Dozens of residents shared innovative ideas at Chelsea’s Earth Day Contest, reviving community efforts toward sustainability and environmental action.
On a sunny spring afternoon at Lyndon Park North, Chelsea residents gathered to celebrate Earth Day and share ideas for a more sustainable future. Held in conjunction with the Chelsea Chamber of Commerce’s Bark Rangers program, the event featured the Earth Day Contest, which invited the community to submit creative, environmentally focused ideas.
The contest was a revival of sorts. Fifteen years ago, the Chelsea Transition Town group worked on sustainability efforts in the city. Though the group dissolved during the pandemic, its vision lives on.
“Einstein once said that imagination is more powerful than intellect,” said event organizer Marijo Grogan. “Our Earth Day Contest exemplifies how collective imagination and wisdom can create a vision and impetus for action.”
Participants submitted thirty unique ideas covering topics from composting to tool-sharing libraries. Winners were announced at the event.
First Place went to Shana Weddington for her concept of a Community Compost & Seed Library — a mobile unit that could move through neighborhoods, making composting and gardening resources accessible to more residents. Weddington also received an honorable mention for proposing a community garden to grow herbs for a community apothecary and mutual aid network.
Second Place was awarded to Jackie Popma, who envisioned community composting options for kitchen scraps. Popma also earned an honorable mention for suggesting low-interest loans to support energy efficiency home improvements.
Third Place went to Brendan Bradley for his “Turning Trash to Treasure” proposal, which highlighted worm farming, or vermiculture, to compost food waste. Bradley also received an honorable mention for his idea of repurposing wood waste for mushroom cultivation and using composted mushroom substrate to heat greenhouses.
Other honorable mentions included:
- Shannon Gibbons – A bi-monthly repair café for small appliances.
- Lucia Ruedenberg – A monthly “hive-side chat” with a biodynamic beekeeper.
- Sarah Buelow – A Chelsea Eco-Club to engage residents and youth in environmental actions.
- Brendan Bradley – Creating biochar from wood waste for energy capture and soil improvement.
- Karen Brogan – Marketing reusable shopping bags with discount incentives.
- Durrette Lauckern – An heirloom seed bank for vegetables and flowers.
- Marietta Van Buhler – A tool and service lending library.
- Barry Lonik – A greenbelt around Chelsea to preserve farmland and natural features.
The contest also inspired supportive ideas, including decreasing plastic bag use, offering home energy audits, switching streetlights to more efficient fixtures, protecting pollinators, and organizing educational visits to local recycling and waste facilities.
Grogan closed the event with gratitude. “I want to thank the Chelsea Chamber of Commerce for inviting us to share in their own Earth Day program,” she said, noting the importance of collaboration. She also thanked sponsors Chelsea Outfitters, the Michigan Friends Center, Chelsea Area Friends of Recreation, the Chelsea Zero Waste Coalition, Agricole, and Zou Zou’s.
The next step for Chelsea’s budding sustainability network will be a follow-up gathering at the Michigan Friends Center’s open house on July 20. Community members interested in continuing the conversation and putting ideas into action are encouraged to attend.
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