Reforestation

Eco Fest!

On Earth Day, April 22, Faith celebrated our new green space with our neighbors and friend! We had food trucks, live music, and a raffle; free trees, seeds, and books; art and nature activities for all and exhibitors with environmental resources.

Faith Church Reforestation Project

We are building an urban forest!  With support from Blue Water Baltimore and Interfaith Partners for the Chesapeake, we removed the northernmost section of our parking lot (26 spaces) in order to plant 60-70 native trees and flowering groundcover.

Why would we do such a thing?

  • To care for creation
    • Trees scrub carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and produce oxygen we breathe.
    • Removing part of our parking lot will improve the quality and decrease the quantity of storm runoff. Natural groundcover reduces runoff, slowing and filtering rainwater by allowing it to permeate the ground.  Excessive concrete in our city means stormwater runoff is the fastest growing source of pollution to the Chesapeake Bay.
    • Trees have a cooling effect, counteracting the heat trapped in our city by concrete roads and lots.
  • To care for our neighbors
    • Trees are good for our health. Exposure to forests improves our immune response, reduces stress, lowers blood pressure, improves our mood, and helps us focus.
    • Neighborhoods with trees are safer; studies have shown a 10% reduction in crime the greener a building’s surroundings are.
    • Pockets of green space increase and improve our daily access to trees.
  • To be better stewards
    • As people of faith, we believe God calls us to be good stewards of the land entrusted to us. To us, that means planting trees.

The work was done in three phases: two phases of asphalt removal, and then tree planting.

If you want to learn more or have concerns, please let us know!