Local conservation groups, businesses and communities partner in a seasonal cleanup in which local volunteers pick up trash from parks and streams and raise awareness about the importance of individual environmental stewardship.
Our community will convene — safely and socially distanced, of course — this Saturday, April 10 to do our part by cleaning Goodwin Run. Participants will meet at the Goodwin Run bridge near the Pinewood Elementary School playground. Rain Date: April 17
ABOUT GOODWIN RUN
What’s in a name? A lot, says Tom Melito, a science resource teacher for Baltimore County Public Schools who worked in environmental education for more than 20 years.
“I find that when you tell people the name of something — whether it be the name of a species or the name of a waterway — people (especially kids) make more of a personal connection with that item,” says Melito, who serves on the PVVWCA board nominating committee and helps orchestrate our community’s participation in Project Clean Stream.
The stream that starts in Mayfair, runs underneath and through the neighborhood and empties in the basin near Pinewood Elementary School is called Goodwin Run. It’s named after the family that originally owned the land that later was sold to the developers that built Mays Chapel.
Besides not littering, here are seven ways neighbors can take care of our community waterway:
1. Eliminate yard waste in the street. Never leave grass clippings in the road or blow leaves into the street.
2. Never pour chemicals, gas or oil down the storm drains.
3. Pick up pet waste.
4. Reduce — or even better, eliminate — the use of lawn chemicals such as fertilizers, herbicides and insecticides.
5. Wash your car at a professional car wash that filters the wastewater.
6. Use rain barrels.
7. Landscape with native plants. They are hardier and increase water infiltration and decrease lawn maintenance