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Green space, companies are central

Vaseline

It’s Earth Day, a time to celebrate our planet and recognize the efforts to protect it.

Across the Upstate, nature lovers spent the weekend outside in the sun in anticipation of Earth Day next Monday. People from counties across the region organized plant sales and swaps, educational events, festivals, and countless litter cleanups, all with the goal of helping the people around them connect with the Earth.

Spartanburg Area Conservancy kicked off the festivities by hosting families and vendors at Glendale Shoals Preserve to commemorate their 35th anniversary during the SPACE Birthday Earth Day Bash on Saturday morning. Although the nonprofit has been around since 1989, this year marked their first Earth Day festival.

The organization, better known as SPACE, is a conservation group committed to preserving and protecting natural areas. They are currently working to permanently preserve nearly 1,000 undeveloped acres adjacent to Glendale Shoals Preserve as a public green space and park for residents. Last week, the Spartanburg County Council approved $2 million in funding for the $25 million project.

Groups like the Watershed Ecology Center and the Spartanburg Science Center provided learning opportunities and hands-on activities. At other tents, vendors like Carolina Bamboo sold handmade, natural and recycled items to attendees. The Spartanburg Creative Art Reuse Project (SCRAP) gave children the opportunity to make their own necklaces from painted Styrofoam and cardboard.

More: SPACE has a view of the Glendale site for the provincial park; land acquisition, financing in progress

Jessie Stevens, a teacher from Boiling Springs, couldn’t wait to take her daughters Georgia Kate, 6, and Maggie, 5, to the SPACE event. Stevens has been taking Georgia Kate to the reservation since she was a newborn. She said she loves the impact SPACE has on the Spartanburg community, especially when it comes to helping children understand why conservation is important.

“Their local conservation and environmental awareness efforts are spectacular. Their events are always very kid-friendly,” said Stevens. “They work very hard in the community to get kids involved in our partnership on this earth. I know that whenever I take the girls somewhere there will be good activities and fun things that we will do, but they are also I go learning more and more about how we can care for our planet.”

A few hundred meters away, six-year-old Liam Judice explored the reserve’s famous waterfall and weaved through a bamboo forest. His mother, Cathryn Judice, said Liam is obsessed with the waterfall at Glendale Shoals.

“This year it was really cute. They were learning about the life cycle of plants at school and all three of my boys asked to start a garden,” Judice said.

She and her husband Mike said they enjoy taking their sons to SPACE events. Judice, a native of Spartanburg, has also been coming to the reservation since she was a child.

“It really helps me, and I feel like it helps all my boys to decompress and become human again,” she said.

Deb Stevens, SPACE Membership and Outreach Director, said this is exactly what they hoped the event would encourage. Stevens said the group often works with students who haven’t had much outdoor experience, but their perspectives quickly change after just a short time in nature.

“You just see the transformation. Now they’ve had a positive experience in the outdoor area and they want to come back. We’re just trying to create good opportunities outside,” she said.

More: Spartanburg County Council approves funding for SPACE Glendale park project

Preserving green space or natural areas full of plants, rocks or water is especially important in the Upstate amid exponential growth, Stevens said. According to census data, Spartanburg was the eighth fastest growing city in the US in 2023.

“What makes Spartanburg so great and makes people want to live here is our high quality of life. I think the quality of your life is directly related to the integration of green space into your community,” said Sam Parrott, executive director of SPACE.

The Greenville Festival invites local businesses to share environmentally friendly goods

Meanwhile, Make GVL Greener, about 40 miles south of Greenville, hosted its third Earth Day celebration on Saturday. About 70 volunteers gathered at Pangea Brewing in the morning to pick up litter along the Swamp Rabbit Trail. After cleaning up the litter, local small businesses lined the field in Unity Park.

Weiwei Huang is the owner of Knotty Pawz, a company that sells dog toys made from recycled cotton rope.

Huang, who has lived in Greenville with her husband for seven years, is originally from China. Initially, she wanted to find better toys for her dog, Xena. When Xena played with sturdier toys, she hurt her gums, but stuffed toys were too fragile.

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Huang has a master’s degree in business administration and her family has more than 100 years of experience working with recycled textiles. She decided to combine her areas of expertise and, together with her loved ones, create cheerful toys that pets can play with safely. She hopes her company will become a leading eco-friendly pet brand by 2027.

“Millions of stuffed animals end up in a landfill and cannot be absorbed by the earth,” Huang said. “If you do more research on the environment, you can feel the need for us. We need to focus on sustainable products for people and also for the planet.”

Huang handed out free rope toys to dogs who stopped by the park during Saturday’s event.

The atmosphere in the park was cheerful and festive. Make GVL Greener Founder and Executive Director Sheryl Guarniero said this was intentional.

Guarniero has worked on environmental issues for 20 years and said she understands that it can be overwhelming and intense for people to understand.

“It stresses people out. It gives them anxiety,” she said. “But there are ways to do good, to make it fun. So that was my thought. It was, ‘Why don’t we celebrate? Celebrate Greenville, celebrate the planet?'”

Guarniero organized Make GVL Greener’s first Earth Day as a litter cleanup, but this year she wanted to do more.

Guarniero deliberately organized the event to make it feel like a farmer’s market. She wanted to support small businesses, especially those passionate about the environment. Guarniero organizes workshops through Make GVL Greener. She said the workshops give people a space to talk about both the good and bad sides of trying to live an eco-friendly lifestyle.

“Everyone feels like they’re on an island and they’re the only ones. It’s very hard and you feel alone, which makes it even harder,” she said. “The more I’ve talked to people and become this table for people to come and sit at, the more we’ve learned how many more there are and that it’s not an island anymore.”

Guarniero said she plans to grow the festival. Moreover, she has a large number of projects planned for her organization.

“It’s literally in the name. Why isn’t Greenville the greenest city in the US?” she said. “Set a good example.”

Summer fun: State residents can get free admission to the state park through their local library. Here’s how.

Children learn how to protect the Earth in Anderson

Children also had the opportunity to learn more about conservation and stewardship Saturday morning at the Anderson County Library. During the event ‘Planet Protectors: Celebrating our Earth’, local environmental educators spoke to children about the world around them.

Event partners included the Clemson Co-operative Extension, Anderson Soil and Water Conservation District, SC Native Plant Society and Rocky River Nature Park. Children could attend a themed story, make a craft, view a beehive and visit various educational tables.

“Earth Day at the Library is always one of our favorite events. It brings together many of our friends in the environmental education community with the families we serve at the Library to celebrate and more about the amazing yet fragile world we live in. learning,” said Anderson County Library Director of Youth Services Diane Smiley.

Looking for an event near you? View the Earth Day event map.

Sarah Swetlik covers climate change and environmental issues in Upstate South Carolina for The Greenville News. Reach her at [email protected] or at X at @sarahgswetlik.

Do you have a question for Sustainability with Sarah? Ask here or send an email to [email protected].

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