Environmental Concern’s (EC) Wetland Learning Campus is the first Maryland Green Center on the Eastern Shore to be certified by the Maryland Association for Environmental Outdoor Education (MAEOE).

Criteria for a Green Center:

1. Support of area schools in achieving green school status
2. Model environmental best management practices in operation, design and maintenance of Center buildings.
3. Support community learning

For more information on Maryland Green Centers and Green Schools click the MAEOE logo below.

Green School Support

1. Our Education staff conduct teacher training programs for environmental and wetland curriculum.
2. Our Schoolyard Habitat program assists schools with design and implimentation of schoolyard habitats such as ponds, wetlands, rain gardens, meadows, bird and butterfly gardens.
3. Our Travelling programs and on-campus programs for school children provide schools with required environmental learning.

Environmental Best Management Practices

1. Our nursery controls nutrient runoff to the bay by flood irrigating our plants, directing runoff into a nutrient management pond, using slow release fertilizers that can be better utilized by plants.
2. Our Restoration division constructs living shorelines, rain gardens, nontidal wetlands, and ponds throughout the region providing wildlife habitat and protecting the bay from stormwater runoff and bank erosion.
3. Our grounds exhibit native landscape plantings, ponds, and a living shoreline marsh restoration.
4. Our buildings use geothermal heating and cooling to reduce energy use.
5. Our campus has gravel driveways and parking areas as well as pervious paver walkways to reduce stormwater runoff.
6. We direct runoff from our buildings and parking areas into stormwater ponds and rain gardens.
7. We have compost bins for organic waste.
8. We provide bicycle parking for employees and visitors who ride bikes to our campus.
9. We recycle office paper, newspaper, glass, aluminum cans, batteries, plastic, used copier and printer cartridges, and anything else we can.

Community Learning

1. We visit local libraries reading books and conducting activities focused on environmental topics for young children.
2. Our Wetland on Wheels (WOW) mobile classroom visits events throughout the region providing wetland education activities for everyone.
3. We provide educational programming for the community on wetland related topics such as rain gardens, rain barrels, wetland plants and wildlife.
4. We sponsor community events such as our annual Shutterbug photo contest, Archeological Road Show, Spring and Fall open house and native plant sales.