IN Ross Township Summer 2014 | Page 36

Eco-Empowered: North Area Environmental Council is dedicated to protecting and preserving local environment. NAEC participates in Garden in the Park Day with an educational exhibit in North Park. I BY JENNIFER BROZAK n the spring of 1969, a group of environmentally conscious North Hills residents gathered to attend a YWCA lecture series entitled Our Perishable Planet. After the lecture series ended, the residents, inspired by what they had just learned, continued to meet to discuss their concerns. Long before the concept of “going green” became a cultural catchphrase, these residents made it their mission to protect, promote and support the health of the local environment, and by November of the same year, they had formally organized the North Area Environmental Council (NAEC). Originally, the group was hosted by the YWCA until it grew large enough to sustain itself. Today, more than 40 years later, the nonprofit continues to thrive. Over the past four decades, the group has been an advocate for air pollution regulations; sponsored numerous park, waterway and stream cleanups; encouraged community recycling efforts; planted countless trees; awarded scholarships to local