Ocean Health Starts With Us

Every effort counts when it comes to going green. It's the cups, straws, and lids in the Aquarium cafes made from corn, which are compostable and biodegradable. It's the line of green products offered in the Aquarium's shops. It's the bike racks installed on Pier 3 to encourage people to pedal to the Aquarium. And, above all, it's through everyday thoughtful choices that Aquarium staff and volunteers preserve and protect our planet.

Choosing recycled paper and, in turn, recycling it gives a second life to a product we use daily. In 2008, the Aquarium's Publications team saved 171 trees by using a coated paper with 80% recycled content, the highest in the industry, on its major projects including the annual report, school brochure, and the member magazine Watermarks. Even plates and napkins in the Aquarium cafes are made of recycled material.

The Aquarium also recycles used paper. The Aquarium has recycled 9 short tons of paper with the Abitibi PaperRetriever program.

The 2008 Annual Report featured a recycled envelope that contained flower seeds, so it could be torn up in pieces and planted in soil, resulting in a wildflower garden.

Waste Management estimates the Aquarium has recycled 56 tons of plastic, glass, and aluminum, and 22,000 pounds of cardboard.

The Aquarium also participates in a battery recycling program. Staff can recycle used alkaline and lithium batteries, instead of throwing them in the trash, which end up in a landfill and leak toxins into the earth and waterways. Americans purchase nearly 3 billion dry-cell batteries every year. If all those batteries were simply discarded, they would fill more than 600 large school buses. Recycling saves resources because recovered plastic and metals can be used to make new batteries.

When CDs, DVDs, and floppy disks used to record, store, and share information wear out, the Aquarium works with a company called GreenDisk to recycle this "technotrash" instead of clogging landfills and contaminating soil and ground water with harmful chemicals. In 2008, the Aquarium recycled 200 pounds of technotrash.

Outdated computers, printers, and other equipment are donated to CDM eCycling, which refurbishes any reusable equipment, and then donates it through its Second Life program to charities and other nonprofit organizations that otherwise could not afford this technology.

Aquarium staff looks forward to the annual office supply swaps and book swaps. Staff members bring in office supplies, books, DVDs, and CDs they no longer want, and browse their coworkers' castoffs.

The Aquarium Animal Programs staff repurposes toilet paper tubes, used towels, half-gallon jugs, plastic bottles, and other materials for education programs and animal enrichment.

In a period of just six months, staff saved 500 corks—that's 10 pounds of corks—from ending up in a landfill. They were shipped to the TerraCycle company free of charge. TerraCycle is an organization that is saving millions of corks, as well as other "trash," from going into landfills. As an eco-friendly innovator, TerraCycle "upcycles" used corks—both natural and synthetic—into cool products that are sold nationally at major retailers. The company also "upcycles" drink pouches, energy bar wrappers, cookie wrappers, yogurt cups, and plastic bottles into unique products like fashion bags, tote bags, and pencil cases.

Aquarium staff members are encouraged to do their part to help save our planet. Each year, every Aquarium employee gets a paid Conservation Day to participate in a conservation event like the Fort McHenry Field Day wetland cleanup.

» Learn how you can join us at our conservation events.

Staffers also help support a number of other conservation efforts, including Earth Day, Baltimore Green Week, and International Migratory Bird Month.

Every month, the Aquarium recognizes and rewards three staff members who embody its conservation ethos and conserve natural resources by walking, biking, carpooling, or taking mass transit to work.

With all the heaters, chillers, pumps, lights, and climate controls in the Aquarium’s multiple buildings, energy consumption can add up. So wherever possible, we install power-saving lights and bulbs.

In areas that aren’t used often, the Aquarium has installed motion sensors that turn off lights automatically when they’re not needed.

Energy-thirsty incandescent bulbs in the Aquarium’s office areas are being replaced by energy-stingy compact fluorescent lighting.

Once lighting materials have outlived their usefulness, the Aquarium has them recycled or destroyed rather than dumped in a landfill.

The Aquarium participates in Earth Hour, an annual event that calls people and organizations to turn off their lights for an hour to call attention to world climate change. The Aquarium building is an intricate structure that houses 16,000 animals, so turning off all the lights is no easy feat!

The National Aquarium has introduced a new dining series that celebrates sensible and scrumptious seafood choices. Fresh Thoughts: A Sustainable Seafood Dining Series consists of elegant evening events that feature educational cooking demonstrations and seated dinners overlooking the Aquarium’s coveted view of the Baltimore Harbor.

The Aquarium provides the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch Pocket Guide for our visitors, which guests can pick up inside our buildings (or download from Monterey Bay Aquarium's web site).

The Aquarium's Marine Animal Rescue Program (MARP) rescues, rehabilitates, and releases marine mammals and turtles.

Read more about MARP and the animals that have successfully been returned to the wild here.