How You Can Help the EPA Clean Up the Bay

The big news today was that the Environmental Protection Agency agreed to enforce tough new standards for pollution reduction in the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed. It seems voluntary reductions by states in the watershed did not work over the last four decades.

The difference now, as explained by Ashley Halsey III in this Washington Post article, is "the EPA is legally obligated to achieve the goals established in the settlement. The agency has agreed to force states to do what has not been done voluntarily in the past."

So while the EPA gets its act together and starts coming up with enforcement plans, what can you do to help the Bay's health? Here are a few suggestions:

• Simple Ways You Can Help the Bay (a list from the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay)
• Help the Bay in Your Backyard (from the Chesapeake Bay Program)
• How Can I Help Save the Bay? (from Laura Seltzer's 'Last Boat Out' site)
• RainScapes program -- This Montgomery County initiative makes rebates available to homeowners and organizations that use any of a range of techniques to reduce stormwater runoff on their property. The techniques or projects eligible for rebates include rain gardens, conservation landscaping, permeable pavers and more.
• What You Can Do (from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation)

We should be glad the EPA is going to make states clean up the Bay, but we can also take some actions on our own. A healthy watershed and health Bay is best for everyone.

Green TV Shows Airing During Earth Week

The airwaves become tinged with environmental green this week, thanks to Earth Day (April 22). Here are a few green shows I've heard about; if you know of any more, please post them in the comments section!

On the Air

Through April 29 -- Chesapeake Bay Week on PBS/MPT -- A full lineup of environmental and nature shows for kids and adults.

April 21 at 9:00-9:30 p.m. on PBS/MPT -- 'The Last Boat Out,' a documentary film about the plight of Chesapeake watermen and the Bay they depend upon. (You can attend a viewing party at Hard Times Cafe in Bethesda, too.)

April 21 at 9:00 p.m. on PBS/WETA -- 'Food, Inc.' -- A look at the seamy side of our food industry.

April 21 and weekdays at 5:30 on PBS/WETA -- 'e2 (The Economies of Being Environmentally Conscious). This series looks at 'green' urban planning and sustainable architecture. The Season 3 opener on April 21 visits Al-Azhar Park, a 74-acre oasis in congested Cairo that opened in 2005.

April 22 at 4:30 p.m. on PBS/MPT -- 'Growing Greener Schools' -- Today's focus on green building is giving us a better understanding of the potential impacts our school buildings have, not only on the environment, but on our children's - and their teachers' - health and development. Armed with this new knowledge, many school districts across the country are taking "green" to a new level. There's a free premiere viewing at the UMUC Marriott Inn in Hyattsville.

April 23 at 8:00 p.m. on PBS/MPT -- 'Chesapeake Bay by Air' -- Shot in the air from two to 2,000 feet using state-of-the-art high-definition recording gear, Chesapeake Bay by Air's unique perspective of the Chesapeake Bay marries gentle verse, prose and music with stunningly dramatic images of the Chesapeake in a way that, until now, only migrating Canada Geese could truly appreciate.