Communities across Philadelphia region to plant trees, highlight importance of preserving planet on Earth Day
PENNSAUKEN, N.J. (CBS) -- With Earth Day on Monday, communities across the Philadelphia region are taking time to help pay it forward for the planet.
Mayor and lifelong Pennsauken, New Jersey, resident Marco DiBattista says protecting the only place he's ever called home is especially important on Earth Day.
"It represents what this town is about — giving back," DiBattista said.
That's why he's excited to help plant more than a dozen trees on Monday inside Meadowbrook Park.
"We're really fortunate to have an in-town company called Soda Stream, who for the second year has donated these trees to our township. Last year, they donated 10 trees. This year, they stepped up even bigger and gave us 16 trees," DiBattista said.
DiBattista said the focus on the environment is important not just for now but for the future as well.
"It's about sustainability, it's about the future of our town, it's not just us, it's our kids, it's our kids' kids," DiBattista said.
Other communities across the Philly region are also marking Earth Day.
At Chesterbrook Academy preschool in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, 3,000 ladybugs will be released starting at 10 a.m. Ladybugs serve as a natural pesticide.
Twenty-three Philadelphia schools were awarded grant money for green projects and will be recognized in Fairmount Park on Monday as part of Mayor Cherelle Parker's "Green Schools Program" to promote environmental sustainability.
In addition, students and faculty from Our Mother of Consolation and Chestnut Hill College will join together with themed projects that highlight the importance of preserving our planet.
"They wrote a song, they wrote poems, they're doing this tree with the hands," Rita Borzillo, the chair of the Chestnut Hill College Center, said.
Borzillo said Earth Day hopes to inspire progress one generation at a time
"If we are going to see change, it's gotta start with our children, and if we don't start there young, it's never going to change," Borzillo said.
