Camilo de Castro, Brad Allgood/2023/80 min/Conservation, Climate, Justice, Food & Agriculture, Historical Perspectives, People & Cultures, Wildlife

FILM DESCRIPTION: Nicaragua is facing an escalating crisis. Illegal cattle ranchers and miners are decimating the Indio-Maiz Biological Reserve — one of the last remaining rainforests in Central America. Climate change and deforestation are leading to destruction of biodiversity and traditional ways of life. Commodities produced on illegally converted lands are finding their way to unsuspecting consumers in the US and other major markets. The indigenous and Afro-descendent peoples are addressing the threat head on—fighting back to protect their territory and way of life and is on Leonardo DiCaprio’s list five environmental documentaries people should watch.

Virtual Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/patrol-virtual-watch-party-tickets-858502342617

Rebecca Tickell and Josh Tickell/2023/105 min/Climate, Food & Agriculture, Conservation, Health, Wildlife

FILM DESCRIPTION: From the filmmakers of “Kiss the Ground” (Netflix) comes the follow-up documentary “Common Ground,” winner of the Tribeca Film Festival. “Common Ground” is an important new documentary film featuring Laura Dern, Jason Momoa, Woody Harrelson, Ian Somerhalder, Donald Glover, Rosario Dawson, Mark Hyman, Gabe Brown, and many others. This film provides hope for future generations with concrete ways to fix a broken planetary system. “Common Ground” explores how regenerative agriculture can help heal the soil, our health and the planet.

The short film “Hope” by Jodi Wu will precede the feature film. “Hope” tied for the Animation Prize in the One Earth Young Filmmakers Contest 2023.

In Person Tickets at Chicago Cultural Center: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/common-ground-chicago-cultural-center-action-fair-tickets-858510015567

Arrive at 12 p.m. for the Action Fair in the 2nd Floor Rotunda.
Enjoy free refreshments and fellowship with environmental advocates.
ADA-compliant accessible venue. Click here for more ADA details.

In Person Tickets at Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/common-ground-peggy-notebaert-nature-museum-tickets-863367484387

Doors open 30 minutes before start time.
Arrive early to talk with action partners, avoid lines and get best seats.
ADA-compliant accessible venue. Click here for more ADA details.

In Person Tickets at Illinois Institute of Technology: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/common-ground-illinois-institute-of-technology-tickets-863369951767?aff=oddtdtcreator

This is a collaboration with Bronzeville Partners.
Meet community leaders and organizations that are dedicated to
Earth Justice and learn how you can get involved. Doors open at 12:30 p.m.
Free parking lot across the street between 34th and 35th Streets.
ADA-compliant accessible venue. Click here for more ADA details.

Illinois Tech is located in Bronzeville, also known as the “Black Metropolis” and the “Black Belt,” and is at the epicenter of African-American history on Chicago’s South Side. Its residents transformed the area into a mecca for innovation, business, culture, and community institutions with national influence that rivaled and even exceeded New York’s Harlem. The film will be screened at the former site of the Binga Bank and Arcade, owned by Jesse Binga, the first Black man to found a privately owned bank in Chicago.

In Person Tickets at Three Brothers Theatre in Waukegan: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/common-ground-three-brothers-theatre-tickets-863372479327?aff=oddtdtcreator

Doors open 30 minutes before start time.
Arrive early to talk with action partners, avoid lines and get best seats.
ADA-compliant accessible venue. Click here for more ADA details.

In Person Tickets at Oak Park Public Library:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/common-ground-oak-park-public-library-tickets-863373432177?aff=oddtdtcreator

Doors open 30 minutes before start time.
Arrive early to talk with action partners, avoid lines and get best seats.
ADA-compliant accessible venue. Click here for more ADA details.

Katja Esson/2023/85 min/Climate, Justice, Built Environment, Historical Perspectives

FILM DESCRIPTION: Liberty City, Miami, was home to one of the oldest segregated public housing projects in the U.S. Now with rising sea levels, the neighborhood’s higher ground has become something else: real estate gold. Wealthy property owners push inland to higher ground, creating a speculators’ market in the historically Black neighborhood previously ignored by developers and policy-makers alike.

The short film “Painting by Numbers” by Radheya Jegatheva will precede the feature film. “Painting by Numbers” won the Sally Stovall Planet Warrior Prize for Creativity in the One Earth Young Filmmakers Contest 2023.

Chicago Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/razing-liberty-square-bethel-new-life-tickets-868044353027

Doors open at 5:15 for snacks/refreshments before start time.
Arrive early to talk with action partners, avoid lines and get best seats.
ADA-compliant accessible venue. Click here for more ADA details.

DISCUSSION CO-FACILITATORS:

• Hollee Mangrum Willis, Bethel New Life

• J'Niya Blunt, Your Passion 1st

Young environmentalists, join us for 7 award-winning short films and discussion, where we'll get loud about our planet! We'll also settle in to contemplate and celebrate the power of creativity, art, and nature. Enjoy healthy snacks and activities.

Oak Park Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/young-filmmaker-voices-for-families-with-kids-age-7-to-12-tickets-858513816937?aff=oddtdtcreator

Austin Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/young-filmmaker-voices-for-families-with-kids-age-7-to-12-austin-tickets-872912804697

From UNA-USA:

Become a UNA-USA member, and then attend the 2024 UNA-Great Lakes Region Conference in Chicago Saturday, April 20, at the Polsinelli Law Firm, 150 N. Riverside Plaza, Suite 3000, Chicago.

There will be a panel on water justice and security, caring for our Earth and our “Pure Blue” Region, among other discussions.

Register here: https://tinyurl.com/great-lakes-form

Maggie Hart and Brittany Zampella/2023/19 min/Waste, Health, Justice

FILM DESCRIPTION: “A Good Neighbor” is a feature-length documentary about a Latina single mother’s fight against racism and climate change as she campaigns for city council in one of the nation’s most polluted zip codes.

Farhoud Meybodi/2023/48 min/Waste, Health, Justice, Built Environment, People & Cultures

FILM DESCRIPTION: Amidst a catastrophic plastic waste crisis in her hometown of Nairobi, Nzambi Matee risks everything to pioneer technology that transforms plastic waste into sustainable paving bricks. A former engineer in the oil and gas industry, Nzambi walked away from a lucrative career after a trip to the coastal city of Mombasa, where she discovered a sea of plastic bags and bottles in the crystal blue waters of the Indian Ocean. This inspired Nzambi to create a possible solution to the country’s plastics problem by converting waste into sustainable materials.

The short film “The Speech of Txai Surui” by the students of Escola Parque (in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) will precede the feature film. This film won two awards in the One Earth Young Filmmakers Contest 2023.

VIEW & BREW tickets for Kehrein Center: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/view-brew-w-one-earth-collective-swsw-pt-3-tickets-881167544847?aff=ebdssbdestsearch

$25 includes film, food, and beverage starting at 5 p.m.
ADA-compliant accessible venue. Click here for more ADA details.
The Kehrein Center for the Arts is the product of a years-long effort to restore an architecturally-significant but unused auditorium into a vibrant fine and performing arts center, complete with a 900-seat storytelling theater, art gallery, and community gathering place. Original construction was in 1954 by Belli & Belli.

In person tickets for Unity Temple: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/earthbound-nzambi-matee-a-good-neighbor-unity-temple-tickets-858539353317

Doors open 30 minutes before start time.
Arrive early to talk with action partners, avoid lines and get best seats.
ADA-compliant accessible venue. Click here for more ADA details.

In person tickets for Triton College:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/earthbound-nzambi-matee-a-good-neighbor-triton-college-tickets-858537668277?aff=oddtdtcreator

Doors open 30 minutes before start time.
Arrive early to talk with action partners, avoid lines and get best seats.
ADA-compliant accessible venue. Click here for more ADA details.

From One Earth Film Fest:

One Earth is proud to partner with Kehrein Center for the Arts in Chicago's Austin community for a special International Women's Day presentation and series. This three-event series begins on Friday, March 8. Each event will highlight the work of women of color, both locally and globally, as we illuminate the ways that women work intersectionally and across a range of contexts to support one another in our collective fight for equity, liberation, and economic participation in ways that preserve land, promote economic accessibility, and cause ecological flourishing. Join us for this exciting series to take place between March 8, April 18, and April 19.

April 18: The Kehrein Center presents the second event in our series, "Sustaining Women, Sustaining The World". Fleye, Free, and Forward: An ILAVA Function, is a fashion showcase merging wearable art with social consciousness. Owners Rahel & Mawasi Mwitula present ILAVA’s socially responsible fashion, promoting sustainable living for Tanzanian women. Kelley D. Moseley of K~Fleye jewelry joins to highlight her collections of one-of-one jewelry, accessories and handbags, and share her entrepreneurial journey. Both brands celebrate African & African American styles.

The event culminates in a conversation on the 'glocal' intersections led by Reesheda Graham Washington and the owners of ILAVA and K~FLEYE.

Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sustaining-women-sustaining-the-world-a-three-part-series-tickets-852668022007

Maggie Burnette Stogner/2023/30 min/Water Justice, Conservation, Health

FILM DESCRIPTION: "Upstream, Downriver" takes viewers into the heart of the battle for water justice. Powerful stories with frontline community activists are interwoven with historical context about landmark regulations that significantly reduced water pollution in the U.S. but failed to serve disadvantaged communities that are hardest hit by today’s climate crisis. 

Giorgio Ghiotto/2023/30 min/Water Justice, Conservation, Health, People & Cultures

FILM DESCRIPTION: Vidal Merma, a Peruvian Indigenous journalist, risks his life daily to secure a future where his son, Erik, can savor the simple joy of drinking clean water. "Wings of Dust" is about a father's sacrifice, community resilience and the unwavering human spirit in the face of environmental injustice. This film won the 2023 Gold Medal Student Academy Award for Documentary and was also shortlisted for the 96th Academy Awards for Documentary Short Film.

Two short films will precede the feature films: “The Island” by Mahmut Taş and “Submerged” by Neo Sky James. “Submerged” tied for the Animation Prize in the One Earth Young Filmmakers Contest 2023.

VIEW & BREW Tickets at Epiphany Center for the Arts: Chicago Tickets

Doors open at 5 p.m. for food and drink available for purchase,
networking, and self-tours of this adaptive re-use space.
Film program starts at 6 p.m.

ADA-compliant accessible venue. Click here for more ADA details.

In Person Tickets at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church: Oak Park Tickets

Doors open at 5:15 p.m. for Action Fair and refreshments.
Film program starts at 6 p.m.

ADA-compliant accessible venue. Click here for more ADA details.

In Person Tickets at Park Ridge Community Church: Park Ridge Tickets

Doors open at 5 p.m. to meet action partners.
Film program starts at 6 p.m.

ADA-compliant accessible venue. Click here for more ADA details.

Join us! One Earth launches its 13th festival season by sharing reel stories that speak to the real change we can make for our planet when we're united together.

• Enjoy the beautiful, state-of-the art LEED Platinum Radio Flyer worldwide headquarters (a Certified B Corporation)

• Chance to watch the Emmy-winning short film "Taking Flight"

• Enjoy a toast from the amazing filmmakers behind the 2024 One Earth Film Fest film lineup

• See the Young Filmmakers Contest post-graduate winning film “My Brand New Car” as part of a short program beginning promptly at 7 p.m.

• Enter the raffle to win a Radio Flyer Electric Bicycle and other terrific, sustainable prizes

Scholarship and financial assistance awarded to enrolled students and community members with hardship. Applicants can email natasha@oneearthcollective.org to be added to the wait list.

*Please consider taking CTA or carpooling to this event. The closest Metra stop is Mars on the Milwaukee District West Line. Busses run along Grand Ave. and Fullerton Ave. #65 stops close by, for instance. For carpoolers and drivers, Radio Flyer has ample parking space available upon entering the front gate located on Natchez.

In Person Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/one-earth-film-fest-opening-launch-party-radio-flyer-headquarters-tickets-861884007267

Virtual Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/one-earth-film-fest-opening-launch-party-virtual-event-tickets-862522246257

From West Cook Wild Ones: 2024 will be a unique year as the 17-year periodical cicada will be emerging throughout northern Illinois. This is a short, but very interesting entomological event worth enjoying. In this presentation we will discuss the fascinating biology and feeding habits of the periodical cicada, egg laying preferences, susceptible woody plant species, and potential for damage to young trees and shrubs, and natural pruning of mature trees. Practical management methods will be presented for both members of the green industry and homeowners.

Get Tickets: https://westcookwildones.ticketbud.com/the-periodical-cicada-coming-to-a-neighborhood-near-you

From Oak Park Public Library:

Cindy Crosby is the author, compiler or contributor to more than 20 books. Her most recent book is “Chasing Dragonflies: A Natural, Cultural, and Personal History”. Listen to stories of the history of the tallgrass prairie and its amazing plants and creatures – from blooms to butterflies to bison. Discover plants that work well in the home garden as you enjoy learning about Illinois’ “landscape of home.”

From One Earth Film Fest:

This year’s total eclipse will go through Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. Learn more here: https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/future-eclipses/eclipse-2024/where-when/

From First United Church of Oak Park:

First United Church of Oak Park invites the public to hear Chicago area environmental leaders such as Naomi Davis of Blacks in Green and Pamela Tate of Climate Reality Project at “Environmental Stewardship/Environmental Justice.” This series will take place in person from 9:30 to 10:45 a.m. over the next five Sundays beginning March 3 (and excluding March 31), at 848 Lake St., in Oak Park. Topics include biodiversity, environmental justice, waste, plus local Chicago and Oak Park-vicinity conditions and initiatives. No advance registration is needed. Simply show up each Sunday at First United Church of Oak Park.

Speaker April 7
Sustainability and Environmental Initiatives in Oak Park and Surrounding Communities
Pamela Tate, Climate Reality Project

Join us for this Earth Month Community Kickoff event for all ages and learn about a wide variety of community sustainability groups and opportunities right here in Oak Park.

Get inspired to do some spring cleaning at home, and we’ll help keep the things you no longer need out of the landfill! Enjoy green giveaways and learn about other ways to get involved with volunteering in the Forest Preserves as well as how to live more sustainably. T-shirt giveaway for the first 50 participants.

From Repair Cafe Oak Park:

Toss it? No way!

The Oak Park Repair Café is meeting on the first Saturday of each month, from 10:00 a.m. until 1:30 p.m., at Fox Park in Oak Park. We will be in the Community Center in the park, at 624 S. Oak Park Avenue. Free, on-street parking.

Volunteer coaches will be on hand to work with you, helping you fix those household items you’ve been meaning to take care of – everything from toasters to radios, to clocks or torn clothing. Given a huge increase in visitor volume, repairs will be limited to one item per guest.

We respectfully request all guests be masked during their visit.

For more information about the Oak Park Repair Café, please go to www.repaircafeoakparkil.org and to learn more about the international Repair Café movement, check out www.repaircafe.org.

As part of National Public Health Week, join the University of Illinois Chicago School of Public Health at the University Club of Chicago for a conversation on how climate change is impacting human health, presented by Kristie L. Ebi, PhD, MPH.

From Forest Preserves of Cook County:

Join us as Forest Preserves staff introduces you to technology that can be used to enhance your birding experience.

REGISTRATION REQUIRED:Register at https://forms.gle/GcRGRXxaoJYTeW6n9.

Zoom Presentation

From Oak Park Public Library:

Explore the curiosities and complexities of nature, environmentalism, and sustainability through fiction and nonfiction literature in the Earth Lounge Environmental Book Discussion Group, held the last Wednesday of the month every other month beginning in January 2024.

Islands of Abandonment: nature rebounding in the post-human landscape by Cal Flyn explores the places where nature is flourishing in our absence. Flyn visits the eeriest and most desolate places on Earth that due to war, disaster, disease, or economic decay, have been abandoned by humans. What she finds every time is an "island" of teeming new life: nature has rushed in to fill the void faster and more thoroughly than even the most hopeful projections of scientists. The book is a tour through these new ecosystems, in all their glory, as sites of unexpected environmental significance, where the natural world has reasserted its wild power and promise.

Register here: https://oakpark.librarycalendar.com/event/earth-lounge-environmental-book-club-islands-abandonment-60941

From One Earth Local:

Climate Ready Community Outreach to Oak Park (COOP)  is an outreach and education project around the Village of Oak Park’s Climate Ready Oak Park sustainability plan (approved in August 2022), bringing diverse community groups together to promote the plan to Oak Park’s 55,000 residents. 

One Earth Local gathered COOP organizations together in October 2022 and pushes out quarterly communications tied to the Climate Ready Oak Park plan and organizes outreach events, such as the Oak Park Tree Stroll each April and October. 

COOP is a place where community activists can collaborate and communicate on projects such as a community-wide Earth Month celebration in April 2023. COOP members post their events on One Earth's calendar and have a google group, as well as monthly meetings.

If you would like your Oak Park community based organization to be a part of COOP, please contact:
laurie@oneearthcollective.org

From Oak Park Public Library:

Plant Swaps are for everyone of all ages! This event encourages plant lovers to come together and trade pest- free plants of all kinds, which can include: Houseplants, potted plants, cuttings, seedlings, starters, succulents, air plants, wildflowers, annual or perennial, etc. No money is exchanged and it is a great way for beginners and expert gardeners to clean out or add variety to their collections. Drop in any time between 1pm - 3pm to give some plants and get some plants. 

From First United Church of Oak Park:

First United Church of Oak Park invites the public to hear Chicago area environmental leaders such as Naomi Davis of Blacks in Green and Pamela Tate of Climate Reality Project at “Environmental Stewardship/Environmental Justice.” This series will take place in person from 9:30 to 10:45 a.m. over the next five Sundays beginning March 3 (and excluding March 31), at 848 Lake St., in Oak Park. Topics include biodiversity, environmental justice, waste, plus local Chicago and Oak Park-vicinity conditions and initiatives. No advance registration is needed. Simply show up each Sunday at First United Church of Oak Park.

Speakers March 24
Environmental Quality in Chicago: Challenges and Opportunities
Michael Hawthorne, investigative reporter covering environment and public health for the Chicago Tribune

From Forest Preserves of Cook County:

Celebrate World Water Day by focusing on how healthy aquatic ecosystems will benefit all. Enjoy the live stream on Sagawau’s Facebook page.

Facebook Live from Sagawau Environmental Learning Center

From Oak Park Public Library:

There are simple things we can all do to make our homes and planet healthier. Come learn how to properly recycle household hazardous waste materials and make your own green cleaning alternatives that are safer for both humans and the environment. After a brief presentation and Q&A with the Cook County Department of Environment and Sustainability's Community Outreach Coordinator Kate Carney there will be an opportunity for participants to make their own green cleaning mix to bring home just in time for Spring Cleaning!

Register: https://oakpark.librarycalendar.com/event/sustainability-home-green-cleaning-63106

From West Cook Wild Ones:

Please join West Cook Wild Ones for "Growing Native Plants in Pots in Urban Landscapes" with Dr. Jeremie Fant, of Chicago Botanic Garden on Sunday, March 17, at 2:30 p.m. (Central Time).

Ever wondered about using native plants in containers? Urban botanist, Dr. Jeremie Fant has! He has been experimenting for 15 years with growing and overwintering native plants in containers on his Chicago balcony. Dr. Fant will share his experiences and techniques with us.

Speaker Bio

Dr. Fant is Director of Conservation at Chicago Botanic Garden and also an avid urban gardener who has been growing natives in containers for over 15 years. Dr. Fant is a molecular ecologist using genetic tools to study ecological questions. His lab studies genetics of rare plants, how pollinators drive plant genetics, restoration genetics and the role of botanic gardens in restoration. He got his Ph. D. from the Department of Genetics at the University of Cambridge (UK). After obtaining his doctorate, Dr. Fant worked in the Conner Lab at Kellogg Biological Station at Michigan State University.

Register here: https://westcookwildones.ticketbud.com/containergardensnativeplantsinurbanlandscapes

From First United Church of Oak Park:

First United Church of Oak Park invites the public to hear Chicago area environmental leaders such as Naomi Davis of Blacks in Green and Pamela Tate of Climate Reality Project at “Environmental Stewardship/Environmental Justice.” This series will take place in person from 9:30 to 10:45 a.m. over the next five Sundays beginning March 3 (and excluding March 31), at 848 Lake St., in Oak Park. Topics include biodiversity, environmental justice, waste, plus local Chicago and Oak Park-vicinity conditions and initiatives. No advance registration is needed. Simply show up each Sunday at First United Church of Oak Park.

Speakers March 17
The Sustainable Square Mile and Black Community Development
Naomi Davis, Founder/CEO, Blacks in Green
Climate Change and Community-Based Environmental Justice
Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco, Climate change, energy, and environment Journalist for WBEZ and Grist

From the Nature, Culture, and Human Health Network:

• Learn about Rep. Sonya Harper's leadership with the Outdoor Rx Act

• Deepen your understanding of IDEAS* Nature Spaces with regional Models of Excellence and how to bring nature into communities

• Discuss nature-based workforce development and volunteer certifications

• Bird walk and sunrise nature meditation at 7:30 a.m.

• $35 registration fee, with scholarships at checkout

• Register Here

From First United Church of Oak Park:

First United Church of Oak Park invites the public to hear Chicago area environmental leaders such as Naomi Davis of Blacks in Green and Pamela Tate of Climate Reality Project at “Environmental Stewardship/Environmental Justice.” This series will take place in person from 9:30 to 10:45 a.m. over the next five Sundays beginning March 3 (and excluding March 31), at 848 Lake St., in Oak Park. Topics include biodiversity, environmental justice, waste, plus local Chicago and Oak Park-vicinity conditions and initiatives. No advance registration is needed. Simply show up each Sunday at First United Church of Oak Park.

Speakers March 10
Trash Science: What Do We Know and What Can Be Done?
Dr. Timothy Hoellein, Professor, Department of Biology, Loyola University of Chicago

From One Earth Film Fest:

One Earth is proud to partner with Kehrein Center for the Arts in Chicago's Austin community for a special International Women's Day presentation and series. This three-event series begins on Friday, March 8. Each event will highlight the work of women of color, both locally and globally, as we illuminate the ways that women work intersectionally and across a range of contexts to support one another in our collective fight for equity, liberation, and economic participation in ways that preserve land, promote economic accessibility, and cause ecological flourishing. Join us for this exciting series to take place between March 8, April 18, and April 19.

Join us as Ana Garcia-Doyle, executive director of One Earth Collective points us toward the screening of “Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai,” a film that stoically captures the inspiring work of Wangari Maathai and the Kimuka women of Kenya, and the legacy of tree planting toward viability and sustainability in Kenya.

After the film, Reesheda Graham Washington, Executive Director of Kehrein Center for the Arts Foundation, will lead a discussion with Toni Anderson, CEO of Mindful Rant. Anderson, a Southside Chicago native, promotes mindfulness and emergent leadership, fostering clarity and supporting interpersonal connections. She integrates cultural, ecological, and participatory design approaches to empower communities of color towards proactive social change. Anderson is a practitioner of wholeness, a healer, urban ecologist, and spiritualist, planting seeds of freedom through eco-social practices.

Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sustaining-women-sustaining-the-world-a-three-part-series-tickets-852668022007

From First United Church of Oak Park:

First United Church of Oak Park invites the public to hear Chicago area environmental leaders such as Naomi Davis of Blacks in Green and Pamela Tate of Climate Reality Project at “Environmental Stewardship/Environmental Justice.” This series will take place in person from 9:30 to 10:45 a.m. over the next five Sundays beginning March 3 (and excluding March 31), at 848 Lake St., in Oak Park. Topics include biodiversity, environmental justice, waste, plus local Chicago and Oak Park-vicinity conditions and initiatives. No advance registration is needed. Simply show up each Sunday at First United Church of Oak Park.

Speakers March 3
Engaging Communities for Urban Stewardship
Trinity Pierce, Stewardship Manager, Forest Preserve District of Cook County, Wolf Road Prairie
Wild City; Human Ecosystem
Wyatt Widmer, Steward, Forest Preserve District of Cook County, Wolf Road Prairie