LEARN. DO. CONNECT.
Anne Arundel Celebrates Earth Day!
In April, during Earth Day Month, the GreenGive organizations collaborated with local environmental partners to celebrate Earth Day.
Our celebration ran from April 18-30, but most events and activities can be viewed or enjoyed on any day. Even while social distancing, there are many ways to make your celebration of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day live on! Read more below.
*** GreenGive organizations posted in green; local environmental partners posted in blue ***.
Saturday, April 18
LEARN & CONNECT
Understanding Ecological Restoration: A Virtual Tour of Before & After Restoration
Betsy Love of GreenGive partner Severn Riverkeeper interviews Kevin Smith of the Maryland Coastal Bays Program and Claudia Donegan of Maryland DNR and leads a virtual tour of the SPCA property and St. Luke's Restoration of Nature -- both on Back Creek. See the video and learn.
LEARN
Gallery Tour: Unnatural Causes: Art of a Critical Nature
Presented by environmental partner Maryland Hall.
Maryland artist collective 4 Alarm Artists presents the multi-venue exhibition Unnatural Causes: Art of a Critical Nature, which features works and performances by more than 30 Maryland artists and artist collectives all addressing issues related to detrimental changes to climate and biodiversity. See the video below.
DO
Nature Art: Make your own Mandala
Presented by environmental partner Maryland Hall.
Maryland Hall Outreach Coordinator Laura Brino guides you through creating a found object mandala. Get outside and let your creativity do the work! See the video below and do your thing!
Sunday, April 19
LEARN
Restoring an Urban Stream: A Walk through the Hawkins Cove Restoration
with Greg Brennan
Presented by GreenGive partner Spa Creek Conservancy. Tour the Hawkins Cove ravine restoration with Greg Brennan pointing out the good and the bad - wildlife, trash, tree health, invasives, etc. See the video and learn.
LEARN & DO
Stormwater Handbook and Activity Guide
Presented by GreenGive partner Spa Creek Conservancy. Stormwater for Students is an activity guide for budding environmentalists that explains stormwater and how to prevent runoff. Download the guide.
LEARN
Spring is in the Air
Presented by GreenGive partner Friends of Jug Bay. See a beautiful video of Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary - a gem right in our backyard. See the video below. Learn about wetlands here by watching "Bay 101: Wetlands" below. Learn about Sora Rail research by watching "Tracking Sora Rails in Jug Bay Wetlands" below.
LEARN
Blue Bells: A Photostory
Presented by GreenGive partner St. Luke's Restoration of Nature. The light getting to the forest floor increases rapidly between the vernal equinox in late March and early-to-mid May when the canopy is fully leafed out, creating a brief window when woodland perennial ephemerals, like the Virginia bluebells we've been following, flourish. Check out what's blooming on the forest floor. See the photostory.
LEARN & CONNECT
State of the Severn Report
Presented by GreenGive partner Severn River Association. SRA will present the 2019 State of the Severn report during its (now virtual via Zoom) John Wright Speaker Series. The report addresses issues such as is it safe to swim in the river, oxygen levels, dead zones, oyster restoration, underwater grasses and more. To attend the meeting RSVP to info@severnriver.org.
Tuesday, April 21
Wednesday, April 22
50th Earth Day!
LEARN & DO
Head Outside! Video Series
Presented by environmental partner Arlington Echo Outdoor Education Center. Staff from the Environmental Literacy and Outdoor Education program of Anne Arundel County Public Schools at Arlington Echo are heading outside to explore nature! Follow Arlington Echo's friends in their outdoor adventures to see what they discover. What can you find? See Arlington Echo's video page and come up with your own ideas!
CONNECT
Saving the Earth is Personal
Presented by GreenGive partners. Grab a cup of coffee and join us for "Saving the Earth is Personal," an interactive, informal chat with local environmental leaders. Get up close and personal as you learn about what makes them tick, how they are incorporating environmental stewardship into their own lives, and what their guilty “quarantine” pleasures are. Share your own thoughts on environmental leadership. Guests include: Jacqueline Guild, Director, City of Annapolis Office of Environmental Policy; Matt Johnston, Director, Environmental Policy for Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman; Carmera Thomas-Wilhite, Baltimore Program Manager, Chesapeake Bay Foundation. Click here to join the chat via Zoom at 10 a.m.
Thursday, April 23
Monday, April 20
DO
Show Us Your Natives
Presented by GreenGive partner Unity Gardens. As we all spend more time exploring our neighborhoods, parks and our own backyards, we want to see what natives you see emerging this spring. Post on Facebook or Instagram and use hashtag #nativesofannearundel.
LEARN & DO
Native Plants: What, Where, Why and How
Presented by GreenGive partner Watershed Stewards Academy WSA's Restoration Coordinator Josh Clark answers popular planting questions in these videos and presents a how to plant video and list of where to get native plants during COVID-19. Links:
Josh answers popular planting questions - video below
How to plant a plant - video below
Friday, April 24
DO & CONNECT
Backyard Bingo
Presented by GreenGive partner Arundel Rivers Federation. Bingo will show how much you know about the critters that live in your backyard. Click here for your bingo card.
DO & CONNECT
City Nature Challenge
Presented by environmental partner the National Aquarium. The National Aquarium is calling on community scientists to help explore, identify and document urban wildlife throughout the Baltimore metropolitan area. Document the biodiversity found in your own backyard! Nature is all around us, even in urban areas, and if you look a little harder, you may be surprised by what you find—from the smallest bug in your basement to a red-tailed hawk soaring high above your home. Details here.
Saturday, April 25
LEARN
Drive Electric Earth Day Virtual EV Showcase
Presented by GreenGive partner Annapolis Green. Join us for a virtual showcase of the environmental benefits of driving electric, what it's like to drive without emissions, how to charge your car, and more. Click here to see the video.
Then join us on Tuesday, April 28, for a Zoom session to answer all your questions about driving electric. The link to the Zoom session is posted here.
LEARN & DO
Attracting Pollinators and Birds to your Backyard
Presented by GreenGive partner Severn River Association. Learn how to create a pollinator garden and how to build a birdhouse to attract local birds and insects to your backyard! See the video.
Sunday, April 26
Monday, April 27
LEARN & DO
Anne Arundel's Most Wanted: Invasive Plants in Your Community
Presented by GreenGive partners Scenic Rivers Land Trust and Watershed Stewards Academy. We'll teach you how to identify common invasives and how to free a tree by following our tutorial on ivy removal and more. Click here for the video series.
Wednesday, April 29
LEARN & DO
The Flowers and the Trees... really, just the trees
Presented by GreenGive partner Annapolis Green. Learn about the importance of trees to our environment, how to select, plant and care for trees, and test your tree trivia knowledge by watching our March virtual Green Drinks Facebook Watch video! See the video and get inspired to plant a tree!
LEARN
Maryland Tree Identification Guide
Presented by GreenGive partner Spa Creek Conservancy. Let's talk trees! Explore the benefits of trees and 13 of our favorite native species. See the presentation.
LEARN
The Forest is a Community, a photostory
Presented by GreenGive partner St. Luke's Restoration of Nature. Watch the tree canopy at St. Luke's Restoration of Nature develop before your eyes! We will examine the canopy at different scales: from the whole canopy, to individual leaves, to—with any luck—some of the organisms living there. Link 1 | Link 2
Thursday, April 30
LEARN
LIVE Oyster Dissection, a lesson for kids, big and small
Presented by GreenGive partner ClearShark H2O. Join us LIVE on our FaceBook page at noon to learn about the anatomy of an oyster and why they live in the brackish waters of the Chesapeake Bay. Click here.
LEARN & DO
Clean Your River - Become An Oyster Gardener
Presented by GreenGive partner Severn River Association. Learn how to grow your own! Links to come.
Wednesday, April 29
LEARN & DO
Protecting Our Watershed: Lessons and Actions for Kids of All Ages
Presented by environmental partner Annapolis Maritime Museum. While the current COVID-19 restrictions may keep you from visiting our Museum and Park Campuses, or meeting some of our aquatic animals in person, we hope that these online resources will allow you to continue learning about the Annapolis area’s rich maritime heritage and the ecology of the Chesapeake Bay. Video and linked lessons.
Tuesday, April 28
LEARN & DO
The Science of Stormwater
Presented by environmental partner Anne Arundel County Watershed Protection and Restoration Program. Many people believe that stormwater is "clean" and that it does not harm water quality. This perception is understandable since the amount of pollution from any one spot is not usually significant by itself. But when all these small amounts are combined, they can cause big water quality problems. Click here.
DO
Bacon Ridge Scavenger Hunt
Presented by GreenGive partner Scenic Rivers Land Trust. Explore the Bacon Ridge Natural Area in Crownsville with fresh eyes as you hunt for items on our Photo Scavenger Hunt list! Share photos of your finds on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram and tag Scenic Rivers Land Trust @scenicrivers to be entered into a drawing for a prize. Click here to get started.
LEARN
Why Conserve Land?
Presented by GreenGive partner Scenic Rivers Land Trust. Did you know land conservation is connected to everything we value in our lives: clean water, healthy food, exercise, recreation and relaxation, and in some cases, our livelihoods? Check out our video for more reasons to conserve our land. See the video below.