Katherine Gajewski Ain’t No Bully — But She is Coming to Meet You

Katherine Gajewski, Philadelphia’s New Director of Sustainability speaks in West Mt. Airy in Northwest Philly.  She reveals five tactics as to how she will implement Mayor Nutter’s Greenworks Plan to turn Philadelphia into America’s Greenest City –  including the appointment of a community Outreach Coordinator.

“Well, the chances are against it and the odds are slim. [S]He’s the neighborhood bully.  (Bob Dylan, Neighborhood Bully)

Though certainly not a “neighborhood bully” in the conventional sense of the term, Katherine Gajewski is one focused agent of change.  In speaking to West Mt Airy Neighbors’ (WMAN) monthly gathering of just a few committed folks in Northwest Philly, Gajewski demonstrated a key strategy towards realizing Philly’s dream of becoming America’s “greenest city”: going from community to community and from ‘hood to ‘hood to coordinate the city’s ambitious (overly ambitious?) 15-point plan.  I don’t think Philadelphia can become green without this kind of synchronous, systemic action.  To that end, she told us that she intends to appoint a dedicated Outreach Coordinator to connect with each locality’s sustainability efforts.

West Mt. Airy Looks in Your Backyard and Sees a Forest

On a hot night in late August, West Mt. Airy Neighbors (WMAN) held its Quality of Life meeting on the greening of Mt Airy. The NorthWest Philadelphia neighborhood of Mount Airy is one of the neighborhoods at the edge of the Wissahickon which is part of the Fairmont Park System. The future of Fairmount Park is of concern to the residents of the neighborhood. The meeting opened with a presentation that represents the kind of broad thinking about sustainability I hope that other sustainability councils and local greening committees will take to heart.

Fall in The Wissahickon Forest

Heat Wave and Global Warming.

Well, it rained tonight over Philadelphia, temperature dropped.
Time to open the windows, set fans in the window frames and recycle the hot air in the house with fresh cool air from outside.

During the past 3 days I worked in my home office, door closed, with a small A/C unit cooling the air and the airflow from one small fan directed at me. The rest of the house was in a dark hot stupor with the first floor and the basement at decreasing layers of temperature.