The Green Towson Alliance unites Towson area environmentalists to achieve a greener, healthier, more beautiful community through collaboration and activism. Green Towson Alliance is calling for this public hearing based on our ongoing investigation of the sanitary sewer system in Baltimore County, which began when we published our 2017 White Paper, “Is Sewage Contaminating Our Neighborhood Streams?” In 2005, Baltimore County entered into a Consent Decree with Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) due to violations of the Clean Water Act – specifically the discharge of untreated […]
Continue readingPatty Mochel
PRESS RELEASE:Sanitary Sewer Overflow found at Lake Roland after heavy rains July 31, 2025
A Green Towson Alliance (GTA) volunteer discovered a manhole cover laying on the ground next to a sanitary sewer stack on the afternoon of Friday August 1, 2025. Upon further investigation, sanitary sewer debris such as toilet paper, flushable wipes and tampons were found in the surrounding vegetation along a hiking trail indicating that raw sewage overflowed from the manhole. The SSO was reported to Blue Water Baltimore and Baltimore County Department of Public Works and Transportation (DPWT). This is the third such raw sewage overflow event discovered below the dam in Lake Roland by […]
Continue readingGTA’s 10th Birthday Party!
Green Towson Alliance celebrated 10 years of the combined efforts of manypeople and community liaisons to create a greener and healthier environment inall the neighborhoods that consider Towson their downtown. Over 70 people attended the birthday party on Thursday, May 22 2025, in thecourtyard at Central Presbyterian Church. Festive party lights and GTA’s 4th ofJuly parade props of trees, bees and butterflies decorated the space, organizedby Allison Schulze. A native plant swap started the evening. GTA co-founders Carol Newill and BethMiller presented a brief program summarizing the two main areas of GTAactivities: Hands-On (trees, streams, […]
Continue reading10th Year of Stream Cleanups Coordinated by Green Towson Alliance
Green Towson Alliance has been organizing stream cleanups of local streams and tributaries of the Herring Run and the Jone Falls since it was founded in 2015. This April, 127 volunteers (including 17 children) cleaned trash out of the stream beds and banks and from the alleys and storm drains that funnel trash into the streams. At some sites, invasive English Ivy was cut from the trees and garlic mustard was pulled out. In all, teams at 8 locations collected 109 bags of trash and recyclables, and 16 bags of invasive weeds. In addition, unusual […]
Continue readingHow to Mulch to Help Trees, Not Hurt Them
by Carol Newill Thinking about applying mulch at the base of your trees? Mature trees do not need mulch, except to keep lawn mowers and weed wackers away from the trunk. Younger trees will appreciate mulch, to keep the soil cooler and more moist, so they can grow! Follow the Rule of Threes to avoid damage from over-mulching: Keep mulch at least 3 inches away from the bark, so the bark does not rot or allow pathogens to attack the tree. Mulch should NEVER touch the bark. Apply mulch no deeper than 1 to 3 […]
Continue reading2025 Towson Stream Cleanups
Please click on the image for details on this year’s Spring Cleanups
Continue readingGreen Good News
2024 was a great year for the Green Towson Alliance! Our workgroups completed projects in various areas and truly advanced our goal to achieve a cleaner, greener Towson. BUILDING A CLEANER, GREENER TOWSON Community Shade Trees In partnership with Blue Water Baltimore, GTA helped coordinate the planting of 244 trees in 14 Towson communities in autumn 2024. Stream Clean-upsIn partnership with the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay and Baltimore County, GTA organized 198 adults and 33 children, including Girl Scouts and Towson University students, to pull 150 bags of trash out of 11 neighborhood stream […]
Continue readingKentucky Coffee Tree
by Carl Gold During a late fall or winter hike have you ever heard a rattling sound without being able to tell the source? Maybe for a minute your primordial brain thought it was a rattlesnake until your rational brain reminded you that there are no rattlesnakes in the Baltimore Metropolitan area (there are timber rattlesnakes in Maryland but they are found mostly in Maryland’s four western counties – Frederick, Washington, Allegany, and Garrett). If you were lucky enough to be caught in the rain when the rattling increased maybe you thought of a long-lost […]
Continue readingClimate Crisis: Five More Changes
Cutting way back on single-use paper products seemed a no-brainer on my Climate Crisis Consumer Diet. I had used cloth table napkins when I had four kids at home, but as fewer people regularly came to the dinner table, I had inexplicably slipped back into using paper napkins. Last year, when I pulled out my stash of cloth napkins, I had lost my relaxed attitude about them. During dinner, I would cringe every time someone used one to wipe a greasy finger. Why was I so neurotic about them? Was I burdened by the thought […]
Continue readingCleaning Your Home Naturally
One way to take a step back from a closet full of plastic bottles filled with cleaning products that may contain harmful substances is to take a look at time-honored methods of cleaning. Just a few generations ago, people who lived in rural areas, who couldn’t readily run to a store to buy cleaning supplies, depended on using everyday products to clean their home. In fact, some old cookbooks included ‘recipes’ for cleaning solutions. Now more than ever, it makes sense to step back from those disposable floor cleaning pads and use an old-fashioned mop […]
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