Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership Hosts Green Events
WARREN, Ohio -- The Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership hosted two events downtown Tuesday, both focusing on making the community more environmentally friendly.
Starting off the afternoon was the Greater Warren Safe, Clean & Green Expo, where 10 exhibitors, including the Mosquito Lake Greenway Project and Valley Energy Solutions, a solar panel installation company based in Salem, participated in panel discussions.
The first discussion, “Housing & Neighborhood Scale Energy & Landscape Appeal,” featured area residents who are involved in eco-friendly projects in the Mahoning Valley. Among the panel members was Mikenna McClurg, who operates the communal The Giving Tree Garden in Warren. McClurg said activities with an environmental purpose can help better the area in several ways.
“Basically, we're trying to remove some of the blight and replace it with something that works for the community,” she explained. “Not only does it give people something to do throughout the summer, it gives them a sense of community and a chance to meet their neighbors.”
McClurg has also started a children's garden at Giving Tree, where kids have their own garden box that they take care of throughout the summer.
“It's teaching them to help each other, which in itself has a positive role,” she said.
The second panel discussion, comprised of local government officials and business leaders who have participated in the green movement, took questions on how to properly compost for personal gardens and urban agriculture.
“What was provided here today gave me an opportunity to learn about clean, green and safe initiatives and how we can use some of those to better our city as it relates to our strategic plan,” said Warren Mayor Doug Franklin. “I was a student today and sometimes it pays to be a student when you learn some of the things being innovated across the country.”
Also speaking at the expo was Shanelle Smith, the director of the Emerald Cities Collaborative branch in Cleveland. Emerald Cities is a nonprofit organization that focuses on “environmentally friendly economic development.” Smith said she believes in what she calls “the high road” for businesses.
“It means embedding environmentalism in economic development through a triple bottom line,” she explained. “That means driving economic development through policies that not only give people opportunities but also benefit the environment and businesses in the community,” she said. “A lot of people believe it's either/or, but it's not. It's an 'and.' It's equity and environment and economy.”
Following the Green Expo, the Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership held its weekly Warren Farmer's Market on Courthouse Square. Five vendors, all local, offered products ranging from organic vegetables to scarves made with alpaca fur.
The market, which will be held every Tuesday through Oct. 7, keeps with TNP’s environmental and health goals, according to its manager, Sheila Calko.
“All these farmers are having a much lower environmental impact if you consider they are not transporting goods from thousands of miles away. We aren't having to import products from California or even other countries for our market,” Calko said.
Calko praised the quality of food that was available through some of the vendors, namely Birdsong Farm.
“I've gotten great feedback about their certified organic produce. I've purchased lettuce every week and it's some of the best I've ever ate in my life,” Calko said. “I have my own garden and I'm not even growing lettuce this year. It's all coming from Birdsong.”
PICTURED: Dave Waldeck of Birdsong Farm in Garrettsville, backs fresh vegetables at the Warren Farmer's Market.
Copyright 2014 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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