The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) has partnered with The Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration (MDOT SHA) and the Living Classrooms Foundation to launch a pilot education program that encourages activities aimed at reducing and preventing pollution in Maryland waterways and the Chesapeake Bay. The program is believed to be the first of its kind in Maryland and the bay region.

The Chesapeake Bay has always greatly relied on environmental education as a long-standing fundamental component of the bay's restoration efforts. The pilot program is designed to tie environmental education and pollutant reductions together through rigorous social and scientific monitoring. This innovative project would help quantify and track the actions students are taking to help reduce pollution. For example, through taking steps that help to reduce stormwater runoff or harmful emissions, pollutant reductions and preventatives can be measured. Teaching and taking these actions now will help create long-term success in the future.

“Working with Living Classrooms and other Bay partners, this program will help us empower one of our greatest resources in cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay – our young people," said Maryland Department of Transportation Secretary Gregory Slater. “Together we will educate future stewards of the environment with a program that’s informative, innovative, and driven by data to achieve real progress in restoring the bay.”

The partnership with MDE, MDOT, and Living Classrooms is focused on working with communities and organizations across Maryland that are committed to pollution reduction. This inventive approach to Chesapeake Bay restoration encourages and rewards environmental education that can help curb litter problems, creating a better environment for Marylanders.

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