Lobbying for a Greener Philadelphia #3

     In the past year, Greenworks Philadelphia has traveled leaps and bounds towards its 2015 goal. Originally funded solely by Philadelphia's Office of Sustainability, Greenworks has developed into a collaborative effort between dozens of benefactors, ranging from federal and local government entities to various private non-profit organizations. As Katherine Gajewski, Philadelphia's Director of Sustainability, stated in the 2010 Greenworks Philadelphia progress report, "In an impressive display of coordination, leaders from numerous City agencies as varied as the Streets Department, the Zoning Code Commission, and the Department of Health, came together in our Sustainability Working Group and committed to bring champions of sustainability across city government."

    What seems to be stopping Greenworks Philadelphia from making a true impact on the public is its lack of media attention. Thus far, Greenworks' online presence is limited to a couple of blog posts, several press releases, and a smattering of miscellaneous posts on "green" websites.

     People see and use Greenworks' products, sure-- over 500 solar-powered trash and recycling bins scattered throughout center city, energy efficient building materials and methods used to make government buildings, 14,000 residents employed as"green" workers, with plans to add 15,000 more. But this isn't enough. The citizens of Philadelphia need to know more than the what-- they must know why it is important. In order for the project to continue to develop and receive further funding, Greenworks must be publicized on a larger scale.

     This is where I come in.

     Over the next few months, I'm going to be exploring several options for my lobbying campaign. Here are some of my ideas.

     - Publicizing Greenworks Philadelphia on the internet. I would raise awareness of the project via various social networking and link-sharing sites.

     - Contacting Philadelphia's Office of Sustainability. I would reach out to the local government in hopes of helping to organize a media outreach program for Greenworks.

     - Start a public campaign by means of paper fliers. I would create and distribute throughout philadelphia appealing paper "advertisements" in order to put Greenworks into the public eye.

     At this rate, there is little question in my mind that Greenworks will have achieved its goals by 2015. But we must think ahead-- when there are thousands more trees, environmentally friendly building materials available, cleaner energy resources-- who will be relied upon to maintain the green-ness that has been created? The answer is clear-- it will be up to the public to preserve what Greenworks has created.

     The only way that they will be equipped to do so, however, is if they are taught how.

      Only through education on the issues being addressed by Greenworks Philadelphia will the public come to fully understand the severity of our current environmental situation and the importance that we all work to change it. My next blog post will focus on how I plan to contribute to this education.

Phillip, Jose. "Philadelphia Sports Solar-powered Trash Bins." GreenPacks. Greenpacks.org, 1 July 2009. Web. 23 Nov 2010. <http://www.greenpacks.org/2009/06/01/philadelphia-sports-solar-powered-trash-bins/>.

Gates, Kelly Patrick. "It's a green scene for the city." PlanPhilly: Planning Philadelphia's Future. PlanPhilly, 29 April 2009. Web. 23 Nov 2010. <http://planphilly.com/node/8791>.