effect on October 1st, 2021, which applies a 5-cent fee to any alternative bags provided at checkout).
- Make a few simple swaps such as transitioning from using paper towels to reusable handcloths and avoiding disposable kitchenware such as paper cups, plates, or plastic utensils. Reusable water bottles are fabulous!
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Start collecting your food scraps at home and drop them off at any one of the 7 locations around the city that are set up to collect wasted food. (*Note - the downtown Farmer's Market will be closed until April.) Keep the food scraps in your freezer to avoid smell until you are ready to drop them off.
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Upcycle or donate used items such as clothes or furniture.
- Consider car-free days during the week where you commit to using only active forms of transportation such as walking biking, or using public transportation - if and when possible.
- Reduce your energy usage at home (and save money!) by turning off lights you aren't using and setting the thermostat strategically when you're not home.
- Swap red meat for veggies once or twice a week.
- Shop locally at some of the amazing neighborhood retailers across the city instead of defaulting to large box stores.
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We Love Feedback
Tell us what you want to hear! Do you have ideas on newsletter content? Or would you like to nominate an organization or person to be featured? Email us at sustainability@baltimorecity.gov.
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Our Mission
The Office of Sustainability develops and advocates for programs and policies that improve Baltimore's long-term environmental, social, and economic viability.
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417 E Fayette St, 8th Floor
Baltimore, MD 21202
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Lead Editor: Aubrey Germ, Climate and Resilience Planner
Newsletter Contributors: Bruna Attila, Coastal Resources Planner + Acting Floodplain Manager; Valerie Bloom, Youth Sustainability Coordinator; Abby Cocke, Environmental Planner; Aubrey Germ, Climate and Resilience Planner; Amy Gilder-Busatti, Environmental Planner; Kimberley Knox, Green Network Coordinator; Lisa McNeilly, Sustainability Director; Ava Richardson, Sustainability Manager; Kas Tebbetts, Climate Community Engagement Fellow; Sara Kaiser, Baltimore Public Allies Fellow
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