Tag Archives: West Chester University

Invisible Hand film / Sustainable Storefronts awards ceremony Nov. 16

Awards Ceremony for Sustainable Storefronts program, Tuesday, November 16⋅7:00 – 8:00pm, recognizing businesses that have joined West Chester’s Sustainable Storefronts program and send a representative (approx. 15-20 min.). Location: Room 101, Business & Public Management Building, 50 Sharpless St, West Chester, PA 19383.

Then, we will show the Sustainable Storefronts interview film created by WCU students (approx. 15-25 min). Finally, we will open up the discussion to the attendees, covering the central topics of the film Invisible Hand (approx. 20-25 min). Moderator: Prof. Megan Schraedley, WCU Department of Communication & Media.

Register at https://wcupa.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8p4IKWoUAV3jhXg to view the film “Invisible Hand” about the rights of nature movement online in advance (see trailer here) and to attend the event.

This event is sponsored by the WC Green Team and the WCU Office of Sustainability. Come any time after 6:30 for information tables in the LEED-certified BPMG building. Metered parking on Sharpless or Church St. Room 101, Business & Public Management Building, 50 Sharpless St, West Chester, PA 19383. Come any time after 6:30 for information tables and a tour of the LEED-certified BPMG building led by Dr. Bradley Flamm, Director of the WCU Office of Sustainability.

The 17 businesses (so far) that, in anticipation of West Chester Borough’s ban on single-use plastic bags and straws going into effect on 1/1/22, have voluntarily joined the Sustainable Storefronts program are:

Roots Cafe
Kaly Clothing
Gryphon Cafe
Mae’s
D’Ascenzo’s Gelato
The Shop on Market St
Kildare’s Pub
Meatball U
Dia Doce
Bryn Mawr Running Company
Dolce Zola
The 5 Senses
Mercato
Gemelli Gelato
West Chester Co-Op
Eclat Chocolate
Malena’s Vintage Boutique

Famed natural gardens expert Doug Tallamy to speak at WCU Sept. 13

Please let us know you are coming at Eventbrite.

Dr. Doug Tallamy will describe his plan for a grassroots call-to-action to regenerate biodiversity through native plantings in your backyard. Dr. Tallamy, professor in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware, best-selling author, and an international expert on restoring health to the planet through plants, will visit West Chester University on Monday, September 13.

Prof. Tallamy will spend the day speaking to University classes and will offer a 5pm lecture to the community. Dr. Tallamy is the co-founder of Homegrown National Park, with the purpose to regenerate biodiversity, one person at a time, though a grassroots call-to-action that focuses on native plantings.

Please join West Chester Green Team and WCU Office of Sustainability, which are co-sponsoring Doug’s lecture, at 5:00pm in Emilie K. Asplundh Concert Hall at 700 S. High Street in West Chester Borough.

THIS EVENT IS FREE TO THE PUBLIC BUT REGISTRATION IS REQUESTED

Download the below flyer here.

What’s Growing in the Borough

Please check out a great article by journalist and professor in WCU’s Department of Communication and Media Jesse Piersol, “What’s Growing in the Borough: the bounty of West Chester gardens,” in the July issue of the very attractive publication The WC Press, pages 33-41. You may receive or pick up a copy, or you can subscribe online for free when you look at the article here.

The article features interviews with:

• Our own gardening activists Ashlie Delshad, Margaret Hudgings, and Sallie Jones;

• West Chester University’s Joan Welch, Kate Stewart and Tyler Montgomery, about the four WCU campus gardens (see our new video featuring them here; scroll down to “The Gardens of West Chester University” and follow the link);

• Also Christina Wilcomes of Hackberry Hill Flowers and Ben Rotteveel of DutchGrown Flower Bulbs.

The article, beautifully written and illustrated with 5 garden photos, including kids gardening at the Melton Center in our community garden program there (see more here and here), ends with thoughts about how, even in difficult times, gardening can bring us a sense of tranquility and escapism.

Thanks to Jesse Piersol and The WC Press for such a great job of presenting an important local trend. May it inspire many more gardeners!

Updating recent WC Green Team activities: Earth Day, Plastics

Earth Day

Earth Day in West Chester Borough was a resounding success for the Green Team. This year the WCGT partnered with West Chester University Assistant Professor of Communication Megan Schraedley and her class of organizational communication students. This partnership resulted in a dynamic Art Festival and Stroll event, spreading the word about Earth Day and sustainability in the Borough. Dr. Schraedley and her students helped plan the Earth Day Art Festival & Stroll which took place on April 22nd throughout the Borough.

This event had two parts. The first part showcased sustainable art pieces digitally on our Instagram page and in-person at the Chester County Historical Center. The second part featured an in-person sidewalk chalking event along High Street. At the CCHC, local students and artists created several nature-themed art pieces for display. These pieces used natural and upcycled materials such as plastic water bottles, found wood, clay, and cardboard to bring public awareness to nature’s beauty as well as how to find other uses for single-use materials. Please check out our Instagram page, @wc_green_team, to see these works of art.

In addition, the WCU students marketed and planned a successful sidewalk chalking event that took place on April 22nd along High Street. Families, schoolchildren, college students, business owners, and other local organizations came together to participate in this community event.

In total, we estimated over 100 people came out to support Earth Day and the WCGT, including the mayor of the Borough, Jordan Norley, who publicly recognized the West Chester Green Team’s sustainability work by presenting us with the keys to the city. The WCGT unveiled our new Transition sign (check out more info about Transition here) and Mayor Norley spoke highly of the work the WCGT is doing to improve quality of life in the Borough.

For more info and images of Earth Day, including noteworthy remarks by Rani Norley, see here.

Plastics-Free Please

This spring, the West Chester Green Team informed businesses in the Borough about how to acquire a Sustainable Storefronts certification, available through the Borough’s Sustainability Advisory Council. This voluntary certification available for retail businesses and restaurants is an important step towards eliminating single-use plastics in the Borough.

To tackle this issue, the WCGT partnered with Megan Schraedley, an Assistant Professor of Communication at WCU, and one of her organizational communication classes to contact local businesses. Together, we contacted dozens of businesses in the Borough and spoke with them about sustainability and the Sustainable Storefronts program. From these conversations, we helped the following local businesses become Sustainable Storefronts certified: Dia Doce, Meatball U, Bryn Mawr Running Co., Dolce Zola, 5 Senses, and Hop Fidelity.

Many thanks to these businesses for jumping on board with sustainability and joining the Sustainable Storefronts program! They are leaders for the future of the community. Be sure to thank them for joining the next time you visit any of these establishments. You can see other businesses who have joined at the Borough’s site.

Later this year, we hope to recognize these businesses for joining the Sustainable Storefronts program, so please be on the lookout for more information.

See also the Plastic-Free Please Facebook page here.

West Chester Area Transition

See information on our latest initiative here.

Panel on cutting plastics use, 4/21/21

Plastic Free Chester County panel discussion on Wednesday April 21, 7 PM.  Panel moderator:  Prof. Megan Schraedley of the WCU Communications Department.  This semester she is guiding her class in working on plastics issues in consultation with the Borough of West Chester.  The panelists are Faran Savitz, plastics specialist from Penn Environment; Gillian Alicea, member, Sustainability Advisory Committee of WC Borough and liaison between SAC and Don’t Spray Me/WC Green Team;  State Representative Dianne Herrin, who as mayor of West Chester led the Borough’s effort to ban single-use plastic bags and straws.  The panel will update us on new directions in plastics both locally and at the county and state levels.  This panel is part of WCU’s Earth Week celebration.  All welcome. Virtual event.

RSVP at wcupa.edu/sustainability. Registration is free but required.

Sponsored by the WCU Office of Sustainability, the West Chester Green Team, and members of the Chester County Environmental Alliance.

WCU North Campus Organic Garden Tour

West Chester University has four organic gardens. Read about them all here. View a video tour of the North Campus Garden here with student Elizabeth Schultz, who spoke about the WCU gardens at our Dec. 11, 2020, panel on local environment activism.

If. you’ve missed the Green Team’s own garden videos, see them all described and linked to here.