chesapeake bay trust

For the past two years the Chesapeake Bay Trust has published an annual report on public attitudes in Maryland about the environment and efforts to restore the Chesapeake Bay. While originally commissioned to inform our work as grant-makers, we believe that our findings are an important resource for the broader environmental community and policy makers in Maryland.

Highlights:

The 2010 report yielded some very interesting results. In one of the questions we tested eight environmental concerns to determine how concerned Marylanders were about topics like global warming, hazardous waste sites, and loss of natural habitat. Topping this list, and rated as a problem by nine out of ten Marylanders, is “water pollution in rivers, streams, and the Chesapeake Bay.” Loss of habitat, such as wetlands and forests, ranked second with 52% of the population calling it a "very serious problem".

We also learned how committed and engaged the average Marylander is when it comes to helping the environment. An incredible 89% of Marylanders are recycling, with 63% also encouraging others to do so as well! 46% of the population is donating their time and energy participating in community clean-up projects. And while water pollution is ranked the biggest problem, 85% of Marylanders are optimistic and believe it can be fixed.

For full survey results:

2010 Survey Results

2010 Survey Presentation

2009 Survey Results