Creative Connections to Nature

March 27, 2020

Ways to Stay Connected to Nature and Your Family During COVID-19

outside on a laptopParenting

 

Outdoor Activities in a back yard

Backyard Compost

(Photo Source: https://southherolibrary.org/2019/04/27/intro-to-backyard-composting/) 

 Make a home compost bin

Plants, Gardens and Critters

Art

Youth Art Competition

(Photo Source: https://www.baltimoresustainability.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/COBOR-Art-Competition.pdf)

Baltimore City’s Children’s Outdoor Bill of Rights outlines the right for every child to access and reap the benefits of nature. This is a great art project for children and youth to work on while they are out of school and looking for things to do at home, engaging them around the environment, nature, and their rights. 

Reusable Bag Design Contest

Baltimore City passed a ban on plastic bags, so now we are working on spreading the word and encouraging the use of reusable bags and for residents to send in original artwork and/or a slogan to print on reusable bags to be distributed to the public. The deadline is April 15th and is for ALL ages, so make sure you share it with anyone living in Baltimore City!

Search for programs with your local city and community centers!

 

Other Art Ideas

     
(Photo Source: https://www.facebook.com/baltimoresustainability/photos/a.10150123094442383/10158044043242383/?type=3&theater)

 

 

 Virtual Tours

(Photo Source: https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animals/live-cams)

Watch Movies

(Photo Source: https://dceff.org/film/a-voice-for-the-rivers/)

Videos and Audio

 Local Delivery Services

  • Eat Wild- Support your local farmers and find a farm near you

(Source Photo: http://www.eatwild.com/products/maryland.html)

  • Imperfect Foods- Help eliminate food waste by signing up for grocery delivery

  • MD breweries detailing if they do pickup and/or delivery! 

    • If you cannot leave your area, there are delivery companies like Drizly, who delivers alcohol within an hour to the following areas: Baltimore, Catonsville, Dundalk, Frederick, Owings Mills, Oxon Hill, Parkville, Pikesville, Rosedale, Silver Spring, and Towson.

  • South Mountain Creamery- delivers glass bottled milk, certified humane cage free eggs, fresh ice cream, butter, yogurt, cheese, plus grass-fed beef, pork, chicken, fruits, vegetables, and more!

Events

Giant Bioblitz City Nature Challenge 2020

  • City Nature Bioblitz

    • There is nature all around us, even in our cities! Knowing what species are there, and their location, helps us study and protect them. The City Nature Challenge is a global effort by scientists, land managers, and the community – working together to find and document the plants and wildlife in our area.

  • Participation is easy!


If you are new to using iNaturalist, a training is available on April 15 - sign up here: iNaturalist Webinar

 

Get Outdoors in Nature Nearby

Sierra Club Outdoors for All Director Jackie Ostfeld's son enjoying a circle park.Getting Outside in Difficult Times  from Maddie Farrell Outings Intern at home

Physical Distancing Still Has Space for the Outdoors from Sierra Club Outdoors for All Director Jackie Ostfeld

Physical Distancing not Social Distancing from Linda Reiger, MD Volunteer

Natural Stress Relief Sierra magazine's Jason Mark 

Sign up for the Natural Places Committee Newsletter or join the Committee NaturalPlaces.News@mdsierra.org 

                  Spring Issues: Feb 2020 issue   March 2020 Issue 

 More ideas in our last Statewide E-newsletter

Maryland State Parks - Some are Open

 

 

 

Rails-to-Trails Conservancywww.railstotrails.org/COVID19/

 

Environmental Non Profits Stepping up

 

What about Pets?

 https://blog.wisdompanel.com/working-from-home-with-a-dog/

More ideas

https://www.sierraclub.org/maryland/calendar

Collecting ideas here

Contacts: lily.fountain@mdsierra.org outings.intern@mdsierra.org  legislative.intern@mdsierra.org Malory Mlynarek maryland.chapter@mdsierra.org   connector@mdsierra.org