AmeriCorps St. Louis is a Soulard-based nonprofit that works to address community needs throughout the region through its robust network of member volunteers. As a participant in last year’s St. Louis Green Business Challenge, the organization incorporated a variety of sustainability initiatives into its programs, some of which included a variety of sustainable training opportunities for its members around environmental stewardship and disaster relief projects. These efforts helped AmeriCorps St. Louis earn the esteemed title of Challenge Champion in 2023, as the organization was able to demonstrate their commitment to continued implementation of deeper sustainability strategies.
“This year, AmeriCorps St. Louis built on past Green Business Challenge accomplishments,” said Tim Elwell, Development Manager for AmeriCorps St. Louis. “Continuing our mission to strengthen communities and improve the environment, we introduced new initiatives and partnerships that expanded impacts beyond our operations. While we remain committed to environmental stewardship, the Challenge encouraged us to be creative about how we can implement sustainability elements throughout the organization.”
During the 2023 Challenge, AmeriCorps St. Louis introduced an educational Green Series for its members to learn more about sustainability, featuring site visits and presentations from MOBOT (sustainable facilities), New Earth Farm (composting) and Republic Services (recycling), as well as other new topics. Additionally, the organization was invited to participate in a new project called the Life Cycle Evaluation Climate Change Bundle, which seeks to better understand the organization’s programs and its explicit connection to climate change. AmeriCorps St. Louis was one of four programs chosen to host a site visit for field and member data to contribute to Climate Change programming at AmeriCorps at the federal level.
Other noteworthy accomplishments included supporting Treesilience, a national initiative aimed at growing healthy tree canopies and promoting urban forestry workforce development in communities where trees may be lacking or dying. AmeriCorps St. Louis members worked to fell hazardous ash trees at various parks around the region. A grant received from Wild Ones St. Louis Chapter also allowed a native plant garden to be established at AmeriCorps St. Louis’ offices in Soulard – now an officially registered native space – and has benefitted the region’s air quality. To take sustainability one step further, AmeriCorps St. Louis established a partnership with Enterprise Fleet Management to update its trucks to newer, more efficient vehicles, adding six new Chevrolet trucks to its fleet that will cut average cost per mile roughly in half.
For more information on AmeriCorps St. Louis and how your company can get involved in the St. Louis Green Business Challenge, subscribe to the Challenge’s bi-monthly E-Newsletter or visit stlouisgreenchallenge.com. To learn more about the link between sustainability and air quality, explore the Clean Air Partnership’s website, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter at @gatewaycleanair.
