LOWER MERION — The Lower Merion and Narberth environmental advisory councils and shade tree commissions recently announced this year’s winners of the 2024 “Go for the Green” Awards.
The annual awards recognize individuals and organizations that are making a positive impact on environmental issues in Lower Merion and Narberth.
“Every year, the environmental advisory councils and the shade tree commissions of Lower Merion and Narberth get together to recognize significant contributions to environmental quality and natural resource sustainability made to our two municipalities and the world at large by local residences, businesses, and institutions. The aim of this is to raise awareness of environmental values and of the actions each of us can take as stewards of our natural resources and as exponents of the social ethic that the actions we take today for our benefit should be taken with the cognizance of their impact on future generations,” Lower Merion Commissioner Ray Courtney said during a recent meeting of the board of commissioners.
Joseph M. Manko Lifetime Achievement Award Winner: Jesse Lytle for piloting the movement to arrest climate change and foster sustainability in his several capacities, including as the founding president of the Borough of Narberth’s Environmental Advisory Council, as a member of the board of the Lower Merion Conservancy, and as Vice President, Chief of Staff, and Chief Sustainability Officer of Haverford College, where he has been instrumental in the college’s many notable accomplishments in the realm of sustainability, including a dramatic reduction in campus greenhouse gas emissions, arboretum revitalization, and the installation of publicly accessible EV charging stations.
Maki San Miguel Paulson Sustainability Winner: Sudie Herdman for combining horticultural expertise with unceasing dedication over many years to creating and maintaining beautiful gardens, ranging from Longwood Gardens and the Barnes Arboretum to the Cynwyd Trail, the Cynwyd Station, and at the Bala Cynwyd Library and the Lower Merion Academy Building.
Resident Award Winner: Hilarie Johnston for the many hours she has spent as a trained Pennsylvania Horticulture Society (PHS) Tree Tender, working in collaboration with township staff to improve the trees in township parks — Rolling Hill Park, in particular — by clearing invasive vines, planting trees with her hands, and organizing volunteer groups to help her.
Commercial Enterprise Award Winner: Mother Compost for steadily raising the Community’s consciousness about the value of composting and for continually expanding its collection services that now extend to over 1,400 residents along the Main Line as well as over twenty colleges, small businesses, and churches, eight of which are located in Lower Merion or Narberth.
Institution Award Winner: Gladwyne Free Library for its diverse and numerous environmental programs and for restoring, enhancing, and maintaining the adjacent Keech Memorial Garden, which enriches the experience of the more than 50,000 visits that the Library welcomes annually.
Organization Award Winner: Shortridge Park Volunteers (Celia Mammary, James Mammary, Rob Kuper, Stacy Hirsch, and Dan Mercer) for developing and executing over a period of years a plan to beautify Shortridge Park, which has entailed the removal of massive amounts of invasive, non-native plants, saving trees from strangulation by English Ivy, planting approximately 160 native trees and shrubs, and continuing to monitor and maintain the park.
Friend of Penn’s Woods Award Winner: Derrick Wu for extraordinary tree stewardship as a member of Ardmore Tree Stewards, bringing to bear his expertise as a Pennsylvania Horticultural Society Tree Tender and Penn State Master Watershed Steward and contributing to the planting and stewardship of more than 150 trees in Lower Merion neighborhoods and parks.
Government Service Award Winner: Rob McGreevey for his leadership role as a member of the Narberth Borough Council, among other things, the establishment of the Narberth EAC, the enactment of one of Pennsylvania’s first ordinances to regulate single-use plastic bags, the adoption of ambitious commitments to transition borough facilities and vehicles to one hundred percent renewable energy, the replacement of street lights with LED fixtures, the installation of publicly accessible electric vehicle charging stations, and the pursuit of Community Choice Aggregation that, once implemented, will afford all energy users within the borough access to non-fossil fuel-generated electricity.
