Apply: Environmental Service Spring Break Trip- visit parks

The environmental awareness ASB trip, A Better Impact, is still open and accepting participants! Click here to be a part of it by applying, or click here to support by donating!

"The mission of this Alternative Spring Break trip is to learn how to leave A Better Impact and commit to sustainable living. Focusing on parks and areas of recreation, we will experience the value of these nature spaces for urban Baltimore City, suburban Baltimore County, and rural Maryland. We will engage in manual labor to help park staff with maintenance and preservation. As a service trip, we are to be humbled by our activities and open to new perspectives.Throughout the week, we will learn about native and invasive species, wildlife concerns within the park, and the Chesapeake Bay and surrounding watershed. We will reflect on and evaluate our daily habits to see where we can make more environmentally friendly choices. Armed with this knowledge, we will deepen our commitment to sustainable practices and environmental stewardship. The week will wrap up with an EDIBLE hike! 

So often we talk about HUGE issues like energy, global warming, food justice etc. These are super important issues that deserve lots of attention, but I think the overwhelming problems out there makes it easy to overlook immediate actions we can take to improve our communities. Sometimes this is on a smaller scale, like understanding how we treat our neighborhood affects the Bay, which in turn affects the wildlife and tourism that is are trademarks of Baltimore. We want to encourage simple stewardship to break problems into manageable solutions and actions that can be incorporated into our lifestyle. This is about more than just organizing our recyclables, it is about actively nourishing a respect for our land and water and giving back to the people dedicated to their maintenance."

Contact ASB leader, Clare McCauley, at clare3@umbc.edu for more info!