As Cleveland State University’s first-ever director of sustainability, Jennifer McMillin can be a bit in-your-face when it comes to the motto, “Reduce, reuse, recycle.” And she’s proud of that. (As she should be, since the school reduced its landfill waste five percent in 2018, diverting 306 tons from landfills.)

When the Cuyahoga River caught fire on June 22, 1969, a 23-year-old Frank G. Jackson had just returned home from his tour of duty in the Vietnam War, and he remembers the eco-catastrophe as being “probably the last thing on [his] mind” at that time. A lot has changed in 50 years, and the now-Mayor of Cleveland is squarely focused on not only the health of the Cuyahoga River, but the city’s sustainability as a whole.

The Detroit Shoreway Community Development Corporation (DSCDC) owns more than 300 affordable housing units in the neighborhood, but Aspen Place apartments marks the agency’s first-ever new construction project for affordable housing.

When it comes to sustainability, Cleveland has come a long way, baby. Not only is the city celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Cuyahoga River Fire—and the progress the river has made in the last five decades (it's now safe to fish!)—but this year marks the culmination of Sustainable Cleveland's 10-year initiative. FreshWater's new "People, Planet, Progress: A Decade of Sustainable Cleveland" series will highlight their efforts and achievements and mark the design of a new decade.

Fresh Water's monthly "Free Stamp" feature rounds up the freshest free events in Cleveland. Check out our special Earth Day edition here!

When Kent Whitley talks about environmental issues, he doesn’t start with words like “sustainability” or terms like “carbon footprint."

“It’s so hard to talk with these big words. You have to go to the dictionary,” he says with a laugh.
Instead he brings the issues down to earth, to air, and to water.

“I say, ‘The lake is dirty...and it’s affecting you.’”

That kind of bluntness is how Whitley and others plan to convince African Americans that they have a stake in environmental policy.

 

Not surprisingly, Cleveland’s geological landscape 200 years ago was quite different than today’s modern, industrialized city. In 1820, spring-fed streams ran freely throughout the region, running through neighborhoods like Cleveland Heights, Kinsman, Scranton Flats, and Ohio City. Last Saturday, April 6, these now-hidden waterways took the spotlight during a sold-out tour: Exploring Cleveland's Hidden Waterways.

Beer and wildlife conservation might seem like an unlikely duo, but the new partnership between Cleveland's Terrestrial Brewing Company and the Cleveland Zoological Society (CZS) is proving otherwise.

If mastering the art of social media were a poker game, John Gonzalez would have a royal “flush” in hand. As the Communications Manager for NEORSD, Gonzalez spends much of his day Tweeting about everything from not-so-flushable wipes to stormwater selfies to “halftime dumps” during the Super Bowl, aka “Sewer Bowl.” In the process, he’s helped make the NEORSD Twitter account a local celebrity of sorts.

Fifty years after the Cuyahoga River burned on, the yearlong Cuyahoga50 celebration kicks off with Creative Fusion: Waterways to Waterways—an exchange program of sorts for local and international artists, designed to inspire the world with all the ways Cleveland has revived and reimagined its river.

With 2019 around the corner, Sustainable Cleveland is gearing up for a monumental year. Fifty years have passed since the Cuyahoga River Fire ignited not only a Cleveland waterway, but a major environmental movement.

One may not normally think of a 127-year-old church as a leader in green infrastructure practices, but St. Casimir Church—based in Cleveland's St. Clair-Superior neighborhood—has set an example as the first Cleveland Catholic Diocese church to begin installing a green infrastructure on its campus.
 

After four years of planning, Western Reserve Distillers is set to take its spot as one of just a handful of certified organic distilleries in the country. The family-owned business—run by husband-and-wife team Ann and Kevin Thomas—celebrated its grand opening in early September.

This week, 2,300 energy professionals flocked to Cleveland’s convention center for the Department of Energy's Better Buildings Summit. In honor of the Summit setting up shop in Cleveland, FreshWater has compiled a list highlighting some of our city’s most compelling eco-friendly buildings. From a green-minded school to a sustainable brewery to an energy-efficient steel mill, these seven projects are shining examples of Cleveland’s commitment to going green.

Work will begin this September to transform the former Worsted Mills site—once one of the country’s largest garment manufacturers—into the Morgana Bluff Nature Preserve Learning Center. The project will encompass four acres of abandoned industrial land adjacent to the Boys and Girls Club of Cleveland in Slavic Village, offering hiking/biking trails and boardwalks, outdoor learning areas for groups and school classes, and spots for observation.