What do lovers of the water do when it's raining?

Work on our house!

The best things you can do to protect the health of the Chesapeake Bay start with your home. Chesapeakify your yard (Brent's Native Plantings term for making your yard Bay friendly), and make your home more energy efficient. 

​Chesapeakify your yard!
A Bay friendly yard reduces runoff and the pollution it carries to the Bay. Blame farmers and construction sites all you want, but there is more surface area of yards in the Chesapeake Bay watershed than there are farmland and construction sites. As homeowners we are not regulated, or very good at measuring correct doses of all the chemicals (fertilizers, pesticides, weed killer, etc) we spread across our lawns to keep them beautiful.

A Bay friendly yard consists of local plants (non-invasives!) that are hardy enough to need less water and need no chemical fertilizers or pesticides. Our yard is beautiful and safe for pets and kids, and other than regular weeding in the beds, requires very little maintenance.  

​Be more energy efficient!
On this rainy day I've been in the attic adding insulation and sealing holes that are allowing cool air from the house to escape into the hot attic. By making your home more energy efficient, you reduce the need for fossil fuels being burned to produce electricity. The burning of fossil fuels lead to poor outdoor air quality, but also pose a hazard for our waterways. Pollution from power plants is a source of heavy metals in the water, which is the cause of seafood being dangerous to consume. 

Prevention is the best medicine!