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Support Annapolis Green Be a Founding One Hundred Member or a Friend of Annapolis Green
Want to join in and make your mark on sustainability in the Annapolis area? Consider becoming one of our Founding One Hundred.
Join the list below.
- Charlie Birney
- Infrared Tools Energy Services*
- Gene Singleton & Maureen McEnerney
- Keith & Helen Drewett*
- Doug Lashley / GreenVest
- Elvia Thompson
- Lynne & Mark Forsman
- Ralph Gleason
- Shelley & Eric Rubin
- Boatyard Bar & Grill
- John Nicklin
- Cohen Community Fund
- Towne Park
- Eastport Civic Association
- Galway Bay Irish Pub*
- The Brick Companies
- County Executive Steve Schuh
- Severn Savings Bank
- Paul Murphy
- Hannah Studios, Inc.
- Joe Budge & Sharon Kennedy*
- PNC Wealth Management
- K&B True Value
- Betty & Jim Davis*
- Chesapeake Bay Roasting Company
- Clean Currents
- John H. Stevens*
- EP Henry
- MOM's Organic Market
- La Prima Catering
- Jeannie Zajac*
- Vic Pascoe
- Robert Clark
- Mid-Atlantic GEM, LLC
- Dick Lahn
- Homestead Gardens
- Rick Kissel & Lee Finney
- Kevin Green
- Hannon Armstrong
- Clare Vanderbeek & Jack Morkan*
- Leonard Paper
- Watermark Journey
- Nancy & Bob Plaxico
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Steve Kahle, SKA Studio
-
Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation
-
Blades of Green
- Great Frogs Winery
*multiple donations
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Annapolis Showcase
Saturday, Sept. 10
Noon - 4 p.m., Susan Campbell Park, City Dock, Annapolis
Is there an electric vehicle in your future? Probably!
Find out more at this gathering of EV owners and dealers and get the real scoop.
Driving electric is good for the environment. Find out how. Free.
The event is part of National Drive Electric Week, Sept. 10 -18, a nationwide celebration to heighten awareness of today's widespread availability of plug-in vehicles and highlight the benefits of all-electric and plug-in hybrid-electric cars, trucks, motorcycles, and more.
There will be several events in the Metro area, including this in Annapolis organized by Annapolis Green.
Owners and dealers of electric vehicles will encourage you to "Ask me why I drive electric!" with the Historic Annapolis Harbor as a backdrop.
At this fun and informative event, you can get information about what it's like to drive electric including: - How far you can go
- How and where to charge
- Cost
- Performance
- Benefits to the environment
- Government incentives
Most of the vehicles will be brought to the event by individual owners, who can talk frankly about their experiences with plug-in transportation. Some will be brought by dealers who can offer information about lease and purchase. There will even be at least one electric boat!
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Upcoming Events
Wednesday, August 31
- Spa Creek Conservancy Meet & Greet. Learn more about the organization and become more involved in helping to improve the watershed.
- Watershed Stewards Academy Information Session. Want to get off the sidelines and make a real change? Learn about how to become a Certified Master Watershed Steward. A short presentation on the role of a Watershed Steward will be followed by Q&A. In Odenton. Additional session on Sept. 8 in Millersville.
Sunday, Sept. 4
- First Sunday Arts Festival
Street festival, art market, entertainment venue, and arts & craft fair all rolled into one.
Wednesday, Sept. 7
- Master Gardeners' 2016 Compost Demonstration
at Quiet Waters Park.
Tuesday, Sept. 13
- Annual Conservation Easement Breakfast Briefing for Tax, Legal, and Real Estate Professionals hosted by Scenic Rivers Land Trust. Registration required.
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Friday, Sept. 9 Arts Alive 18 6 p.m., Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts, 801 Chase Street, Annapolis
At 8 p.m., groove inside to Maryland Hall's renovated (and air conditioned) theatre for a live auction, raffle drawing and lively tunes by The "Original" Moonlighters. During this casual performance, guests may dance in the orchestra pit, mingle with friends, and sample desserts, coffee, wine, beer and signature drinks throughout the theatre.
The event will be ZERO-Waste, as an Annapolis Green Responsible Events & Festivals(Green REF) event.
SAVE THE DATE!
A gala event: The Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay's annual gala and a celebration of environmental leadership award winners to recognize environmental leadership and provide a venue for the Alliance to showcase its progress toward Bay restoration. The event also raises funds to support the Alliance's work and programs across the Chesapeake watershed and this year will celebrate its 45th anniversary.
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Where does the recycling go?
tours are full
with a waiting list
Interest in a tour of the Waste Management Materials Reclamation Facility has caused us to schedule TWO tours, on Sept. 7 and 14. If there's enough interest we'll schedule more tours in the future.
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  Get Outside!
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Thursday, Sept. 8
5:30 - 7:30 p.m.
109 Main Street
&
179B Main Street
B2B (Block to Block) on Main Street
Get to Know Local Artists & Shop
to Benefit Annapolis Green
Then Meet "Green" at the Fox!
We're trying something new - a two-step evening, block to block on Main Street!
At both locations we'll be celebrating Green Drinks from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., as usual.
Thanks to the recently opened Local by Design (The same group from Gallery 3976 where we held our our July 2015 Green Drinks), Annapolis Green couldn't resist Local by  Design's invitation to be the beneficiary of its "Local Giving Day." Any shopping you do in this lovely boutique all day long on September 8 will benefit Annapolis Green!
Enjoy browsing an incredible array of artwork of all kinds made by 55 local artists. There is everything from jewelry to pillows to clothing to candles, soap, paintings, glass work, and art made from repurposed items and even a six-pack carrier made of boat canvas and manila line!
 And, of course, our hosts Suzi Jett and Susan Sears won't let us browse thirsty. They will offer light refreshments.
Meanwhile, a short block away, don't miss a terrific experience at Annapolis' GastroPub. If you haven't yet found the "underground" Fox's Den, you're in for a treat. The bar has an incredible selection of cocktails, wine, craft beers, and bourbon, rye, whiskeys and even sazerac! Let the talented bartenders show their stuff! Cash bar. Manager Tommy Burns will offer tastings of chef's delicious pizza and some other surprises. And do consider staying for dinner. Click for the menu.
The mantras for both: Locally sourced, hand crafted and family owned and operated!
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After the Crab Feast:
The Other Side of the Story
 Our biggest REF event!
all photos by Kenneth Tom
On Friday, August 5, the Annapolis Rotary Club continued an iconic Annapolis tradition by holding its 71st Annual Crab Feast. Billed as the World's Largest Crab Feast, the event brings together some 2500 "feasters" served by the Rotarians and 20-30 non-Rotarian volunteers.
 For some families, it's their annual family reunion. For other people, it's a yearly get-together with friends they don't see all that often. For a lot of "newbies," it's a chance to learn how to pick crabs and enjoy the Bay seasoning infused bounty of the Bay, from corn on the cob and watermelon from the Eastern Shore to locally  prepared BBQ and of course, our beloved crustacean, Callinectes sapidus, the beautiful swimmer, or Atlantic Blue Crab.
What you see at the Crab Feast is simply a lot of people having a great time. It truly takes a village to make this happen and the Rotarians are to be commended for all the hard work that goes on behind the scenes for months. It's the organization's largest fundraiser and the proceeds go back into the community in the form of grants for various worthy causes.
 What you don't see, unless you're paying attention, has to do with what's left over after all the Feasters have gone home, the left-over crabs have been distributed to helpers, the stadium concourse is washed down, and the event is just a fond memory.
What you don't see is the three big dumpsters full of waste the event produces. But this story has a happy ending.
Three years ago, Annapolis Green approached the Rotary proposing to Green the Crab Feast. From working with other large events we knew that the waste could be reduced, rechaneled if you will, and that we could save them money while running the event in an eco friendly manner. We were right.
Before Annapolis Green got into the picture with our Responsible Events and Festivals Program (the Green REF), a bit of the Crab Feast waste was recycled - plastic bottles and metal cans - and the rest, two-to-three dumpsters full, went straight to the landfill. It was the way it had always been done. But times are a-changing and our society has realized that we have to think and act with the future in mind.
Now, NOTHING from the Crab Feast goes to the landfill. We just showed the Rotarians how to change a few practices and they enthusiastically agreed.
That night some 35 big bags of recycling were collected, containing primarily plastic water bottles and metal soda cans. Two full dumpsters of compost material was collected - some 13 to 15 tons!
We composted: corn cobs; watermelon rinds; soup, hot dog, BBQ, and baked goods left overs; trays the crabs were served on; paper towels and paper plates; spoons, knives and forks; beer cups; condiment cups; crab leftovers; and even wooden mallets.
This is possible because our program's composting is done on an industrial scale. We work with the only licensed commercial  composting facility in this area, Veteran Compost. The company composts on a farm, with huge piles of organic material that get hot enough to break down everything, even the shells, in about two months. In working with Veteran Compost we get another sense of satisfaction too in that it was set up by an Army vet to employ other vets. Veteran is now a thriving business with institutional and restaurant clients all over the DC Metro area.
As to the Feasters, we reached out to them before and during the Crab Feast to show them what all the detritus on the tables would look like in two months: A beautiful, sweet-smelling soil improvement material that looks like soil. Adding it to the garden or potted plants returns the resources that made up the Crab Feast back to the Earth making a complete circle of life, just as Nature intended. |
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Elvia Thompson & Lynne Forsman holding compost
and chatting with Rep. John Sarbanes
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Mayor Mike Pantelides and his mom enjoy the Crab Feast.
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Most Feasters were astounded that it would all break down in just two months and all were grateful to hear about it. This caused them to take pride in doing the right thing. We saw it over and over as Feasters put their empty crab-shell stacked trays into the compost bin. Our volunteers said thank you, and the Feasters beamed.
We love working with the Annapolis Rotary. When we began there was a bit of skepticism about how difficult it would be to educate the public to dispose of waste property. In fact, we had to educate the Rotary first, explaining that it would not be difficult to do the responsible thing and return Nature's bounty back to the Earth in this manner. And was it difficult to do? Not really.
 The first years were more difficult because we had to separate out not only the bottles and cans but also the cutlery and tiny seasoning cups. That took a bit longer. But now, since we're helped them procure compostable versions of everything - including beer cups - the clean up is much faster and easier. And yes, they are SAVING money on paper goods, cutlery, cups, bowls, you name it.
We were also grateful for our overwhelming volunteer participation. It truly made the difference. A special acknowledgment to the amazing Loews Annapolis Hotel's Green Team - we look forward to many more! And, we certainly stood out in our Green Team t-shirts - a donation from the principals of a new Main Street store, Captain's Club Apparel. We hope to see these shirts on many volunteers to come! Waste hauling company Bay Area Disposal provided a substantial discount to the Greening effort too.
This event demonstrates that with an established program like ours -- that includes public education -- and a willing host, the smallest and the biggest events can be Earth friendly. We'll be glad to show you how to do it.
And, we always welcome help to do this - volunteers and financial help!
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