The Borough Newsletter introduces a new section of the Borough Newsletter: Council Corner. Media Borough Council members wear many hats. Yes, they go to the two monthly business meetings—Council Workshop first Thursday of the month and Council Meeting, on the third Thursday. But each Council member also has two Committee assignments, and in addition, they serve as liaison to one or more Borough-related boards or commissions as well as independent organizations in the borough. Many weeks Council members attend a borough-related meeting every weekday night. Council Corner will focus on the work Council members do outside of monthly Council Meetings to represent the concerns of Media residents
The Committees of Media Borough include: Community Development, Properties, Public Works, Public Safety and Finance. Boards and Commissions include: Planning, Recreation, Media Business Authority, Historical Architecture, Health, Shade Tree, Zoning, Historical Archives and the Environmental Advisory Council.
In addition to serving on the Community Development and Properties Committees, as well as the Shade Tree Commission, Amy Johnson is Council liaison to the Environmental Advisory Council (EAC). She also serves as liaison to the Fair Trade Committee and the Media Farmers Market.
With a background in agriculture, Amy was the first head farmer at Red Hill Farm, the CSA farm of the Sisters of St. Francis in Aston. Now she is Director of Programs and Operations for Greener Partners, an innovative educational organization supporting sustainable agriculture in our region.
She has never lost her passion for farming, ecology and the environment. Her work as EAC liaison is a good fit, as she gets to advance initiatives—like the Recycling Program and the Compost Pilot Project—that support the environment and reduce pollution by moving the borough toward zero waste.
Amy says, “Waste virtually does not exist in nature because each organism’s processes contribute to the health of the whole ecosystem. One organism’s waste is food for another, and nutrients and energy flow perpetually in closed-loop cycles of growth, decay and rebirth.
Striving for zero waste or even low waste can be a daunting thought for many, and it’s easy to feel a lot of guilt around it. But I remind myself that I can make a difference and have a positive impact. Every single day I have the potential to create waste, and the opportunity to avoid it. We all do.
There are so many things in the world that are out of our control. Decisions we have little or no influence over. Policies or actions we cannot change. Despite this, we do have the ability to look at our own personal choices. We all have some influence, even if it is at the household level. We have control of our own personal actions, and we can do the best we can. We can choose carefully, considerately, and deliberately. This is something we can all be excited about, and embrace collectively as a town and community. On a local level we can create big change.”