A Brief History and Description 

 

Shenandoah Green was inspired by a group of 3 women who were fed up with the amount of plastic in their lives, after collecting all the plastic their households had used over one month.  Seeing their coverage in the local newspapers, several others also working on plastics-reduction initiatives contacted them, and Shenandoah Green was born in January, 2019.

 

Inspired by the Earth Day 2018 theme of plastic pollution, several of Shenandoah Green's founders applied for a grant from the American Geophysical Union (AGU) focused on studying and reducing our local plastic waste-stream.  AGU is an international society for earth science professionals. To celebrate their 100th anniversary in 2019, AGU selected 100 community projects internationally to match up with an AGU scientist through their Thriving Earth Exchange (TEX) Program.  In November 2018, AGU-TEX selected Staunton’s proposal to study plastic waste in the Staunton community and the impact on the local watershed, which flows to the Chesapeake Bay. This newest AGU-TEX project is being launched by Shenandoah Green.

 

Shenandoah Green’s first general meeting in February 2019 attracted 24 local residents.  Then on April 1, 2019, many local communities were faced with losing the “luxury” of plastic recycling services. This crisis energized people and drew them to the work of Shenandoah Green.  After several succeeding meetings and appearances around the community, Shenandoah Green’s "Earth Day" (April, 2019) general meeting was attended by over 100 concerned citizens.  

 

Shenandoah Green holds bimonthly meetings open to the public where guest speakers address current and local environmental issues and topics, and attendees share ideas and concerns. Our representatives are active in our efforts to educate and advocate for sustainable environmental practices across the Shenandoah Valley’s central 3-county region of Augusta, Rockingham, and Rockbridge Counties, and are regularly participating in local events, speaking with various organizations, and advocating to our local and state governments. 

 

Shenandoah Green is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.

 

 

Shenandoah Green Board

 

Georgi Tomisato, President

Cyndy Seibels, Vice President

Fred Blanton, Treasurer

Caroline Sheridan, Secretary

Wendy Meyer

Emily Yates

Lisa Falke

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