October: Adam Fedyski

Sustainable Community Fellow
Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy

October was an extremely exciting month where I had the opportunity to get out and see and learn a lot about the western Pennsylvania region. Jake, Sarah, Lori the SCA Trail Towns crew and I went up to the Allegheny National Forest to team up with two SCA trail crews to do some serious trail work over two days. It was great to meet other SCA’s doing different work and share experiences. At the Frick Environmental Center, we wrapped up the first section of the first grade program “Habitat Explorers” with a fun stewardship activity where students made mud balls with meadow plant seeds and threw them into the meadow to help with seed dispersal. I spent a lot of time in the office organizing and recording numbers that will help the PPC in obtaining future grants. I also went to a couple conferences that furthered my knowledge of the region and gave me hope for the future of PA and the environment. The days are quickly passing by as I enter the final month and a half of the Green Cities program. Here are some of the October highlights:

October 2: Volunteered at the Bloomfield Neighborhood Blitz, organized by The Black and Gold City Goes Green and the Bloomfield Development Corporation. We went door to door in Bloomfield handing out home energy saving kits that included four CFL bulbs, information on the city’s recycling program, an opportunity for residents to cancel their junk mail to save unnecessary paper waste, and information on a program to pick up old refrigerators that may be plugged in and using excess energy. It was a lot of fun and a great way to reach people who otherwise may not have sought out these products and information.

October 6: Habitat Explorers- Meadow Stewardship. ## first grade students came to help us spread seeds in the meadow.
October 7&8: Trail work in the Allegheny National Forest with other SCA crews; helped clear fallen branches and trees, saplings growing on the trail, and other debris that made the trail difficult to use before.

October 22: Western PA Trails Symposium: I tabled for the PPC at this event, providing people with info on our recently completed Trails and Signage project in the city parks. I also attended a few workshops on the importance of trails, the future of them (including a GPS application that people can download on their smart phones with guided trail tours), and how they impact the local economies.

October 23: Three Rivers Bioneers conference: I volunteered as a room moderator for workshops on nonverbal expression and the importance of local and organic farming in a local economy. It was a very exciting conference and I plan to attend a Bioneers conference every year, regardless of where I end up geographically.