Waynedale Green Alliance Shouts Green ABC’s at the Good Life Show
GraphyXDirect Printing made the sign. Christopher Crawford took photos and created the layout for the signage. Just Especially for You supplied all the volunteers with T-shirts made especially for them and A Brewster Smythe Concepts and Let’s Go Green Fund Development jumped in with words and dollars to help Waynedale Green Alliance make a great showing at Fort Wayne’s first ever ‘green’ trade show at the Memorial Coliseum. Something Old, Something New Consignment Store and Hill ’O’ Beans Coffee also took center stage.
The Good Life Show began last Friday at 3pm and ran through Sunday at five. Every imaginable ‘green’ business was represented. Organizations such as Grassroots Green, A GreenerIndiana, and Save the Maumee River Grassroots Organization had booths and were filled with educational materials.
The City of Fort Wayne, Fort Wayne Newspapers, and various other media outlets were also in place. The City of Fort Wayne gave out free compact fluorescent bulbs in return for your signature, and also distributed Allen County Solid Waste District’s publication, Wastewatcher.
Plenty of people from Waynedale stopped at our booth. One man asked why Waynedale had been chosen to go green. My answer? We all are going green, and what better place than Waynedale! I also discussed trails with a spokesperson from Fort Wayne Trails. I will be detailing that conversation at WaynedaleGreenAlliance.org.
From most of the conversation, email, and input I have received at Waynedale Green Alliance there seems to be three main areas of concern in Waynedale when we look at the circumstances that need attention.
The most often raised issue is trails in Waynedale- or safer or more cost-effective ways to commute from Waynedale.
My discussion with Fort Wayne Trails was quite interesting because when asked why Aboite got their trails before Waynedale a spokesman said that Aboite citizens got out and knocked on doors and got all the people involved. When I mentioned that they had also gotten $10,000 from Oprah’s Big Give and that amount was matched by the city he stated that they deserved it because they had worked harder for the trails.
In my last article I had written that a walkability test would be done here in Waynedale to score our area and find out where we need to improve. That will come next week.
A second issue that is often raised is recycling in apartment complexes. There are several apartment complexes in Waynedale and Waynedale Green has had several emails concerning the issue of recycling at the homes of these citizens. Unfortunately, no apartment communities have recycling services in the Fort Wayne area. A spokesperson at the Allen County Solid Waste District informed me that a new contractor will soon be in place in Fort Wayne and the situation may change then.
The third topic is community gardening. Waynedale is awash with community gardens, and small ‘victory’ gardens proudly displayed by local property owners. Questions about composting, gardening methods, and landscaping are the subjects of many of the emails received.
The Good Life Show had many speakers and presentations during its three day run. One of those was a speaker from the City of Fort Wayne discussing ways in which Fort Wayne was ‘going green’.
The sad fact became apparent that Fort Wayne is really doing very little to work towards energy efficiency or seek ways to localize our economy and educate our citizenry on the economic benefits of living a greener lifestyle.
I was proud that Waynedale had put in place a citizen’s group that is actually taking grassroots steps to seek out answers in a global perspective.
The Green ABC’s created by A Brewster Smythe Concepts for the Waynedale Green Alliance seeks to accomplish the goal of educating residents about the new ‘green‘ vocabulary. The Green ABC concept was enthusiastically received by many at the Good Life Show. Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation will be hosting the six-session alphabetical tour of the green vocabulary and gabfest during the coming winter season at the Franke Park Outdoor Recreation Area.
More information regarding the Green ABC’s will be available in future issues of Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation Fun Times and Waynedale News.
Other organizations such as Allen County Parks, Summit City Bicycles, and Fort Wayne Metals also showed an interest in the Green ABC concept.
Waynedale Green Alliance, with the help of the good citizens and businesses of Waynedale is on the move. 
