Thursday, June 5 is World Environment Day, and Baltimore’s cultural institutions are celebrating with eco-friendly incentives to draw in visitors to see the sights.

Turning sustainability into celebration, top cultural attractions like the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA), Maryland Zoo, Walters Art Museum, Everyman Theatre, and B&O Railroad Museum are rewarding visitors with free admission, discounts, and gift cards for taking simple, sustainable actions—like recycling, using public transportation, or joining a local cleanup.

By taking the actions listed below for each institution, participants can help the environment in Baltimore and receive a variety of benefits, ranging from free or discounted admission, a gift card, or discount of some other kind. Every action to reduce waste and harmful emissions improves the air, water, ecosystem, and more in Baltimore and beyond.

• Baltimore Museum of Art – bring three clean plastic bottles of any size and receive free admission to the Black Earth Rising exhibition on June 5
• B&O Railroad Museum – participate in the trash clean up beginning at 10 a.m. and enjoy free admission on June 5
• Everyman Theatre – bring craft supplies (crayons, markers, pencils, pipe cleaners, craft foam, etc.); fabric supplies (remnants, unused ribbon, Velcro, yarn, zippers, buttons, etc.); artist tools (brushes, glue guns, stencils, rulers, canvas, easels, etc.); costume jewelry; or beads to receive a $10 gift card
• Maryland Zoo – bring small, used electronic devices for recycling and receive $20 admission on June 5
• The Walters Art Museum – show a recently used CharmPass and receive a 10% discount on purchases at the Walters Cafe and a 20% discount on purchases of $50 or more at the Museum Store on June 5

This initiative began in Summer 2024 when the BMA organized an Eco-Challenge coalition of Baltimore’s civic and cultural organizations that committed to improving their environmental impact. Each promised to enact at least one operational change to reduce their carbon footprint and to offer one program that builds awareness of climate change in 2025.

Participating organizations in the Eco-Challenge include the American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore Convention Center, Baltimore Green Space, Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore Museum of Industry, B&O Railroad Museum, BmoreArt, Chesapeake Shakespeare Company, The Crow’s Nest, Everyman Theatre, Hippodrome Foundation, Justice Thurgood Marshall Amenity Center, Living Classrooms Foundation, Maryland Center for History and Culture, Maryland Science Center, The Maryland Zoo, National Aquarium, Port Discovery Children’s Museum, Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African-American History and Culture, Visit Baltimore, Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore, and The Walters Art Museum.

To help the institutions in the coalition, the National Aquarium and Maryland Zoo shared their expertise with implementing sustainable practices, while BGE and the City of Baltimore offered information on their sustainability resources. Coalition partner actions ranged from reducing shipments and reusing materials to installing LED lighting, saving water, and converting animal waste into renewable energy. Visit Baltimore designated 2025 as the Year of Sustainability.

This year, the five institutions above have added these special incentives to their visitors to engage the public in their observance and celebration of World Environment Day.