June is here. Temperatures are rising. Soon we will be reminded to pump gas after sunset to reduce air pollution. Other forms of pollution need addressing, too: water pollution, noise pollution, light pollution and visual pollution.
Pollution of local streams, the harbor and the Chesapeake Bay can be improved from home. Picking up trash along neighborhood streets, eliminating pesticides in our gardens and chemicals on our lawns are simple beginnings. Rain barrels or rain gardens are easy next steps.
At this house we need bigger and better rain barrels. We had one, but it clogged and overflowed. We have cut all of our downspouts, so they no longer flow into the broken terra cotta pipes causing our basement to flood. Now rainwater washes over our garden, but a few big rain barrels would help harvest the water.
We also need to install at least one rain garden. We live at the top of a hill, and the backyard slopes downhill. After looking at the clear plans on the Bluewater Baltimore website, I am still unsure where the best location might be for our rain garden. I think I need professional help. The farthest back bed already captures a lot of water, but I know we could do more. I have been adding native plants, and installing a rain garden would be a good excuse for more.
I don't know what to do to help noise pollution in Baltimore City, but more needs to be done. When our 23-year-old air conditioning compressor dies (it is is on borrowed time), we will definitely find one that makes less noise. We have no outdoor stereo. We don't rev our cars, but the cars, motorcycles, trucks and sirens on Cold Spring Lane are deafening. On Sundays, dirt bikes drone like mosquitoes on steroids up and down Cold Spring and the JFX.
We are not alone in suffering loud city sounds. It is true in many neighborhoods, especially those near police stations and hospitals. I wish sirens would not have to sound so loudly in the middle of the night when there is no traffic.
Light pollution is known to be disruptive to man and nature. More lights are installed on roadways and in residential neighborhoods every day. Horrid light bulbs just went in to poles on several side streets in Roland Park. They beam down blinding light like those on police helicopters and in prison yards and stadiums. The new fixtures on Roland Avenue are good looking, but the harsh blue light from their LED bulbs is surreal. Several area landscape architects recommend that all of the bulbs be replaced by LED bulbs with a 2700K color temperature for a warmer light.
A relative new category of pollution is visual. One definition says that it disturbs visual fields by creating negative changes in the natural environment. It cites billboards, trash, telephone towers, wires, buildings and cars as contributors. Another article says that the effects of exposure to such pollution include distraction, eye fatigue, decrease in opinion diversity and loss of identity.
Another study talks about the effect on well-being and quality of life, the reduction of aesthetic appeal, economic health and "civic sense." It says visual pollution may incite a psychological aversion and thus affect mental and physical health of neighboring residents.
In historic residential neighborhoods like Roland Park signs are creeping in at a rapid rate. I remember when "For Sale" signs were not allowed in Roland Park. Now signs advertise restaurants on light poles. Signs are on the sides of buildings. School signs at their entrances are substantial. Neon signs flash on Falls Road with new and more signage on the way at Cross Keys, the Rotunda, in Stony Run and along the Roland Avenue cycle track.
When I attended a recent master plan meeting on Stony Run, I was encouraged to hear that proposed signage was being decreased from a previous draft. The signage seems tasteful, too.
Signage, however, appears to have doubled on Roland Avenue since it was repaved. Almost every new light fixture has a sign on it. Some have signs at the bottom of the pole. More signs are stuck in the ground. Every bump-out has a neon yellow sign (understandable in snow, but evergreen bushes would serve the same purpose). For a fine example of sign overkill, look at the island by Somerset Road at University Parkway. DOT officials said at the annual Civic League meeting that the signage along the cycle track is not yet complete.
Less is more when it comes to signs. Perhaps an inventory needs to be made to see where signs are duplicated or unnecessary. The 2013 book "Visual Pollution: Advertising, Signage and Environmental Quality," by University of London architect and planner Adriana Portella, might be valuable summer reading.
In Baltimore City, we need to be good stewards of its architectural and natural beauty. We need to make Baltimore cleaner and less harsh. We must stay vigilant and combat all forms of pollution.