On the 54th “Earth Day Birthday,” April 22, the Green Team held a rally at the County’s Historic Courthouse, moderated by Prof. Megan Schraedley. At several points in the program, Smithsonian recording artist Rev. Dan Schatz of West Chester’s Unitarian Congregation played and sang beautifully and meaningfully for all committed to beneficial change. Lenape elder David Eagle Heart Simon gave a Lenape blessing, with incense and incantation.

We were particularly honored by the presence of County Commissioner Josh Maxwell, State Representative Chris Pielli, and State Senator Carolyn Comitta, all of whom spoke encouragingly about progress in environmental and sustainability action at the county and state levels. Chester County is at the forefront of such efforts, now comprising over 30% of its area as preserved open space and numbering about a third of all municipalities in the state to have banned single-use plastic bags. Many thanks to dedicated public servants such as these!

Former West Chester Mayor Jordan Norley used the impetus toward a rail connection with Philadelphia as an example of acting to reduce fossil fuel use and traffic congestion. Green Team board member Renee Perna gave an update on the exciting West Chester Porchfest event coming up on May 20. And Ollie Finneran represented the environmental commitments of today’s children in style, even finishing his remarks with a joke.

In an unscripted moment, Jay Leno happened to walk by and chatted on the sidewalk.

Senator Comitta also presented the Green Team, represented at the top of the steps by board members Gillian Alicea and David Wickard, with a Community Pride Award from Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful. The award, shared with the West Chester Business Improvement District, honored the two community organizations for their work in building a pollinator garden last year at the Chestnut Street Parking Garage in downtown West Chester. See more about the award in the Daily Local News, 4/26/23, and about the garden here on our web site.

An unusual point of interest was our cupcakes, a big hit, made by Rebecca Malloy, with all 140 consumed by appreciative rally attendees and passers-by.

Jordan Norley then led a march from the Courthouse to the Unitarian Congregation for a Green Fair co-sponsored by West Chester Green Team and the Unitarian Congregation. Features included snacks by the the West Chester Co-op, represented by Sue Patterson and Co-op intern Abby Perry; a display by Mother Compost (see Tiffany Kennedy’s article here); a plant giveaway by Nathaniel Smith; Matt Zencey for Citizens’ Climate Lobby; and Suzanne Webster and Tim Lawlor for the Dark Sky initiative.

Reiko Yoshida, WCU graduate and professor of Japanese at Temple University, led an origami workshop whose participants folded 61 origami cranes, which were contributed to Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan’s 1,000 Paper Crane Projec to send these symbols of hope to Hiroshima for the G7 Summit. The total of over 10,000 origami peace cranes collected from people across Berks and Chester Counties will ultimately go to Hiroshima, demonstrating the power of community in worldwide cooperation for peace. See background on the cranes project in the Daily Local News, 4/12/23, and in MyChesco, 5/2/23.

Finally, at a Repair Cafe Jim Hudgings and Eric Schraedley answered questions and offered help. What’s a Repair Café? Essentially, attendees bring items in need of repair which other people fix! This keeps usable items from going to the landfill and reduces the volume of raw materials and energy that go into new products. It also provides those with repair skills the opportunity to put them to good use and share with others in the community. See more about Repair Cafes in the County’s Sustainability News, spring 2023; and note that one is being held in Downingtown on May 13 (see in our calendar).

We are looking for such people! If you can repair clothing, small appliances, electronics, lamps, small pieces of furniture, etc, please email us here.

Our Earth Day Welcome on April 21, sponsored by WC Green Team and WCU Office of Sustainability, was held on the Academic Quad with the inspiring backdrop of the Frederick Douglass statue.

The group was welcomed by WC Mayor Lillian DeBaptiste, who also dedicated the new look of our signs with a “Plant a Tree in ’23” sticker (designed by Steve Marvin) to be affixed to our extant yard signs, and by WCU President Chris Fiorentino, who recounted the impressive environmental progress at WCU and—his own academic specialty—spoke to the economics of environmentalism.

Prof. Joan Welch, as moderator, and Dr. Bradley Flamm, Director of the Office of Sustainability, noted concrete aspects of the University respecting the environment and reducing its institutional impact on it. Awards were presented for outstanding service of long-standing Green Team volunteers, as follows:

Environmental Leadership Award to Don Braceland, presented by Nathaniel Smith

Don Braceland is a many of many talents. I don’t know anyone else who knows how to fly an airplane or play 5 different musical instruments. Don in fact studied Music Education right here at West Chester University, some time ago.

But I’ve never heard Don talk much about his many talents or his job in the medical field at Bryn Mawr Hospital. When I first got to know him, after moving to the block next to him and Rosemary 15 years ago, his favored topic was public life and discourse.

His leading hobby then, as far as I could tell, was seeking out online political statements and writing comments to educate commentators with whom he disagreed. We’ve probably all had that urge, but he really seemed to thrive on it.

Then, in order to express this interest more practically, he decided to run for Borough Council. And he won and served for two terms, 8 years, a real commitment of time and energy, which he carried out with extreme conscientiousness.

When he first ran for Council, in 2013, he posted a video paying tribute to WestChester, saying: “I’ve lived in the Borough for 26 years; every one of them I’ve enjoyed. And I feel as though I’d like to give something back to my community.” And he sure has!

He has lived up to the statement he made at that time: “I just want to assure that West Chester stays a really great place to live.”

His greatest moment in meeting that goal l came in 2019, when he cast the deciding vote to enact the Borough’s ban on single-use plastic bags and straws, designed to cut down on fossil fuel use and litter.

As the longtime chair of the Public Works Committee, he interacted frequently with Borough staff, and his skill with people and interest in the practical details of their jobs came in very handy.

In one tribute to his ability, last year he was able to get herbicide spraying stopped along the West Chester Scenic Railroad track.

During his time on Council, we somehow convinced him to add to his extant duties membership on the Green Team board, where he has served ever since, including as our liaison to government.

Don has been a wise and effective hero for the green ethos. The West Chester Green Team is lastingly grateful to him and is proud to present him with this Environmental Leadership Award.

Environmental Leadership Award to George Squire, presented by Margaret Hudgings

The West Chester Green Team would like to honor George Squire for his many years of service to the environment and to our community.  I remember meeting George and Amy when I was manning a booth uptown on a Swingin’ Summer Thursday, out in front of Jim Wylie’s electric bike shop. It was a slow evening with my biggest customers kids who wanted free environmental buttons; and then along came George and Amy.  

George has a background in agriculture as well as health, and the Green Team’s early focus through Don’t Spray Me!, on the importance of avoiding spraying toxic chemicals, resonated with him.  On my way home that evening, I dropped off a Don’t Spray Me! sign at their house, and George and Amy joined the effort to protect the community from pesticides.

George and Amy are “boots on the ground” people.  They were willing to walk around and patrol–to check for standing water, clogged storm sewer drains, and trees under threat. If we got phone calls from neighbors or sometimes the Borough saying that a neighbor had puddles that were breeding mosquitoes, I called George. He and Amy were willing to go over and educate the homeowner, drop some harmless larvicide in the water and smooth over the situation.  

George and Amy looked over miles of Borough streets and even found standing water in Borough parks.  They reported problems to Public Works–an example of the Borough and the Green Team working together.

George has always been particularly concerned about trees. On July 8, 2020, the Squires called me and reported illegal tree removal  The cutting was in process so quick action was required. I contacted Mike Dunn, Borough arborist, who went to the site and stopped the removal, saving 3 of the 4 trees.  

Environmental warriors like George and Amy have helped for many years to keep our world healthier and greener. Sincere thanks from the Green Team on behalf of the West Chester community. We are grateful, George and Amy, for your years of service. 

Environmental Leadership Award to Christi Marshall, conveyed to her at a later time

Christi Marshall is a take-charge leader.  The primary focus in her work with the Green Team has been about energy.  I met her at the home of Eunice Alexander as we organized the first countywide solar tour, back in 2019.  We lined up a tour of dozens of houses throughout the County so that interested people could visit and get information about how to add solar panels or possibly a geothermal system to their home. Christi is active in Sierra Club and she linked the Green Team and Sierra Club together on the vital  energy issue.  

Christi has been a member of the Green Team board, serving for a time as vice president.  She also enjoyed working for the Green Team on fundraising, particularly the annual auction.  Christi is exacting and precise.  She strives for excellence and brings this perspective to her work, which is extensive.

Christi continues her Green Team involvement with the new for ’23 Legendary Lenape family education program.  The Green Team plans to offer programs to the local community about the Lenape tribe native to this area, with events at West Chester and Birmingham Friends Meetings, at Bondsville Mill Park, at Northbrook Canoe Company, at parks in West Chester and East Goshen, and at the Melton Center.

Bringing groups together is one of Christi’s strengths as a community leader in East Goshen, having founded the Environmental and Sustainability Advisory Council there.

Our sincere thanks go out to Christi for her devotion to the Earth and its stewardship, from the many organizations she has supported and from the West Chester Green Team.

Thanks to the many owners of businesses and other properties, passersby on Earth Day, April 22, were treated to—and often had to walk around or over—a variety of artistic chalkings on sidewalks along High St. (Read about our opening ceremony HERE.)

Below are some noteworthy samples, identified by location.

The initial text is from remarks by Borough resident Rani Norley at the opening ceremony outside Phillips Memorial Building, WCU, after her official unveiling of the 2021 Green Team yard sign marking it joining the Transition movement (close-up below; to order, see here) and, despite the blustery morning, surrounded by seasonal flowers. The following photos are of Earth Day art and observances along S. and N. High St. And the text at the end gives our own thoughts on Earth Day.

Thank you, everyone, for this wonderful event. It’s amazing to see so much support for green initiatives in our Borough. To the West Chester Green Team, Dr. Bradley Flamm, Courtney Finneran, Professor Megan Schraedley and all of you for attending and listening to these important messages — thank you. 

Thirteen months ago, our lives as we knew it, forever changed.  It has been a time of challenges and re-envisioning.  Through all the trials and tribulations, there was also something amazing happening on our planet.  As we stopped doing, our nature, plants and animals started thriving.  For me this has been a time of reflection, and how we as the people on this planet have a connection, a human connection to everything on it.  We are not just a part of it, we are deeply connected to it.  And when we take the power of our hearts, mind and body in harmony, we have the ability to do wonderful things.

Movements like the WCGT, Transition US, and WCU sustainability efforts are critical to cultivating a more just, sustainable and regenerative future.

With the new beginnings of Spring and its enthusiasm here, I am excited to take this energy towards a wonderful transition. To transition to a greener Borough. To transition to a community that values the strengths of diversity and the necessity of equity. Together, with hands of all shapes and sizes and color working in harmony to bring us Spring blossoms. 

What is Earth Day?

In April, 1970, US Senator Gaylord Nelson, drawing on his commitment to the environment, promoted the first national day to honor the Earth. People around the world now celebrate Earth Day every April 22.

Symbolically, on April 22, 2016, the nations of the world signed the Paris Agreement, setting concrete goals to rein in climate-altering worldwide temperature increases. Earth Day gradually grew into Earth Week, and now we speak of April as Earth Month.

In the northern hemisphere this is the month of spring and hope, the season to do our part by planting our own gardens and resolving to cut down on fossil fuel consumption, air and water pollution, overuse of plastics and chemicals, and other practices that threaten human and environmental health.

In the then-new Earth Day spirit, State Senator Franklin Kury guided passage of Pennsylvania’s environmental rights amendment in 1971 and now, going strong at age 84, has written a new book honoring the 50th anniversary of that constitutional guarantee to the “right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment” for all Pennsylvanians.