July 7, 2024

Hi and welcome to newsletter #43 of OneBeautifulPlanet.org!

This message goes to my 200 subscribers, with a big Thank you for signing up. If you have just subscribed, check out the Newsletter archive. I wrote the first issue in June 2023, and an overview of the effort at the 100th subscriber milestone.

Catching Up

If you are one of my regular readers, you are probably wondering what happened over the past couple months! After forty one consecutive weekly issues, the newsletter is now more of a monthly occurrence - and I expect it to remain that way for the foreseeable future. Get in touch if you would like to learn more or have questions about my newsletter plans!

With that administrative tidbit out of the way, here’s what’s new on the environmental action and education front:

Litter Cleanups

Over the past few weeks, I completed two cleanups in the Greater Philadelphia area, together with two other volunteers.

The first one was at the southwest end of the Cynwyd Heritage Trail. In just over an hour, we gathered four large bags of litter. This is an area that accumulates a lot of trash, given the relatively high traffic intersection nearby (Belmont Ave and Rock Hill Rd), that feeds into Route 76 toward Philadelphia.

The second cleanup was in Ardmore, also in the western suburbs, on a weekday after work. Walking the streets south of Lancaster Avenue for about an hour, we were able to focus more on smaller poorly discarded items, as the area was relatively well maintained. In total, we filled about half way two 13-gallon trash bags with cigarette buts, food packaging, and other random pieces of litter. Several people thanked us and asked if we worked for the Ardmore Initiative. In researching the group, I learned of this wonderful grassroots effort to support the community. Here’s a snapshot from their website:

“Founded as the Ardmore Main Street Program in 1988, in 1993 the Township of Lower Merion established the Ardmore Business District Authority as a municipal authority.  Initially chartered for five years, the charter was renewed in 1998, 2003, 2008, 2013 and most recently in 2023 for 10 years.  Originally known as Ardmore 2000, the organization currently uses the name Ardmore Initiative.” As a Business Improvement District (BID), it “provides community initiatives, capital improvement programs and services like street cleaning in a defined geographic area of downtown Ardmore. These efforts are funded through an assessment levied on property owners in the district. BIDs contribute to increased property values, decreased commercial vacancy rates and improved sales for local restaurants and retailers.”

Mindset

“Anyone who proposes to do good must not expect people to roll stones out his way, but must accept his lot calmly if they even roll a few more on it. A strength which becomes clearer and stronger through experiences of such obstacles is the only strength that can conquer them.”

— Albert Schweitzer

Website Updates

Recently, I began converting popular topics I researched and published in prior newsletters as standalone articles on the website. See below for example, the story of the amazing Chad Pregracke, founder of Living Lands and Waters, an organization I am happy to be supporting. Also, part of the “remarkable creatures” section, I summarized the little known animal known as the vaquita.

If you found this newsletter helpful or interesting, please share it. Thank you. And of course, if you would like to collaborate in some way, whether in writing, or volunteering together at a cleanup, please let me know.

Razvan