The Environmental Advisory Committee (EAC) was created in 1973. The EAC’s mission is to promote responsible environmental stewardship and sustainable practices within the Borough of Jenkintown in order to enhance the quality of life and to benefit generations to come.
Members
- Judith Levicoff (2024)
- Maureen Lucak (2025)
- Mary Mertens (2025)
- Jennifer Poole-Pendergrass (2025)*
- Mimi Satterthwaite (2025)
- Suzanne Hunter (2025)
Borough Council appoints three to seven full members of the EAC. Whenever possible, membership on the EAC includes one person who is also a member of the Borough Planning Commission and at least one member with expertise in environmental education*, planning or science. Full members of the EAC are appointed for staggering three-year terms.
All residents are encouraged to join in the collaboration by emailing the EAC at ContactJEAC@gmail.comcreate new email, or by contacting our Borough Manager, George Locke, at glocke@jenkintownboro.comcreate new email.
Meetings and Minutes
The EAC holds monthly meetings currently via ZOOM, and keeps records of its meetings, activities, and other correspondence electronically at Google Documents. Meeting minutes are also provided at meetings in hard copy on request. Meetings are held on the first Wednesday of the month.
2024 Events
April 9 Pollinator Pals; opens in a new windowregister here.
April 28 Block by Block
May 7 Start a Vegetable Garden; opens in a new windowregister here.
June, July, August, and September (6/11, 7/9, 8/13, and 9/10) 2nd Tuesday, 5:00-7:00 p.m. at Jenkintown Night Market
September 29 Monarch Butterfly Celebration and Sustainability Fair
2023 Events
March 30 Grow Native Plants and Reduce Climate Change with Marcus Ferreira
April 21 Celebrate Earth Day with the Jenkintown Elementary School
April 23 Block by Block – Beautify the Borough
June 4 Storm Drain Labeling
June 12 Composting 101
August 14 Birding Workshop for Children Accompanied an Adult
September 10 Nature Journaling
October 1 Monarch Butterfly Celebration and Sustainability Fair
October 5 Monarch Butterfly Tag and Release
Watch this webinar from Homegrown National Park and Doug Tallamy anytime: opens in a new windowWhat’s the Rush? The solution to the biodiversity crisis.
Pollinator and Native Plants
opens in a new windowButterfly-Attracting.pdf (primexgardencenter.com)
opens in a new windowHummingbird Attracting (primexgardencenter.com)opens PDF file
opens in a new windowThe Top 10 Native Plant Species You Need in Your Garden – Primex Garden Center
opens in a new windowThe Best Trees For Your Pennsylvania Landscape – Primex Garden Center
These resources listed above are made available to us courtesy of Primex Garden Center.
opens in a new windowNative Garden Template from Pennsylvania DCNR
opens in a new windowNative Plants Guide from Pennsylvania DCNR
opens in a new windowPennsylvania Native Plants for the Perennial Garden (psu.edu)
Lawns, Landscapes and Alternatives to Grass Lawns
opens in a new windowNeighborly Natural Landscaping in Residential Areas from PennState Extension
opens in a new windowLawn Conversion from DCNR and lawn mowing calculator, opens in a new windowLawn mowing calculator
opens in a new windowLawn Conversion (pa.gov)
opens in a new windowWhat to know about clover
Bird Town Pennsylvania
Jenkintown is a member of Bird Town Pennsylvania, an
organization that encourages local environmental stewardship to
sustain a healthy environment for birds, other wildlife, and
community residents. For more information about Bird Town Pennsylvania and to sign up for their newsletter, please opens in a new windowvisit their website.
opens in a new windowAmerican Bird Conservatory Bird Library: learn about bird species and conservation
issues facing birds. This site includes information on how to prevent birds from colliding with glass
doors and windows.
Read about how to protect birds from cats here: Protecting Birds from Cats – Bird Town Pennsylvania
Additional resources regarding threats to birds can be found on the opens in a new windowBird Town Pennsylvania website under the Resources Tab.
Rats, rodenticides and birds; below are some alternative measures:
Raptors are the Solution website
Safe Rodent Control
Recycling and Carbon Footprint Calculator
Detailed information about recycling in Jenkintown can be found on the Public Works page.
Calculate your carbon footprint here: opens in a new windowCarbon Footprint Calculator
Leaf Blowers – Sources On Their Environmental Impact
● opens in a new windowNational Emissions from Lawn and Garden Equipment
● opens in a new windowThe War on Leaf Blowers: Why Some Communities Are Up in Arms Over the Loud Lawn Tools
Road Salt Fact Sheet
Latest News
November 2023
On November 18 we celebrated the installation of the Shade Structure in Cedar Street Moretti Park. In attendance were Council Members, Public Works, Scouts BSA Troop 201, Cub Pack 210 and their associated adult Community Volunteers! A huge thank you to everyone involved in this Community Project!
October 2023
On October 1 we held our Annual Monarch Butterfly Celebration and Sustainability Fair. Approximately 100 people stopped by the tables and learned about monarch butterflies, birding, chickens, composting, recycling, electric bikes and bike trails. Thanks to Primex for donating seed packets! Thanks also to Back to Earth Composting, the Jenkintown School Sustainability Committee, Jenkintown Abington Neighbors Association, and to Anne
MacHaffie who brought and demonstrated her electric bicycle. Thank you also to Lucy Sharp Malone and Phil Witmer for staffing the PA Bird Town table, Vicky DiCamillo for talking about and bringing her backyard chickens. Special thanks to Tookany/Tacony-Frankford Watershed (TTF) for providing literature and free tumblers.
On October 15 we completed labeling all storm drains in the Borough.
September 2023
On September 10 Volunteer and Jenkintown resident, Lucy Malone, led a group of ten people in an introductory class to Nature Journaling. Participants learned foundational steps to starting a nature journal.
August 2023
Birding Workshop was help on August 14 at Cedar Street Moretti Park. Volunteer and Jenkintown resident, Linda McGrath, led this workshop for children accompanied by an adult. Each participant came away with an activity card offering the opportunity to record
birds seen around Jenkintown.
July 2023
On Wednesday, July 19, Bird Town Signs and a Certificate were presented by Heidi Shiver, Bird Town Pennsylvania, President, to Jenkintown Borough at a Borough Workshop Committee meeting. Leigh Altadonna, President, Wyncote Audubon Society was also present. Maureen Lucak and Mimi Satterthwaite, JEAC Members, attended the event.
April 2023
JEAC partnered with the Home and School Association at two events. We staffed a table at the Earth Day event at the school on April 21 where we shared information about butterflies. On April 23 we cleaned up the Borough at the second annual Block by Block cleanup day.
December 2022
JEAC installed recycling bins for broken string lights just outside the entrance to Borough Hall. Please recycle your broken string lights here; the bins are checked regularly and, when full, taken to a scrap yard and recycled. More on this topic can be found on opens in a new windowMontgomery County’s website.
September 2022
JEAC’s September 24, 2022 Butterfly Tag/Seed Share Community event culminated with the festive release of 20 Monarch butterflies. opens in a new windowTake a look here!
Each butterfly began life August 25, as an egg deposited by its mother on a Milkweed leaf. Four weeks later, through the magic of metamorphosis, they were ready to spread their wings for flight. A pre numbered self-adhesive tag carefully placed on the underside wing of the butterfly will help taggers follow the migration of the Monarchs to the mountains of Mexico.
Learn more about Monarch watch at opens in a new windowhttps://monarchwatch.org.
August 2022
In 2021, a resident, Louisa Terry Garrido, approached the JEAC about installing a pollinator garden on the traffic island at Vernon and Vista Roads. On behalf of JEAC, Anne Brennan, resident, and Research Technician at Temple University and owner of a consulting business, Ground Truth Landscape Studies LLC., prepared plans and plant selections for the island. The plans were approved in March of 2022 and work on preparing the island for new plantings could begin. JPW Crew removed a dying tree and shrubs. In late May, JEAC members and neighbors, with direction from Anne Brennan, began clearing the grass, preparing the dirt and planting 270 plants. Community involvement at its best! (See photos below.)
By mid-June of 2022, we completed the pollinator garden. This amazing work would not have been possible without the help of neighbors, Anne Brennan, and the Borough of Jenkintown. Then we watched, watered, and waited and by July, the blossoms appeared!
Why a pollinator garden? The pollinator garden is intended to restore habitats for bees, butterflies, and birds and, as a result, support and maintain the ecosystem.
The plants in the traffic island were chosen to appeal to people as well as to the native bees and butterflies. A high-visibility site like this one called for a more garden-like design as opposed to, say, a mini-meadow that can look weedy at certain times of year.
A site, such as a traffic island, completely surrounded by pavement requires plant species that can tolerate full sun, drought, and even some road salt as time goes by. Integrating a few tough non-native pollinator plants like catmint (Nepeta sp.) and bluebeard (Caryopteris sp.) alongside the native coneflowers, asters, and grasses provides dependable color and structure in difficult conditions.
See more photos below.
Be sure to like and follow the EAC on Facebook at Green Jenkintown for all the latest news and upcoming events and sign up for Borough emails on the upper right of this page. We welcome any and all participation from our residents.
More Information
More information about the EAC can be found in this section of the online Ecode (Jenkintown Borough Online Code):
opens in a new windowhttp://ecode360.com/15139915