Each year, the One Earth Young Filmmakers Contest receives amazing short film entries from all across the U.S. The submissions are rolling in ahead of the Jan. 5 deadline, and we are preparing to evaluate them. In 2022, we are excited to announce a new prize level—“The Environmental Activism Prize”—to elevate both the young filmmakers and the organizations on the frontlines of climate change activism.
Join One Earth in offering a warm welcome to our new “squad member,” Jillian Patton, Development Director. She is fresh off a thirteen-year stint in New York City, where she was most recently part of the Development team at NYU School of Law. She was also previously part of the team that raised money to develop the storied High Line, a park built on a former elevated train line on the West Side of Manhattan. Established in 2009, it helped provide a model for similar urban greening projects nationwide, such as Chicago’s 606 path that runs along an old rail line here in the city.
Much has been written about the lack of access to fresh and healthy foods in the West and South Sides of Chicago. Many of us read about it. Many of us live it. Some brilliant people are actively working to revise that story. People like Liz Abunaw, owner and operator of Forty Acres Fresh Market, which serves the city of Chicago and western suburbs along Interstate 290 up to Westchester, Ill. . . .
Abunaw is not alone in her efforts to enrich the local food supply. Austin Eats Initiative is a collaboration of organizations that promotes grocery access, culinary entrepreneurship, food education, community gardens, and urban farms in the Austin community, which is Chicago’s second-largest neighborhood by population and size. . . . On Thursday, Oct. 21, the group is staging a screening and discussion of the documentary film, “Can You Dig This.” You have two ways of seeing the film and participating in the discussion: in person or virtually.
Do you have a “broken” pile or box in your home? You know, those things that need to be glued, screwed or otherwise mended? Clothes needing mending collect near my sewing box, which I store in a side table near our sofa. Things that need to be glued or reattached usually end up in our dining room, where we have enough space to work. But sometimes you need the experts. Who do you call? Next time, try bringing your broken treasure to the Oak Park Repair Café at Fox Park. Not only will you stand a good chance of getting your item fixed for free, but you just may come home with new skills and even a new friend.
We’re getting a new look and a new name! GCC Midwest Inc. is now One Earth Collective. Our 501(c)(3) organization will retain the same board of directors and has a new logo and new digital home at www.oneearthcollective.org.
One Earth Collective has three program areas: One Earth Film Festival, which celebrates its 10th anniversary season in 2021; One Earth Youth Voices, which focuses on programs for youth ages 8-25; and One Earth Local/Green Community Connections, which focuses on local sustainability programs in Oak Park and River Forest, Illinois.
The Green Community Connections/One Earth Board welcomed three new members at its November board meeting. They will join the other 4 sitting directors. We are grateful and excited to have them join the board. Their unique talents, expertise and perspectives will help us further our mission to support the growth of environmental awareness and inspire the adoption of solution-oriented actions through inclusive educational events and programs.
Below are biographies and brief Q&As for each of our new directors so you can learn a little about their background and what they will bring to our organization.
Growing a native garden has never been easier: plant sales and information are readily available. Are you curious? Here are two resources you can access that will help you add more native plants, more beauty, more flavor, more life, and less work to your landscape.
The Fall Native Tree and Shrub Sale is going on now. Sponsored by several area non-profits, all proceeds will go to Green Community Connections and its programming. Support sustainability and beautify your yard: win-win!
No, it’s not your imagination. The Chicago area is being lashed by heavier rains more often than in the past. On average, today’s rain storms are 37% more powerful than they were in 1958.
Many homes in the Chicago area take on water in the basement. Unless there is sewer backup, much of the problem is seepage from over-saturated soil near the foundation or rainwater that finds other ways into a home.
For the past several years, One Earth Film Festival has displayed the Atmospheric CO2 Level on our website home page. In Coronavirus terms, this number should be as familiar to us as the number of COVID deaths in our state. The gold standard for global CO2 measurements is the Keeling Curve, named for the man who developed it.
West Cook Wild Ones launches its 2020 Garden for Nature program by announcing grants totaling more than $4,500 to 14 nonprofit and public organizations in the Chicago area.
Garden for Nature funds projects mainly in western Cook County that engage young people in planting native gardens and natural landscapes to make their communities healthier and more beautiful.
