Elizabethtown College, Alliance For Chesapeake Bay Partner On Lawn Conversion Project To Reduce Polluted Runoff

Elizabethtown College in Lancaster County is partnering with the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay to participate in a lawn conversion program that will help Pennsylvania meet its Chesapeake Bay pollution reduction goals. 

The project is the latest sustainability initiative for the college, which for many years has taken a proactive approach toward reducing its impact on the environment. 

The lawn conversion began taking place this fall on both sides of the Brown Building parking lot, which is located across College Avenue from Lake Placida. 

[Members of the Etown SEEDS Ecology Club and other students helped.  Read more here.]

The 0.63 acres of lawn on the left side of the lot is being converted to forest and will feature nearly 25 species of native trees and shrubs, with a total of 175 trees going into the ground. 

A lawn to meadow conversion is planned for 1.1 acres of land on the right side of the Brown lot. Native wildflowers will eventually be planted in stages, adding significant square footage to an existing pollinator meadow. 

Throughout its existence, the current meadow has been used by students for course-based research. This project will help to further expand on those volunteer and educational opportunities.

The Alliance was seeking candidate institutions for the project and Elizabethtown’s available land on either side of the Brown lot made the college a natural fit. 

The space is considered extra valuable for the lawn conversion since a small stream running alongside the area has the potential to improve the water quality and health of the Chesapeake Bay. 

[Click Here for an overview of the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay lawn conversion project.

[For more information on the benefits of lawn conversion, visit DCNR’s Lawn Conversion webpage.

[More information is available on cleaning up rivers and streams in Pennsylvania’s portion of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed by visiting DEP’s Healthy Waters, Healthy Communities webpage.]

(Reprinted from DEP’s Chesapeake Bay Healthy Waters newsletter.  Click Here to sign up for your own copy.)

NewsClip:

-- The Etownian: Students Volunteer For Lawn Conversion Project

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-- Armstrong, Indiana & Westmoreland Master Watershed Stewards Plant Live Stake Nursery In Indiana County Park

-- Penn State Extension: Slow The Flow - Reduce Stormwater Running Off Your Property 

[Posted: November 22, 2021]  PA Environment Digest