Transforming a Toxic Wasteland into a Wildlife Haven

Where’s your creek? Atlanta’s own Sally Sears asks, as she spills the tea on how she and her neighbors discovered an urban paradise, hidden in swaths of kudzu, swamped with sewage and asbestos, but there nonetheless, waiting for them to reclaim it. 

This is the story of Zonolite Park, an industrial wasteland abandoned for decades, declared a brownfield by the EPA, only to be rescued by a handful of locals who believed it could be done. From court battles to coordinated clean up, the people of South Fork Conservancy built a veritable wildlife haven between two major interstates. And it’s only the beginning… With five miles of pathway and three new public parks along Peachtree Creek, they plan to connect and restore 31 miles of thriving watershed. 

A lifelong journalist and co-founder and CEO of South Fork Conservancy, Sally shares her wealth of experience covering urban growth in the South. “When you can help a little thing like a creek, you start to see some of those intertwining connections that make for a much more rich life for yourself, as well as for the world around you, and you inspire other people to do it too. [...] It's a purpose. It's a unifier. We are not here alone. We are here as part of something bigger.”

Learn more about the restoration of Zonolite Park at SouthForkConservancy.org 

And connect with Sally Sears on LinkedIn

Listen to the podcast episode Sally referenced: Bayou Dave: Cleaning Up Trash to Save the World 

Connect with Kate on youtube.com/katetucker and instagram.com/katetuckermusic and please follow, rate, and review the show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, it means a lot to us! 

Hosted and executive produced by Kate Tucker, Hope Is My Middle Name is a podcast by Consensus Digital Media in collaboration with Reasonable Volume.