sustainability : Featured Stories

The creative reuse economy has exploded in recent years, with more artists turning discarded items into fashionable new products. We take a look at how upcycling is taking shape in a number of cities, including Baltimore.

Baltimore is dotted with beautiful, old churches. But not all are used to hold Sunday service. Many have been renovated on behalf of nonprofits and businesses that now use them to hold meetings and events.

Store owners know how tough it is to beat the chains that undercut them. But one Baltimore area bike retailer has come out on top since it opened 35 years ago. Race Pace Bicycles now operates five stores and brings in between $8 million and $10 million in sales. 

Ecosystem Investment Partners raises money to restore and protect rural streams and wetlands. Developers and city agencies then buy credits from the company to fulfill federal environmental regulations. Learn more about this Baltimore company that is banking on the environment.

Architect and entrepreneur Stan Sersen has transformed a 1905 farmhouse on a former lumberyard into a modern office building called the Enviro Center. Now he is finalizing a wind-generation deal and an education initiative to teach environmental literacy to Maryland homeowners. 

Singer Karissa LaRen wants to see more community gardens in Baltimore. So she has teamed up with a local nonprofit to plant community gardens at city schools, using the proceeds from her debut album to fund the effort.

Raise a glass at various networking events to support alternative energy as Clean Currents hosts Wind Powered Baltimore Week.