Sustainable Mt.

Airy

Revised: 17 April 2007 / AR

I.Who are we?

Sustainable Mt. Airy is a large group of residents, businesses, congregations, and
other organizations dedicated to creating a sustainable community in Mt. Airy,
Philadelphia, PA. The project has been spearheaded by a joint committee of East Mt.
Airy Neighbors (EMAN) and West Mt. Airy Neighbors (WMAN) along with a local
volunteer group, Mt. Airy Greening Network (MAGNet).

II.What is a “sustainable community”?

A community in which the citizens are able to care for each other and meet their own
needs fully, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their
needs.

Given the urgent crisis in the Earth’s climate caused by heat-trapping gases such as
carbon-dioxide, a sustainable community is also one that has weaned itself off its
reliance on fossil-fuels and other contributors to climate-change.

I.Sustainability is guided by these policies and practices:

A.Build an energy and resource-efficient local economy, by reducing our
community’s fossil fuel dependence and wasteful use of scarce metals and minerals.
B.Promote healthy, toxin-free living with access to clean air, water and streets, by
reducing our community’s dependence on harmful chemicals and wasteful use of
synthetic substances.
C.Increase green spaces, trees, gardens and cultivate a vibrant ecosystem, by
minimizing our community’s encroachment upon nature.
D.Nurture our young people by meeting their needs for health, safety, play, learning,
self-discovery and civic engagement.
E.Support our adults in raising families, working, shopping and socializing within
the community.
F.Care for our elderly so that they can age with dignity, grace and independence.

II.What would a Sustainable Mt. Airy look like?

A sustainable Mt. Airy, based on the above six principles, and meeting the broad
definition of a sustainable community, would allow people of different ages, races
and cultures to live together harmoniously. Work, school, entertainment and shopping
would be within walking distance or within easy access by mass transit. Streets
would be clean, safe and crime-free. Young people would have meaningful
connection to older generations of neighbors. A large percentage of food, clothing
and other necessities would be manufactured locally, using no dangerous chemicals or
wastes. Recycling and composting would be virtually 100%. Homes would be
highly energy efficient. With our large green spaces and use of renewable energy
everywhere, we would be a net absorber of carbon-dioxide from the air, helping to
 reverse global warming. Many types of coops, including child-care, office-sharing,
gardening and home-repair would coexist as neighbors turned to each other for
resources and help.

III.Sustainable here, and everywhere

These policies are adapted from an international framework called The Natural Step
that has been developed by a broad consensus among scientists, leaders in the
business community and social policy experts. They involve assessing and being
accountable as a community for both the social and the environmental impacts of our
lifestyle. This includes the local impacts (e.g., burning dirty fuels affects local air
quality and asthma rates), as well as remote impacts around the world (e.g., buying
certain products from exploited workers overseas contributes to their exploitation).
The action steps are always local and community specific, but the vision and impact
assessment needs to be as broad as possible, so that our social problems and pollution
are not simply “exported” elsewhere to other communities.