Today the Alternative Spring Break Chesapeake Bay crew left CP and arrived at the Phillip Merrill Environmental Center outside of Annapolis! After unpacking the vans and setting up camp, we began a tour of the grounds lead by David Tana. David is the Maryland Outreach Coordinator at the center. He pursued his undergraduate degrees in Anthropology and Geology at UMD. After some time working as an academic adviser, he is now back as a student in the graduate school.
He gave us a comprehensive tour of the awesome facilities. The center was built in 2000, yet still looks brand new. It is one of the only LEED Platinum certified buildings in the world. The building uses large systems to collect rain water that circulates and provides all non-drinking water for the building. Most of the building is constructed out of recycled material. One of the coolest features is their compost toilet system, which allows them to use 90% less water than the average office building.
Because of incoming rain, we had to relocate camp to inside the center, so the rest of our free time was spent bringing our tents in and cooking dinner! Signing off from a great first day, we can’t wait to see what the rest of the week has in store!
-Maggie and Ben
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