As we celebrate Earth Day this month, and the work the city of ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä is doing to make our city greener, it’s a good time to note the recent third anniversary of the ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä Green Team.
The ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä Green Team was created by the ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä City Council in the fall of 2020 and held its first meeting in March of 2021 where we adopted four priority areas:
- Energy efficiency.
- Land use, water and transportation.
- Public education and communication.
- Litter, waste and recycling.
Public education on the city’s curbside recycling program was identified as an immediate need and we worked with the ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä Public Works Department to provide information to the community when the city purchased the new blue new recycling bins. This investment has greatly increased participation in the program, averting tons of materials from our landfill. To learn more about what materials are accepted, scan the QR code on your bin. Need a bin? Email us at charlestongreenteam@gmail.com.
Who is the Green Team? We are an active committee of volunteers who meet monthly to discuss ideas and issues surrounding expanding sustainability in our city. We hear from community members and experts for input and guidance. Speakers at our meetings have included the chair of the Morgantown Green Team which has been active for many years; representatives of solar power and community solar; the biking community who presented a city biking plan that we recommended to ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä City Council; the city’s parking director to discuss electric vehicle charging; and a representative from the ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä Police Department to discuss pedestrian safety.
Green Team members bring a variety of expertise on a wide range of issues including: recycling; environmental justice; reduction of single use plastic; public education; non-motorized transportation; green mobility for walking and hiking; reducing non-point pollution; providing stormwater management and green spaces.
Another recent collaboration was with the city and the Municipal Beautification Commission to bring about ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä’s designation as a Tree City USA, joining 3,559 recognized cities across the country.
Another popular project that resonates with a lot of people is an effort to reduce and reuse. We call it, “What do I do with all this stuff?†and we have many people telling us it’s information they need because they are moving, downsizing, decluttering or dealing with the stuff that loved ones have left behind when they die.
As we recognize our third anniversary, we look forward to developing a strategic plan to guide our work and our priorities. This will include working with the city to conduct a comprehensive inventory of greenhouse gas emissions from all sources within city limits and helping to create a community engagement plan to identify environmental and climate justice priorities, with residents a part of the decision making process. We also want to create an action plan for climate, sustainability and resiliency.
Please follow the ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä Green Team’s Facebook page and website, attend our meetings either in person or virtually, and join us in our efforts to make it easy for ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä and its citizens to be green. Many thanks to our original chairman, ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä City Council Member Emmett Pepper, and to Mayor Amy Goodwin for her support and vision.
