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At the Library

The MCL prides itself in being designated as a Sustainable Small Business through the actions and leadership that promote environmental stewardship as well as financial stability.  This includes:

  • Solar Panels: The MCL’s 83 solar panels help generate more electricity than the Library uses over the year, meaning Duquesne Light actually pays us.  This helps us pay staff and create more community programming.  Carbon neutrality has never been sweeter.
  • Rain Garden and Cistern: In the back yard, you’ll find a 500 gallon cistern that collects rain water from our rooftop, and through an underground pipe channels it into our rain garden.  Naturally landscaped and made up of native plants that soak up lots of water, this is one of the ways the Library plays its part in decreasing the flood threat by preventing water from entering Girty’s Run.
  • Growing Food: Also in the back yard, you’ll find garden beds and fruit trees that are used to teach Millvale youth how to grow their own food — just one of the ways we work to reverse food insecurity in our town!
  • Clean Air: In the library, you’ll find a high efficiency furnace, and a top of the line air filtration system — helping people breathe easy when they visit us!

In the Community

EcoDistricts is the word!  In 2012, in partnership with residents, and representatives of the Borough, the Millvale Community Development Corporation, and New Sun Rising, Millvale jumped into an innovative community planning process that encourages systems level thinking in shaping our community.  With a strong focus in resident driven participation, the three key issue areas of Food, Water, and Energy were identified, and programming goals were collaboratively developed to fit community needs.  With a resident leader in each key programming area, the EcoDistrict Leadership Team was developed to ensure resident supported implementation.  Below are the specific goals listed within our EcoDistrict Plan.

  • Food: Millvale is a foodie paradise for everyone and is known for hyper local production.
  • Water: Millvale is part of a just watershed system known for productive and pleasurable landscapes.
  • Energy: Millvale is a self reliant urban solar village.
  • Air: Millvale is a clean air community where people breathe easy indoors and outdoors.
  • Mobility: Millvale is a place where people of all ages have the freedom to move safely.
  • Equity: Millvale is a place of self-determination, where Millvalians are able to participate and shape their future as well as the future of Millvale.

Community-wide initiatives underway:

  • Municipal Education: A lunch & learn series will be held throughout the year, designed for Borough officials and employees to learn about municipal sustainability, topics, trends, as continued sustainability training.
  • EcoDistrict Urban Regeneration Incubator: A three-day intensive training designed to accelerate EcoDistrict-modeled urban regeneration projects.
  • EcoDistricts 2.0 Implementation: Developing resources to increase community capacity to equitably strengthen Millvale’s energy and mobility systems including the installation of solar panels on Borough of Millvale property and education programs such a the 2017 Millvale Teen Solar Fellowship, and the Summer 2018 Teen Air Quality Fellowship.