Latest news with #EarthWeek
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Earth Week Spring Cleaning
Regions associates celebrated Earth Week with river cleanups, community gardening projects, litter pickups and more. By Candace Higginbotham NORTHAMPTON, MA / / May 19, 2025 / It's been a busy spring for Regions volunteers, with Share the Good, Financial Literacy Month and Autism Awareness Month. Some teams decided to take it outside and celebrate another April event, Earth Week, by sprucing up parks, rivers, neighborhoods and other public spaces. The Birmingham-based Regions Finance division took Earth Week literally - by getting their hands in the dirt. The team worked with community partner Friends of Avondale Park to install a new native plant garden and a natural erosion control bank that will improve the water quality of the park's pond. "We were looking for a way to give back to our local community and get outdoors during the beautiful spring season," said Allyson Jansen, an analyst on the Financial Planning and Analysis team. "Friends of Avondale Park was a perfect community partner for us-it's a local organization doing meaningful work to preserve and improve one of Birmingham's historic parks. When we learned about their ongoing efforts to combat erosion damage and restore the park with native plants, we saw a great opportunity to support a cause that impacts both the environment and our community." Around 25 associates spent the afternoon in the park, moving piles of topsoil and compost into two large newly tilled beds, which were then covered with mulch to prepare them for planting later in the fall. The hard work paid off and the team was thrilled with the result. "It was inspiring to see how a few hours of teamwork could make such a visible impact," Jansen said. "Projects like these help us step outside our daily roles and contribute to something bigger than ourselves. We look forward to continuing this kind of work in the future." It was inspiring to see how a few hours of teamwork could make such a visible Jansen, Analyst on Regions Financial Planning and Analysis team According to John Forney, president of Friends of Avondale Park, their effort made a big impact. "Friends of Avondale Park often requires help to address problems and opportunities across this 37-acre tract," Forney said. "The Regions Finance crew were great fun to work with, eager and even competitive with each other. Their work will allow us to install native plants next fall, stabilizing the pond bank and the walk running along it. For a group of bankers, they were impressively able and willing to get their hands dirty!" Another historic neighborhood, Edgehill, just south of downtown Nashville, got a spring facelift thanks to Regions. Six associates, led by Jackob Murray, a Regions Small Business banker and marketplace co-chair for the Nashville Impact Network, participated in the Community Gardening Day at Edgehill Apartments. The team planted flowers, vegetables and shrubs and refreshed garden beds. "The garden is one of the largest and oldest community gardens in Nashville," Murray said. "A few residents came over to visit and help out. They thanked us for helping to get the garden ready for the season." Murray has a special connection to the Edgehill neighborhood and says the Nashville Impact Network will continue to support the community with various other events and activities. Other Regions teams took to the water for their Earth Week activity. Whit Howell, part of the Wealth Management Strategic Execution team, worked with Cahaba Riverkeeper to lead a group of 13 Birmingham-based Wealth Management and Digital Banking associates for a clean-up project on the Cahaba River. The team floated six miles in canoes and picked up more than 300 pounds of trash. Those six miles of paddling made a big impact on the local community: The Cahaba River is the main drinking water source for around about one-fifth of all Alabamians and is a habitat for the iconic Cahaba lily. "I'd heard about Cahaba River cleanups from other Regions associates and after reaching out to Cahaba Riverkeeper, it was a no-brainer to get some teammates together and get out on the water!" Howell said. Though the team had fun and made a huge difference, he added that it was a bit disheartening to see so much trash left that they didn't have the resources to gather. A good reason to come back next year! Jonesboro, Arkansas, associates also took part in some spring cleaning - in their work neighborhood. Shelly Lamb, Private Wealth Management Trust Support administrator, led a team that took part in the Keep Jonesboro Beautiful campaign by picking up trash and debris near the local Regions branch. Lamb is part of the Green Business Committee of the Jonesboro Regional Chamber of Commerce and is a longtime advocate for local conservation and beautification efforts. "Getting a group of coworkers together to pick up trash is a fun way to get lots of people involved in keeping our neighborhoods clean and beautiful." Lamb and other Jonesboro associates also participated in the Arkansas State University Earth Day celebration. The event hosted more than 200 elementary students from across northeast Arkansas who learned about protecting the environment, gardening basics and appreciating nature. "I'm excited we had so much volunteer activity around Earth Day this year," said Susan Clowdus, volunteer manager for the Regions Making Life Better Institute. "These associates made life better in these neighborhoods and communities by making them more beautiful!" View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Regions Bank on Contact Info:Spokesperson: Regions BankWebsite: info@ SOURCE: Regions Bank View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Fashion Value Chain
07-05-2025
- General
- Fashion Value Chain
Trident Launches ‘Nirmal Narmada Abhiyan' Cleanup Drive
In a powerful celebration of Earth Week, Trident Group reaffirmed its environmental commitment through the 'Nirmal Narmada Abhiyan', a large-scale river cleanup and awareness campaign held at Avali Ghat, Budhni. Spearheaded by the Trident Humanity Foundation under the visionary leadership of Padma Shri Rajinder Gupta, Chairman Emeritus, and CSR Head Madhu Gupta, the initiative aimed to preserve the sacred Narmada River while promoting grassroots environmental stewardship. More than 100 volunteers, including Trident employees, CSR team members, and local community members, participated in this collaborative effort. The event saw encouraging support from Sub-Divisional Magistrate Mr. Dinesh Singh Tomar and Mr. Nitin Malhotra, along with coordinated efforts from village leaders and CSR representative Arvind Giri. As part of its Earth Week outreach, Trident also hosted a drawing competition for specially-abled children in Sanghera, Punjab—encouraging them to channel their creativity toward environmental themes. Across company locations, Trident employees embraced green office practices and engaged in sustainability-themed internal competitions. Trident's ongoing CSR ethos continues to reflect a seamless integration of Corporate and Individual Social Responsibility, fostering a culture of purpose-led participation at all levels. The 'Nirmal Narmada Abhiyan' is part of Trident's broader sustainability roadmap, reinforcing its dedication to long-term environmental and social impact.
Hamilton Spectator
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hamilton Spectator
SDSS Eco Club hopes Earth Week starts 'ripple effect' across the community
Stratford District Secondary School (SDSS)'s Eco Club proves once again that it doesn't take a lot of people to do something extraordinary. 'Usually people think that what they do won't be enough to change the world,' Eco Club member Naz Karazeyeek said. 'But if they got out of that thought and actually started doing stuff one by one, we would make a river, a lake basically, drop by drop. It's more about one person standing up and taking action.' 'When one person does it and they share what they're doing with people, it just keeps growing,' Rowan Watson agreed. 'And then exponentially people will start changing things that they do in their lives and maybe even reaching out to their communities and helping everyone change.' 'The thought that if you start doing something like recycling it's not going to change anything … it will,' Rory Auster said. 'Because of the ripple effect.' Outreach and education were front and centre this week as the club, which has about 20-30 environmentally conscious students this year, hosted Earth Week at SDSS from April 21-25. As Ewan Mann said, the focus of the week was on education. While the climate crisis is one top of mind for many people, chief of all the youth, the members of the club who spoke with the Times said that not every young person is engaged or believes in the crisis. 'The Eco Club is fairly aware, I would say the school at large is fairly unaware,' Mann said. '(Earth) week is the only time where we get to make people a little more aware,' Watson added. A number of guest speakers, like the City of Stratford's climate change manager Sadaf Ghalib and Climate Momentum's Bill James-Abra, came to the school to discuss what they do to tackle the climate crisis locally, among other feature events and speakers. The 'Where's Bruno?' trend was a highlight for Zach Kritzer. The annual event has the school mascot Bruno hiding somewhere in the school and after a photo of him and a question is released over the announcements, students rush to find the bear – the first person to find him and answer the question gets treats to take back to their class. Like every year, the trend was a huge success with a lot of engagement. For Watson, having Claire Scott of Claire Upcycled, a locally based eco-fashion streetwear brand, come and talk with students and show them how to make their own shirts was another peak feature of the week. The week culminated with a trip that Friday to West Five, a sustainable housing development in London that 'represents the future of sustainable living, planned to harmonize modern urban living with environmental stewardship,' according to the development's website. Aside from the week, the Eco Club has been hard at work with its extracurricular outreach. The club continues to operate an urban farm on Smith Street, a project that is aimed to grow food for the school and the many nearby neighbours. Additionally, they are trying to get compost bins that can handle the compostable utensils and plates the school's culinary program uses. Early this year, members of the club delegated at city council during the budget process, successfully convincing council to hire a new community energy liaison to assist Stratford citizens to find savings related to green initiatives, like governmental grants. For all of their continued work, the club was honoured with the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority's inspiration award in February, which recognizes environmental stewardship and activism in the community. Most excitingly, members of the club will be working with TEDx Stratford to host a student-led speaker series on June 10, with the theme of 'shaping the future.' 'We have three speakers and we are going to talk about something that we're passionate about on that theme,' Naz Karazeyeek said about the plans so far. 'Everything from filming, editing – it's all going to be from our students. So it's going to be a student project.' More details on that project are to follow. All of the club members extended 'our biggest thank you' to teacher Christine Ritsma for all her help and guidance throughout the school year.
Chicago Tribune
28-04-2025
- General
- Chicago Tribune
Hundreds volunteer to clean up Waukegan neighborhoods, beach; ‘This is the right thing to do'
As more than 300 people — wearing green T-shirts that read '#4 Waukegan' — gathered in the Christian Neighbors Church parking lot on the last day of Earth Week, the Rev. Luke McFadden, the church's pastor, told them their mission was about more than removing garbage. Telling the crowd they were about to go into different neighborhoods to be good neighbors to their community collecting discarded rubbish, McFadden said being a good neighbor is about caring for people. He asked them to reach out to others as well. 'Love your neighbor by listening,' he said, knowing there were participants from 18 churches and other organizations. 'Meet a new neighbor. Talk to someone (in your group) you've never met before. Listen to them. Get to know them. Understand them.' Brian Diamond and Steven Kik of Libertyville belong to the same church — CrossLife Evangelical Free Church — but never met until they were assigned to the same group of about 50 people to clear the area around Belvidere Road and Lewis Avenue of strewn garbage. Diamond said he grew up at CrossLife, had seen Kik a time or two, but they never had occasion to talk to him. Kik said he recently moved to the area, so now he has a new friend. 'I'm new to the church,' Kik said. 'We started talking and learned we had a lot in common. We'll be doing things together now.' McFadden was pleased to hear his message got across to Kik and Diamond. He was hoping something similar happened to others. 'God brings people closer together as they serve side by side,' McFadden said in a text after the event. 'New connections are made, and relationships are formed as people band together to bless the community.' Kik, Diamond and McFadden were among hundreds of people on hand Saturday to gather tons of trash on the last day of Waukegan's fourth-annual Earth Week in a variety of neighborhoods, as well as the beach and harbor. Starting with a recycling event at the Waukegan Public Library on April 19 and finishing with multiple cleanups on Saturday, the week was highlighted by the city's Public Works Department providing a Dumpster in each of the nine wards on a given day. There were 45 Dumpsters used altogether. 'It's grown the last year as more people are learning about it,' Mayor Ann Taylor said as the beach cleanup started. 'We learned more each day as people came to the Dumpsters with their spring cleaning.' As people left the Christian Neighbors Church parking lot, with one group removing trash in downtown Waukegan and the other five cohorts heading to neighborhoods around the city, Sandy Pogue was part of the contingent going to Lewis and Belvidere. While others were bringing black plastic bags of trash to a driveway near Belvidere Road west of Lewis, Pogue was holding a rusty steel spike at least four feet long. There were several railroad ties among the debris. 'I found it in the field right over there,' she said. 'We've worked hard. This is the right thing to do.' Not all the church participants were part of the Christian Neighbors group. The Rev. Mark Rollenhagen, the pastor of St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Waukegan, was cleaning the beach with a dozen of his congregants. 'They're part of the Green Team from our church,' he said. 'We used to use a lot of plastic water bottles. Now we use mugs and wash them so we can use them again. They did that. We're bringing some of that holiness to the beach.' Along with the people from St Paul's, 150 individuals who work at USA Blue Book, 30 from American Place casino and other volunteers participated in the beach cleanup. Lisa May, the city's lakefront coordinator, said trash accumulates over the winter when the beach is closed. 'Look at everything that piled up over the winter,' May said. 'We're going to get everything from the water plant to the north beach. There are some tires which washed up. We'll help you with that.' Helping at the beach for the second year in a row, Julie Ivic, American Place's director of communications and advertising, said this is the second consecutive year the company has participated. 'This is one of the ways we give back to the community,' Ivic said. 'We are focused on ways we can do it. In 2026, we're going to plant trees on Arbor Day.' Young people were involved as well. Rachel McNutt brought her son, Marshall McNutt, 11. She wanted him to get the experience he helping with something bigger than himself. He had some specific ideas. 'I want to make it safer for sea animals,' Marshall said.
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Mass. DCR awards thousands of dollars in grants to expand and protect urban forests
BOSTON (WWLP) – The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) announced that in honor of Arbor Day, it has awarded over $150,000 in grants to organizations, including multiple in western Mass., to expand the urban tree canopy across the state. These grants were awarded to ten municipalities and nonprofits throughout the Commonwealth and will be used to create, expand, and protect urban forests. The DCR said this will positively impact the environment, public health, and energy efficiency of the communities affected by these grants. MassDEP penalizes Connecticut company for delayed reporting of oil spill 'As temperatures rise, we are empowering municipalities and nonprofits across Massachusetts to significantly expand our urban tree canopy,' said Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper. 'This funding gives communities the means to plant new trees, maintain existing ones, and create green spaces that benefit everyone.' Funding will be used for a wide array of programs and activities in the state, including tree planting and preservation, community engagement and education, and revitalizing community-based management plans of existing urban forests. The DCR said that a healthy tree canopy has been proven to strengthen resilience to extreme heat, storm-induced flooding, and other conditions related to climate change. It can improve air quality and continue to provide a lush and healthy habitat for local birds and other wildlife. 'DCR is committed to increasing the urban tree canopy across the state to promote climate resilience and make our communities healthier places to live and work,' said DCR Commissioner Brian Arrigo. 'We are excited that on Arbor Day and during Earth Week, we can provide the Urban and Community Forestry Challenge Grants to communities across the state. This funding will enable these municipalities to improve the lives of residents by mitigating the effects of climate change.' The following towns and organizations received funding through the Urban and Community Forestry Challenge Grant: Town of Andover: $15,000 Town of Bernardston: $7,000 City of Brockton: $40,000 Town of Lexington: $25,000 Town of Longmeadow: $5,691 Town of Maynard Tree Committee: $13,750 Town of Sandwich Historic District Elm Preservation: $4,000 Town of Sandwich Tree Inventory Expansion: $21,500 WE Tree Boston: $11,000 Town of West Bridgewater: $8,000 WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
