The Sustainable Communities Hub is here! Use it to guide your town’s EAC or start one
The Delaware County Office of Sustainability has just launched its Sustainable Communities Hub, a website to share resources for the environmental advisory councils, shade tree commissions and other environmental committees of each Delco community or to inspire those communities that do not have such a committee to start one.
The new website is HERE. The Clearinghouse will also house it on our site: Government – County -Office of Sustainability – Sustainable Communities Hub. Delaware County is home to 49 municipalities including boroughs, townships, and one third-class city. Each municipality handles sustainability a little differently, but the most common strategy is by hosting an advisory board or commission. Of the 49 municipalities, 17 have an Environmental Advisory Council (EAC) or related committee & 18 municipalities have a Shade Tree Commission or related committee.
Interested in a plastic bag ban? Check out other communities’ ordinances, flyers, and educational materials to help smooth your path. Want to develop a master plan for a rain garden or local park, other municipalitries have already done it and can show you how. No EAC in your town? Here’s help to develop the support needed to set one up.
The Sustainability Office intends the site to be dynamic and accessible with each EAC making contributions and using the resources available. Sustainability Coordinator Olivia Sansone encourages everyone to keep in mind that this resource is not static. It is always accepting submissions over email to either sansoneo@co.delaware.pa.us or sustaindelco@co.delaware.pa.us.
If your EAC, Shade Tree Commission, Environmental Commission or municipality in general has a sustainability/environmental policy or resource update that you know of or are involved in, please send it to her or alert her to it and she will be happy to determine its applicability to the Hub. She is also happy to make tweaks at any point, if need be, including adding new resources in order to be maximally effective—just send her a message.
Olivia asks that everyone in the environmental community share this resource far and wide, within your commission as well as other municipalities and their commissions in the County, and even externally. Please also share this resource with the municipal staff or elected officials that you work with!
PHOTO: Furness Park/Courtesy Clearinghouse
