RainScaping Campaign Promotes
“Beautiful Solutions to Water Pollution”

June 17, 2009
by Julie Crudele

Did you know that stormwater runoff is the major cause of water pollution and watershed degradation throughout the entire Chesapeake Bay watershed? A coalition of 38 strategic partners, including Annapolis Green, is taking the issue on! We’re developing a RainScaping Social Marketing Campaign to improve the health of Anne Arundel County’s tributaries and the Chesapeake Bay. The campaign highlights contaminants in stormwater runoff, including excessive pesticide and fertilizer use, and the lack of natural filtering processes and infiltration. It proposes a comprehensive approach to easy-to-use solutions—RainScaping—to mitigate stormwater runoff.

RainScaping techniques such as rain gardens, tree and shrub planting, rain barrels, and permeable pavers are proven and widely-accepted “beautiful landscaping techniques” that effectively manage stormwater runoff at the source, while saving natural resources and providing wildlife habitat. Urban and suburban landowners – especially environmentalists, gardeners, and home enthusiasts – who already understand the importance of rainscaping, but may not have the tools, knowledge or inspiration to start rainscaping on their own, are our target audience. Through the efforts of the RainScaping Campaign, they will be empowered to actively participate in rainscaping activities that will result in reduced pesticide and fertilizer use; better management of pet waste and trash; and the installation of rain gardens, native trees and shrubs, rain barrels, and permeable pavers.

The Campaign Partners officially launched the RainScaping Campaign and the rainscaping.org website last April with an event at the rain gardens at the Chesapeake Ecology Center on Earth Day 2009. Now we are up and running. You may have seen our displays at several Green Drinks gatherings.

We’re using every venue and every method we can think of to get the word out. You can help by visiting our website, rainscaping.org and telling all you friends about the effort. Of course, the best thing you can do is to implement rainscaping on you own property. It’s a beautiful solution to water pollution!

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