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Homeowner
Chesapeake
Homeowners Association
Massanutten Reg. Gvnrs. School / Newcomer
3/14/2007
7:48:00 AM
The Chesapeake Bay is doomed if nothing is done to
clean up all the pollution that is rapidly
choking the wildlife in the bay as well as its natural
beauty. The causes for such pollution
include, but certainly are not limited to:
deforestation, urbanization, pollution, sewage, and
agriculture. Since the 1950s, environmentally unaware
homeowners have also been reducing
the quality of the water in the Chesapeake Bay by
attempting to beautify their precious lawns
through over-fertilization, constant mowing, and
spraying pesticides to kill pests that may be
beneficial. Nutrients play a huge role in the pollution
of the bay. The excess of nutrients such
as the nitrogen and phosphorus contained in fertilizer
promote algae growth and cut off
sunlight in the water. That, in turn, leads to a loss of
food and shelter for animals due to the
lack of oxygen in the water because of aerobic digestion
of bacteria. We as the Chesapeake
Homeowners Association are here to outline a plan to
reverse the trend set by the same
uninformed homeowners polluting the bay.
We have found, through research, an environmentally
friendly way to handle your land
called Bayscaping. It is the use of a variety of
beneficial native plants that, because they are
adapted to our local climate and soil, require minimal
maintenance and also reduce the amount
of sediment flow into the local streams and tributaries
of the Chesapeake Bay. Therefore, not
only is Bayscaping environmentally friendly, but
homeowners will rarely have to do any work to
maintain the natural beauty surrounding your home. Over
the next twenty-five years, it has
been estimated that no less than three million residents
will make the mid-Atlantic region their
home. This increase in population will put a serious
strain on our already over-stretched natural
resources, especially fresh water. Water used to
maintain the lawns and other areas of land on
a homeowner’s property on average constitutes about
forty percent of the total water used by
the household. One of the Bayscape’s main principles is
xeriscaping, or water-wise
landscaping, which is implemented to reduce the amount
of water needed to maintain the land.
Bayscaping would help to greatly reduce the amount of
water needed to maintain the land
because the plants are native and do not require much
maintenance, as aforementioned.
In order to begin Bayscaping, one must first determine
how much lawn is actually “needed.”
Any unused lawn areas will be covered in native shrubs,
gardens, trees, meadows and other
groundcovers. One of the main ingredients of Bayscaping
is the limited use of fertilizers and
pesticides. In order to minimize the amount of
fertilizer and pesticide needed, the plants need
to be drought-proof, insect-proof, and adapted to the
climate. Introducing natural predators to
pests infesting the land is another way to keep away
from overuse of pesticides. While these
steps are critical to the process of converting a
homeowners' land to the ecologically friendly
Bayscape, there are a few things the homeowner will need
to learn to deal with. One such thing
is the presence of weeds in the yard. Insects and other
pests that are not damaging to the land may not
necessarily be friendly to the homeowner but can be
tolerated. Also, the traditional
standard for a nice-looking yard will need to be morphed
in the homeowners' mind because
Bayscaped yards tend to be classified as “overgrown” and
“unkempt.” Once these minor details
are considered and dealt with, the homeowner's Bayscape
will be ready to save the precious
bay.
Bayscaping may be as simple as a few native potted
plants on your balcony, or as elaborate as
tearing up the entire lawn and replacing it with native
planting beds. Now, some may ask why
they should spend the time and energy implementing
Bayscaping techniques, but we're here to
erase all doubt in the Bayscapes program. Some
homeowners report saving as much as $2,000
in fertilizer, pesticides, and gas for the lawnmower.
Now that in itself seems to make it all
worth the trouble, but there's more. Bayscaping is good
for the environment! It provides a
diverse habitat for songbirds, butterflies, and other
attractive creatures that add to the
aesthetic value of the land. For those who may not, for
some reason, be able to start their own
Bayscape, but would really be interested in having it
done, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
can provide individual assistance and/or a list of
landscape professionals offering native
plants in their landscaping services. There is available
grant money, up to $15,000, primarily
for businesses, but for some homeowners as well.
Despite all the good things the Bayscape
program brings to the bay, there are more things that
can be done that will be given a simple
outline as our plan develops.
Other ideas revolved largely around land ordinances;
however there was one idea that did not
pertain to land ordinances. For those properties on or
near rivers or streams that eventually
empty into the Chesapeake Bay, simply planting trees
near the water as riparian buffers makes
a huge difference in the amount of nutrients dumped into
the bay each day. The buffers serve
as a sort of trap for runoff after a rainstorm. These
trees can also add to the beauty of the
homeowner's land, making this effort not only
environmentally friendly, but aesthetically
pleasing. Limiting the amount of water used to a certain
degree would also be an extremely
useful practice for homeowners. The only real personal
benefit that could be reaped from this
practice would be a lower utility bill, which would be
nothing to complain about. The benefits of
this practice are largely environmental as opposed to
individual. Also, trying to limit the
amount of trash that has to be picked up by the monster
trucks on Monday morning would be a
magnificent help to the Chesapeake Bay. Recycling
instead would give the homeowner a
valuable peace of mind that he or she is helping the
bay. Another way to help the bay project,
although costly, is to buy a hybrid car, which can be
used as a tax break, or a more fuel
efficient car, which would cut back gas costs. The
decrease in gas use would reduce CO2, CO
emissions and, in turn, reduce the amount of acid rain
that affects the bay. If, at any time,
more information is wanted, simply visit
www.chesapeakebay.net for a list of things
homeowners can do to help the cause.
Many homeowners have the illusion that their
responsibility of helping to keep our
environment clean ends at their property line. However,
that is entirely untrue. Decisions made
in individual yards can have far-reaching effects. Maybe
that load of fertilizer just dumped
on the homeowner's lawn is the one responsible for the
ridiculous growth of algae in one
specific area of the bay. Because the damage done by
just one person or household is
impossible to see, the homeowners do not pay as much
attention to the problem as should be. The
Bayscapes, in combination with the other aforementioned
ideas, are brilliantly simple ideas
for homeowners to help save the bay. By restoring our
native ecosystems and preventing
pollution, even on a small scale, the Bayscapes work
toward enriching the diversity and quality
of the Bay region's natural resources. These ideas serve
to demonstrate that everyone can play
a role in natural resource management, not just the
passionate environmentalists.
Works Cited:
123well, "What Would It Take to Clean Up the Bay by
2010?." Washington Post. 29 Jan. 2007.
Washington Post. 23 Feb 2007 .
Blankenship, Karl. "BayScaping takes root in new
generation of Virginians." Bay Journal.
2007. Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay. 2 Mar 2007 .
"Chesapeake Bay Restoration." Maryland Department of the
Environment. 2007. Maryland
Department of the Environment. 2 Mar 2007 .
Popp, Paula. "Crofton." The Capital. 13 Feb. 2007. The
Capital. 28 Feb 2007 .
Tjaden, Robert. "Water Quality & the Chesapeake Bay."
College of Agriculture & Natural
Resources. 16 May 2006. University of Maryland. 2 Mar
2007 .
Ask this stakeholder a
Thoughtful Question or Respond
Thoughtful
Questions
From:
Chesapeake Industrial Corporation Massanutten Reg. Gvnrs.
School /
3/19/2007
7:28:00 AM
In your paper, you stated that there are environmentally
unaware homeowners that do
not pay much attention to the problems. How will you
resolve this issue and raise
homeowners' awareness of the ways to save the bay?
From:
Farmers and Landowners Cooperative Massanutten Reg.
Gvnrs. School /
3/19/2007
7:32:00 AM
How are you going to convince homeowners to adopt
Bayscaping? It may save money,
but a lot of homeowners like elaborate lawns and flowers
that aren't native to the area.
Also, what about combating over watering and fertilizing
lawns and malfunctioning
sewage systems?
From:
T.A.L.K About the Bay Massanutten Reg. Gvnrs. School /
Newcomer
3/19/2007
7:58:00 AM
Your plan is well thought out and is very clear as to
its objectives and the processes you
will use to achieve those objectives. We had not known
much about Bayscaping, but now
feel well informed as to what it is and how homeowners
can implement it. Your research
was very thorough and educational.
Chesapeake
Homeowners Association MRGS
Response
3/21/2007
6:50:00 AM
Answering the question about raising awareness of
homeowners on the topic of pollution
in the Chesapeake Bay, our solution is to hold
conventions for the purpose of educating
homeowners on simple or elaborate ways to reduce their
pollution of the bay. Regarding
the question about how we would convince homeowners to
adopt Bayscaping, we would
like to say that if saving money, helping the
environment, and producing a beautiful
environment in the yard isn’t appealing to homeowners,
then there really isn’t much else we
can do to convince them. You can’t convince everybody
to do what you want, but most
people will be convinced by the fact that it will be
financially beneficial. Also, Bayscaping
is the solution to overwatering and overfertilization
because that is exactly the purpose of
Bayscaping, to reduce overwatering and fertilization.
Malfunctioning sewage systems are
being looked at by groups such as the Friends of the
North Fork and South Fork as well as
any other tributary to the Chesapeake Bay. These groups
test nitrate, phosphate, dissolved
oxygen, and do macroinvertebrate studies in regard to
these waste systems.
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