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Etna to be nationally recognized for its EcoDistrict

Etna to be nationally recognized for its EcoDistrict

Although an official announcement won’t come until next month, Etna officials learned that the borough will be recognized as the having the first certified EcoDistrict in the country.

Officials disclosed the pending award at the Oct. 15 borough meeting, and said the official announcement will be made at the 10th annual EcoDistricts Summit that will be held Nov. 4 and 5 at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center by the Portland Sustainability Institute.

“I choked on my Cheerios,” said Robert Tunon of Etna, who serves on the advisory board of TriBoro EcoDistrict, of which Etna is a part, and is one of the leaders of the project. “There are other communities in bigger cities who deserve this honor. We’re just a few dots on the map of places working on these efforts.”

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Locally, those dots include Millvale and Sharpsburg, which, joined with Etna, create the TriBoro EcoDistrict. Etna became part of the triad in 2017 and ever since, officials and residents have worked to reach the goals of bringing people together to make the tiny borough (less than one square mile) an innovative, sustainable and diverse neighborhood.

Etna reached the milestone as it’s own, nationally registered EcoDistrict, Mr. Tunon said.

“Our local movement is happening based on something that began in Portland, Oregon.”

Millvale was the first community of the TriBoro to join the EcoDistrict movement. Etna was next, followed by Sharpsburg. Once they each became an EcoDistrict, the neighboring communities joined as the TriBoro EcoDistrict. They work together and separately as the advance their sustainability efforts in ways that benefit one another.

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“That’s the beauty of the TriBoro. Even though we have a lot of the same issues and sometimes work together, we also have our own separate goals and leadership. Etna is a unique community and our neighborhood has plans of its own to be carried out by our own residents,” Mr. Tunon said.

The Etna EcoDistrict has had the full support of the borough, as it, along with the Etna Community Organization and the Etna Economic Development Corp. have developed its goals, involved the community in the effort and put their plan into action. Throughout it all, evolveEA, an environmental architecture firm located in Pittsburgh, has been guiding the group’s success.

“We’ve been on a multi-year journey that started with education, followed by planning. There have been 350 people who’ve been part of the process and helped plan and carry out 35 unique events to show the community what’s been accomplished.”

He thanked Mayor Tom Rengers, Borough Manager Mary Ellen Ramage, council and the Etna Volunteer Fire Department for the donation of Fugh Hall where the Etna EcoDistrict meets. “It’s been a very collaborative process.”

“This is a huge milestone,” said Etna Councilman Rudy Milcic as he thanked Mr. Tunon and Alexis Boytim, former Americore Vista fellow with the TriBoro. Ms. Boytim became the first director of the EcoDistrict on Sept. 1.

“It was working for the right people at the right time for me,” she said of her advancement. 

Christine Mondor, principal of evolveEA, has guided the TriBoro effort. “It’s a really big deal to be the first in the country, the first in the world, really, to be designated an ED,” she said.

She, along with Anna Rosenblum, an EcoDistrict developer with evolveEA, worked with Etna in 2018 to teach residents how social, economic and environmental issues were affecting their lives. Each month, the community gathered at Fugh Memorial Social Hall to plan strategies in the key areas of water, mobility, air, energy, food and equity.

“This is great affirmation of all the hard work that’s gone into this,” Ms. Mondor said. “We’ve worked through all the stages, had all the people in place, but we hadn’t gotten any feedback until this morning. It’s a great shared achievement.”

The result on paper is educational booklets put together as a collaborative community effort that highlights the history of each area, as well as a plan of action to improve the environment, control water runoff, provide locally sourced food, provide safe and versatile travel and engage all community members equally.

Putting those plans into action has been going on simultaneously, with the next bringing community volunteers together on Saturday, Nov. 2 at Hafner Field  for a tree planting aimed at improving air quality and increasing the tree canopy. A grant from the Allegheny County Health Department was used to purchase 57 trees for this effort. 

“Most of these ideas have come from volunteers,” said Council Chairman Peter Ramage. “We’ve had great participation from community members.”

Rita Michel, freelance writer, suburbanliving@post-gazette.com.

First Published: October 24, 2019, 2:35 p.m.

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