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UNA-Chicago Honors One Earth Film Fest

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UNA-Chicago Honors One Earth Film Fest

The United Nations Association-Greater Chicago Chapter (UNA-Chicago) honored One Earth Film Fest, among others, on Wednesday, Oct. 23, at International House on the University of Chicago Campus.

In response, Film Festival Director Ana Garcia-Doyle wrote: "The Festival is working at the nexus of ecology and equity, and has been intentional about addressing these and myriad other topics that intersect with the environment. With special missions for engaging youth and new, diverse, and hard-to-reach audiences -- the Festival's Young Filmmakers Contest is open once again to young filmmakers across the country, and its venues will once again include screenings and events from Hyde Park to Oak Park, from Uptown to Englewood, and from Cook County to Kane County."

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Extinction Rebellion Leads Global Event on Oct. 7

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Extinction Rebellion Leads Global Event on Oct. 7

Extinction Rebellion invites people who are passionate about protecting the planet to take part in regenerative activities such as yoga, music, drumming, singing, meditation, storytelling, theater and more from 4 to 6 p.m. Monday, Oct. 7, at Daley Plaza, 50 W. Washington St., Chicago. Be a part of the global climate emergency movement. Additional actions are planned.

According to Extinction Rebellion representatives, there is a good chance that Greta Thunberg will attend this event in Chicago. All are welcome. More details here.

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Students Urge Leaders to Act at Youth Climate Strike

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Students Urge Leaders to Act at Youth Climate Strike

Students as young as preschoolers left class to make their voices heard at the Chicago Youth Climate Strike on Friday, Sept. 20. Yes, preschoolers. Some in the crowd expressed surprise when three Chicago preschool students stood up to speak at the Federal Plaza rally that day, which occurred after thousands marched there from Grant Park.

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It's a Wrap: Winners Announced in the Plastic-Free Summer Challenge

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It's a Wrap: Winners Announced in the Plastic-Free Summer Challenge

This summer households in Oak Park & River Forest tried living plastic-free – or close to it – for 30 days or more as part of the Sally Stovall Plastic-Free/Low-Plastic Summer Challenge. Named in memory of Sally Stovall, who was co-founder of Green Community Connections, this contest helped our community develop new ideas and habits that can put us on a path to a greener way of life.

Here are some takeaways from the winners of the Challenge. Give them a try. Let us know what your favorite plastic-busting tips are. Keep the conversation going on our Facebook and Instagram pages.

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Growing a Brighter Future in Austin

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Growing a Brighter Future in Austin

August brought an end to another successful completion of Green Community Connection’s youth sustainability leadership program, formerly known as “I Can Fly.” This summer’s program, “Austin Grown,” was a collaboration between GCC and BUILD Chicago, an organization serving Chicago’s at-risk youth since 1969 through gang intervention, violence prevention, and youth development programs.

The 8-week “Austin Grown” program involved 10 students, hailing primarily from the Austin, Garfield Park, and North Lawndale communities of Chicago, including two who returned from GCC’s 2017 pilot cohort.

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Climate Change Lawsuit by 21 Youth Reaches Critical Juncture

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Climate Change Lawsuit by 21 Youth Reaches Critical Juncture

The struggle to address the climate crisis has unfolded in a wide variety of venues over the past three decades: international conferences, street demonstrations and school strikes, policy advocacy and lobbying events, legislative negotiations, court proceedings and—most recently—a transatlantic sailboat crossing by a Swedish teenager.

In the realm of court proceedings, the most compelling legal challenge to unfettered climate change has come from a group of 21 American youth who have sued their federal government for having failed to act to limit climate change—while profiting by selling the rights for the extraction of coal, oil and natural gas.

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Working to Make Climate Change a Bridge, Not a Wedge

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Working to Make Climate Change a Bridge, Not a Wedge

Citizens’ Climate Lobby, the volunteer climate policy advocacy organization, held its 10th annual International Conference and Lobby Day this past June in Washington, DC.

The conference began on the afternoon of Saturday, June 8, and lasted through Monday evening. It included advanced seminars on diversity, climate policy and climate communications. Over two days, more than 40 workshops and panel discussions explored structured lobby training for new climate advocates, skill-building and political strategy, and up-to-the-minute lobby training to prepare all the volunteers for the Tuesday Lobby Day.

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Young Filmmakers Workshops Head Downstate and Back Again

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Young Filmmakers Workshops Head Downstate and Back Again

Pembroke Township, in the southeast corner of Kankakee County, is full of treasures of both place and people. From its black oak savanna to its black rodeo, topography and culture meet to create a one-of-a kind, rural community.

This summer, six area high school students participating in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) documented some of what makes Pembroke so unique via three Young Filmmakers Workshops with Matt Wechsler of Hourglass Films.

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See GreenBuilt Home Tour This Weekend

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See GreenBuilt Home Tour This Weekend

The GreenBuilt Home Tour offers you a look inside 18 sustainable, energy-saving homes in Northern Illinois, and allows you to meet the builders, designers, and homeowners who made these homes possible. This all takes place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 3 and 4.

The tour features two categories of homes: Twelve Certified Green Homes, meaning that third parties have verified their adherence to nationally recognized standards (you can visit these homes on either day of the tour), and six Green Renovation Homes, meaning that owners have embedded sustainable features into green projects (you can visit these on Saturday only).

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Author Finds Surprising Statistics on CO2 Emissions

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Author Finds Surprising Statistics on CO2 Emissions

Out of Oak Park, Forest Park, Maywood and Berwyn, one community earned the title of “greenest suburb” when comparing per capita carbon dioxide emissions, but the winner may surprise you.

Author, researcher and former Oak Park resident Susan Subak will reveal the answer on Wednesday, July 10, when discussing her 2018 book, “The Five-Ton Life: Carbon, America, and the Culture That May Save Us.” The presentation will include Susan’s research on the low carbon culture of west suburban Chicago compared to other environmental leaders on the East Coast, a slideshow and a book signing. The event will take place from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Oak Park Public Library Main Branch, 834 Lake St., in the Veterans Room on the second floor.