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