Our Watershed

Rain Barrels, Composters Help the Environment

These gardening accessories can help reduce pollution in the Severn and Magothy river watersheds.

Each year, Earth Day reminds us of the impact our day-to-day living has upon the environment. Hopefully, those of you who attended the ninth annual Earth Day Festival, hosted by the Greater Severna Park Watershed Action Group at Severna Park Middle School, came away from the event with a desire to help reduce pollution around your homes and neighborhoods. A number of people took advantage of the opportunity to purchase rain barrels and composters at our local Earth Day event. Both products offer homeowners easy, practical ways to reduce pollution and improve our environment. Once the initial excitement of celebrating Earth Day has died down, don’t forget to install and use your new rain barrel or your composter. Neither item does the …

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Our Watershed

Earth Day Exposition in Severna Park April 30

8th annual Earth Day Expo to be held at Severna Park Middle School featuring 50 exhibitors, vendors, shred-it truck, activities for kids, food and drinks.

The theme for this year’s Earth Day Exposition being held at the Severna Park Middle School  is “Go Green, Earth Day and Everyday” and will feature over 50 exhibitors from local businesses, communities, volunteer groups, and schools who will be sharing a wealth of information on how we can improve the water quality in our watersheds. In addition, there will be earth- friendly activities for children making this event a great time for the whole family to enjoy. The Expo will be held rain or shine since the middle school can accommodate the exhibits in the event of bad weather. One popular service being offered again this year is the “Shred It” truck which will be on hand to dispose confidential documents. This service is offered as a …

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Go Green with a Colorful Rain Barrel

A Severna Park artist turns utilitarian rain barrels into works of art for your yard.

Plain brown whiskey barrels converted into rain catchers have been the standard in local yards and gardens for years. That is, until Severna Park mom and artist Jodi Roberts had an idea. Why not make them beautiful? By combining creativity with creative water conservation, Roberts jumped into this "green" activity with her paintbrush and a rainbow of colors. Already using her many talents to beautify our indoor world with hand-painted wall murals and floorcloths, she chose to add a little pizzazz to our outdoor worlds, as well. With all the buzz about conserving water and the importance of keeping runoff out of our local rivers and streams, this Manhattan Beach resident saw an opportunity  to do something good for the environment with …

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Our Watershed

Making a Rain Barrel is First Step for Homeowners

Rain barrels are low maintenance and help the environment.

Every time it rains some amount of the storm water runs off our lawns, driveways and roofs and carries pollutants into our local waterways. Trying to address the entire run off problem in a yard can present quite a challenge for homeowners. I've found that reducing the sources of pollution from our yards is best accomplished by taking a number of small steps to remedy the problem. Installing a rain barrel is a great first step to help most homeowners reduce storm water runoff from their property. Rain barrels were initially used as a way to capture rain water for household uses such as watering gardens, washing clothes, and even as a source of drinking water. Fortunately, thanks to indoor plumbing, we can now simply turn a faucet handle …

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John Dawson

7:06 am on Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Thank you for the comment. Aquabarrel.com is a great site for rain barrels and accessories!   more ›

New Year’s Resolutions for Our Watersheds

Each of us can make a resolution to reduce sources of water pollution in our Severna Park yards to improve the health of our local waterways.

In the spirit of celebrating the New Year, I'm offering several suggestions for resolutions that would help improve the health of our local waterways. Update Aging Driveways  Driveways are generally the largest area of impervious surface in our yards that prevent storm water from being absorbed into the ground where it can be cleansed of pollutants. Most homes built in Severna Park during the past 60 years have concrete or asphalt driveways and many of these aging surfaces will, at some point, need to be replaced due to wear and tear. Before repaving with concrete or asphalt, consider using a pervious paving material for replacing a driveway. The article Help Reduce Runoff With Porous Pavement provides more information about the choices of…

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