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Saving the Bay...
Girl Scout Style!
Girl Scouts Plant Trees to Improve Footprint
Media
Contact:
Ann Marie van den Hurk, APR
302-456-7170
avandenhurk@cbgsc.org
Newark, DE,
October
12, 2006:
Forests
are essential to maintaining ecological health in the Chesapeake Bay
as they provide a host of environmental benefits.
Perhaps most
importantly they act as giant filters, preventing sediments,
nutrients, and other pollutants from flowing into the Chesapeake
Bay.
Girl Scouts of
the Chesapeake Bay Council
is joining forces with
Future of Life, the
Stroud Water Research Center, and Chesapeake Bay Foundation
to improve our footprint on the Chesapeake Bay. We will have six
tree planting events in the Chesapeake Bay watershed over 2 days—
Sat., Oct. 14th and Sun., Oct. 15th. One such
event will take place in Centerville, MD at Bloomfield Farm. The
farm will be transformed in the future to a community park.
Bloomfield Farm stretches along US Route 213 for one mile just north
of the town of Centreville, MD.
This event is part
of the Council Service Project, Girl Scouts Building a Legacy:
It’s Not Easy Being Green.
Maintaining a delicate balance of diverse environments requires
constant careful stewardship and learning about these environments
will help girls and adults to become better stewards of natural
resources. The service project’s goal is to educate girls to
understand the environment by addressing several quality of life
concerns: air, water, land, wildlife habitat, and green
construction.
The Motivation
The motivation for
the project came from
Wangari Maathai
from Kenya, Africa.
Thirty years ago, she
was concerned that 90% of her forest had been chopped down. Soil
erosion was devastating her country as a result. The women, whose
job it was to look for firewood for their families, had to search
for hours to find mere branches. Wangari took action. On June 5th,
1977 on World Environment Day, she planted nine trees in her
backyard and founded the Green Belt Movement whose mission it
is to restore Africa’s forests, put an end to the poverty that
deforestation was causing, and recognize the intimate and
fundamental link between the environment, democracy, and peace.
Wangari gathered women from all over the country and empowered them
to plant 30 million trees. In 2004, Wangari won the Nobel Peace
Prize for her extraordinary contribution to sustainable development,
democracy, and peace. Girl Scouts of
Chesapeake Bay Council share Wangari’s mission of empowering girls
to become women who are stewards of the environment and stand for
peace and democracy.
Girl Scout
Connection
Girl Scouts of the Chesapeake Bay Council continues the naturalist
legacy left by the founder, Juliette Gordon Low, brought girls
together of all backgrounds into the outdoors, giving them the
chance to learn about nature and develop self-reliance and
resourcefulness.
Juliette Gordon Low said, "Studying animals
and plants teaches the value of little things."
The informal outdoor
and environment education program activities offered in Girl
Scouting helps girls grow strong as individuals, as well as members
of a team. These experiences provide unique opportunities for girls
to develop a greater appreciation for nature and learn how to use
the earth's resources.
Girl Scouts can earn
a wide variety of age-specific, environmental-related awards,
including '"Animals," "Earth is Our Home," "Water Everywhere,"
"Outdoor Adventurer," "Eco-Action," "Outdoor Fun in the City," "All
About Birds," and "Planet Power."
Girl Scouting builds
girls of confidence, courage, and character, who make the world a
better place. We do that by providing girls with personal leadership
development and programs that build real life skills for the real
world. To learn more about Girl Scouts of the Chesapeake Bay
Council, visit
www.girlscoutschesapeakebay.org.
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