Earth Day in HoCo: Green and Growing

Seven years ago I was honored to play a small part in a Very Big Thing. Happy Earth Day/Birthday to the Chrysalis in Merriweather Park at Symphony Woods!

I’m also thinking this morning of the late Michael McCall, who wasn’t afraid to dream big and who shepherded this project to its completion.

The imagination and joy that Michael McCall shared with us will always be present in the park. For me it will be a reminder of how important it is to share your gifts. Share them, believe in them; your community needs you more than you know. Imagination and Joy, Village Green/Town², 8/3/21

On this Earth Day, seven years later, I want to pause to celebrate the hocolocal individuals and groups who believe in their gifts and are sharing them as they work to care for our planet. We are blessed to have so many:

Columbia Association

Community Ecology Institute

Harper’s Choice CARES

Howard County EcoWorks

Howard County Conservancy

Inner Arbor Trust

Jon Merryman and Sharkey d’Shark

KC CARES (Kings Contrivance)

Live Green Howard County

OMI Green Team

Owen Brown CARES

Planet Aid

Robinson Nature Center

Upcycled

Wilde Lake CARES

Yards Alive!

In general, local Earth Day activities are centered around neighborhood cleanups, removal of invasive species/ planting native ones, and cultivating and celebrating a love of nature. Something I’m not sure that I’ve ever written about is the importance of truly studying both the aspirations and known records of candidates running for public office. All the neighborhood stream cleanups in the world cannot overcome uninformed elected officials and bad environmental policy.

Make sure you take a little time to compare what candidates say to what they have actually done. We can make the mission of Earth Day that much stronger by electing leaders who make it a priority every day, not just on April 22nd.

If you know of an environmentally-focused group working in Howard County that I haven’t included in my list, let me know.

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