Organization of the Month
Transition Town Greater Media
By Jodine Mayberry for the Clearinghouse
Transition Town Greater Media is more than an environmental organization, it is also tackling economic and social issues on a local, hands-on scale in and around Delaware County’s seat.
Come to EcoFest – The organization will host EcoFest 2024, which will be Saturday, Sept. 28 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Heritage Park in Media. The event is free and open to the public. It will feature music, food, games for children and a lot of information on environmental resources. Rain date is Sunday, Sept. 29.
According to Sari Steuber, TTGM’s operations coordinator, the group began 15 years ago by a small group of activists examining the Media community to determine how it could be made more resilient to problems like climate change, social change and economic issues. TTGM has a steering committee and 18 working groups, including several environmental groups.
The Transition Town model is based on an international movement started by Rob Hopkins, a cofounder of the Transition Network and the author of The Transition Handbook, The Transition Companion, and The Power of Just Doing Stuff.
The group looks at what the community needs and devises solutions to try to meet those needs in a systemic way, identifying problems that need to be solved (head), what people need (heart), and what practical, hands-on projects could achieve those goals (hands). This “head, heart, hands model” informs everything it does, she said.
Here are some of the projects TTGM has undertaken on the environment front:
- Green Wagons – “little lending libraries” for native plants housed in little green wagons in Media and nearby towns for residents to pick up and plant in their yards. The wagons also contain information about the plants and their importance to help mitigate climate change and provide needed habitat for our local birds, animals, and insects. Eight Green Wagon crews work throughout Media, Upper Providence and Middletown from May through October. For example, they plant milkweed for Monarch butterflies and pawpaw trees for swallowtail butterflies.
- Tree Tenders – also plant and nurture native trees throughout the borough and are currently collaborating with the Media Shade Tree Commission to conduct a canopy study to present to Borough Council. The tree tenders plant trees for free within the borough and buy trees from the Pennsylvania Horticulture Society for $135 each for other areas. This year they are planting trees in Tinicum, Ridley and Middletown.
- Pollinator garden – Volunteers from the Protecting Biodiversity Group worked with Media’s Environmental Advisory Committee to designate Media as a Xerces Society “Bee City”. This included working with Mike Green, the director of Public Works, to design and plant a pollinator garden on Borough grounds. The Borough EAC and TTGM also worked together to designate Media as a “Bird Town” through the Audubon Society.
- Habitat Helpers — works with homeowners and institutions to develop and maintain sustainable gardens. They recently created raised bed gardens at Sterling Health Care Center so the elderly residents could tend to them more easily.
Julie Smith, who organizes environmental programs, says the goal of those projects is to rebuild the natural habitats for insects, birds and wildlife and eliminate the use of harsh chemical pesticides. But the major goal is to educate people, “to show them the magic” of what happens when a healthy, native environment is restored to an area. “Once you start and get into it, it gets to be more and more fun. And you learn stuff from people every single day. There is always someone who knows more than you do,” Smith said. - The FreeStore – TTGM has run the Media FreeStore out of the First Church Media, 350 W. State St. in Media for10 years. People donate items they want to get rid of and take items they need or want, all with the aim of helping people recycle possessions and keep those goods out of landfills and incinerators.
You can bring donations to the FreeStore Sundays from 12-2 p.m. and Wednesdays from 4 to 8 p.m. Shopping days are Wednesdays and Saturdays from Noon to 4 p.m. The store is open to all members of the Greater Media community. The FreeStore does not take clothing, but the church has both a clothes closet and a food pantry. - Local Food – one of the working groups has produced a local food resource guide to identify local farmers, restaurants, food markets and retail stores that offer locally produced food.
TTGM also organizes a Green Sunday craft fair in November where local merchants offer handmade products for sale. Another TTGM working group offers small business loans through a Community Development Financial Institution. These loans go to entrepreneurs who may not be able to qualify for a bank loan. TTGM has helped three small businesses expand their offerings in Chester. During the pandemic, TTGM donated $3,000 to a small business gift card program to help keep them afloat while they were shut down.
The group worked with the Media EAC to help institute a single-use plastic bag ban by helping businesses find affordable alternatives. They are currently working with businesses to find alternatives for expanded polystyrene foam (commonly but incorrectly known as Styrofoam) containers. They helped the Borough institute a residential composting program and have worked with the Delaware County Office of Sustainability to develop one for the food industry.
Over the years they have recruited dozens of volunteers to give their time and labor to all these endeavors and they added the word “Greater” to their title because they are gradually branching out from Media Borough itself to neighboring communities. If you would like information about how you can volunteer or contribute, you can reach TTGM at [email protected], sign up for their newsletter at transitiontowngreatermedia.org, or find them on FaceBook and Instagram.