About this Parachute
Story
Staunton is a small town of about 25,000 people. It is well recognized for its music scene and arts scene. It is the home of Heifetz and the American Shakespeare Theatre. It is considered one of the best small towns to live in across America by the Smithsonian. It also has one of the best main streets in America. Of course there is also conflict between progressive ideology and conservatives. It is Bible Belt America after all. There was a battle to change the name of the High School from Robert E. Lee to Staunton HS. This has angered half the population. Still, it is one of the most charming towns to visit and I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.
Sustainable Actions in this Community
I am the founding president of Shenandoah Green, a grass roots environmental group. We have a project to fight plastic pollution, a metal sculpture of a whale that travels to the schools and local organizations. The whale, Flippy, is a replica of the 15 foot whale that was beached in the Filipins with 88 pounds of plastic in its stomach. The students fill the whale with plastic and talk about the problems of plastic pollution. We also have a compost station at the farmers' market and neighborhood compost co-ops. We celebrate Earth Day in April and Earthtober in October (Earth Day in October) involving numerous environmental exhibitors, sidewalk art, movies, fashion shows, poetry contests, etc. We organize and participate in numerous clean ups including the Chesapeake Bay Clean the Bay Day since we are in the watershed of the Chesapeake Bay. We also fight climate change with our project, Staunton Legacy Tree Project. The goal is to plant 2,746 trees in Staunton, one for every school child in the city school district. We also have a Go Green Bank where people can borrow table ware for free to not need to buy single use plastic.