Free Film Screening of "bag it -- is your life too plastic?"

Submitted by Carolyn Cullen

bag it

is your life too plastic?

7 p.m., Wed., November 16, Oak Park Village Hall, 123 Madison St. Presented by the Oak Park Environment & Energy Commission Sponsored by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency

Following the film, the Commission will host a question and answer discussion session.  For more information, call 708.358.5700 or e-mail publicworks@oak-park.us.

Where is away?

Americans use 60,000 plastic bags every five minutes—single-use disposable bags that we mindlessly throw away. But where is “away?” Where do the bags and other plastics end up, and at what cost to our environment, marine life and human health? Bag It follows “everyman” Jeb Berrier as he navigates our plastic world. Jeb is not a radical environmentalist, but an average American who decides to take a closer look at our cultural love affair with plastics. Jeb’s journey in this documentary film starts with simple questions: Are plastic bags really necessary? What are plastic bags made from? What happens to plastic bags after they are discarded?

Virtually everything is made with plastic

Jeb looks beyond plastic bags and discovers that virtually everything in modern society—from baby bottles, to sports equipment, to dental sealants, to personal care products—is made with plastic or contains potentially harmful chemical additives used in the plastic-making process. When Jeb’s journey takes a personal twist, we see how our crazy-for-plastic world has finally caught up with us and what we can do about it. Today. Right now.

Green Connections Bike Tour 2011 - Saturday, September 24th

Discovering Sustainable Oak Park & River Forest

On Saturday, September 24, 2011, Green Community Connections will sponsor a self-designed, informational tour of selected green initiatives in Oak Park and River Forest.  The tour will start at 1pm and culminate at 4:00 pm with a post-tour informal gathering.

PlanItGreen Sustainability Plan

The Villages of Oak Park and River Forest have long been recognized for their commitment to ecologically-friendly living, and are currently implementing a joint sustainability plan, known as PlanItGreen.

Examples of low carbon living

The GCC bike tour will offer 15 residential and community sites from which participants can choose – including high-efficiency homes, community and school gardens, composting, homes with geothermal heating and cooling systems, urban chicken farming, and more. “We’ve got so much knowledge and so many great examples of green, low-carbon living right here in our community. We can learn a lot from our neighbors about everything from sustainable landscaping to alternative energy,” says Melanie Weiss, who is a member of the Green Connections Bike Tour planning committee.

Benefit from your neighbors' experience

Each site will feature a tour and/or demonstration to introduce visitors to the initiative(s) at that site and describe how it fosters sustainability in the community.  There will also be opportunities for questions and answers so participants can benefit from the experience of their neighbors. “We’re hoping sustainability-minded individuals will join the ride with their neighbors, friends, families, or co-workers. We want people to participate and feel that they’re a part of something big – that they’ll see this as one great opportunity to get moving on the green initiatives they’ve been considering,” says Ana Garcia-Doyle, also a member of the bike tour planning committee.

Thank you to our sponsors and partners!

Other tour sponsors for the event include the Active Transportation Alliance, Greenline Wheels, the Interfaith Green Network, and Seven Generations Ahead, as well as a host of local business partners.  We encourage you to support our great sponsors and local business partners who are helping make this opportunity possible!

Click here to learn more and to register!

Workshop to Address Housing & Transit-Oriented Development

Information from the Village of Oak Park

Workshop on housing & transit-oriented development

Residents, business owners and stakeholders are invited to participate in an interactive community visioning workshop on the future role of housing and transit-oriented development in Oak Park, including a possible cap for portions of the Eisenhower Expressway.

In addition to community wide challenges and opportunities, the group will discuss the Madison Avenue corridor and the future of Oak Park Avenue as it intersects I-290 (including IDOT proposals to widen the expressway).  You can offer comment and input at an important meeting on Thursday, September 8th.

Participants will use keypad electronic polling

The workshop is scheduled for 7 – 9:30 p.m., Thurs., Sept. 8, at the 19th Century Club, 178 Forest Ave.  Participants will use keypad electronic polling on factors that may influence future decisions. Representatives from the Village, West Cook Housing Collaborative, Metropolitan Planning Council, Metropolitan Mayors Caucus, Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning and nonprofit lender IFF will lead the discussion. For more information and to RSVP, call 708.358.5410 or e-mail housing@oak-park.us.

The Birds (Chickens) and the Bees

By Melanie Weiss At the June 20 Oak Park Village Board Meeting, the board voted 6-1 to lift the village’s longstanding ban on beekeeping.

KC Poulos, Sustainability Manager for the Village, said village staff will now draft a beekeeping ordinance to present to the village board for their final approval. She expects the ordinance will come before the board in the fall.

The village does have an ordinance that allows the keeping of chickens, and recently there has been a resurgent interest among residents in housing chickens in their backyards.

Oak Park Farmers’ Market Manager Meredith Conn has a backyard chicken coop with two chickens, Esmeralda and Rhubarb. She said the chickens lay an egg every day and are “easy and fun to watch.” She did caution that they like to dig up her backyard plantings so she recently restricted them from roaming freely in the whole backyard.

Conn noted that two of her neighbors are also raising chickens and she knows another handful of Oak Parkers getting their eggs fresh from the chicken coops they have in their backyards!

One Oak Parker has even made this her business -- and business is booming!  Jennifer Murtoff, of Home to Roost Urban Chicken Consulting, offers information and advice on raising chickens in an urban environment. She can be reached through her website: www.urbanchickenconsultant.wordpress.com

Related articles:

http://www.greencommunityconnections.org/movie-inspires-the-decision-to-raise-chickens/

http://www.greencommunityconnections.org/top-10-reasons-to-raise-chickens/

http://www.greencommunityconnections.org/colony-collapse-disorder-threatens-honey-bees/

Oak Park Earth Fest 2011 - Video Highlights

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9sKpKSUdVw View highlights of the 2011 Oak Park Earth Fest which was held on May 21st this year.  Earth Fest is a gathering of eco-friendly vendors, community groups, children's activities and live entertainment. The mission is to educate and inform people on how to live "greener" lives.

The Farmers' Market is Back . . . Finally!!

The Oak Park FARMERS' MARKET starts it's 2011 season on Saturday, May 21st, 7am - 1pm, in the Pilgrim Church parking lot, 460 Lake Street, one block west of Ridgeland and Lake. For more information visit www.oak-park.us/farmersmarket.

The Oak Park Farmers' Market offers high quality, locally grown produce which you can buying from the farmers who raise the food nearby.

The Market is open the second to last Saturday of May through October.

The Market is much more than a farmers' market. It is a concert site featuring the OP Farmers' Market bluegrass band, a social event and a great place to pick up traditional and unusual plants, fresh cheeses, honey, flowers, vinegars, herbs, and much more.

Oak Park 2011 Schedule of Electronics Recycling Drop-off Days

Oak Park is now offering regular monthly opportunities to drop off electronics for recycling -- the last Saturday of every month, 9am-1pm at the Public Works Center.  Click on link below for detailed list of acceptable items. ELECTRONICS RECYCLING DROP SAT DATES 2011

Please note:  The only kitchen appliance accepted is microwave ovens.

Sponsored in part by IL EPA and the West Cook County Solid Waste Agency.  For more information contact Public Works at 708.358.5700 or publicworks@oak-park.us

Contributed by Karen Rozmus

Origins of Oak Park's Earth Fest & Plans for 2011

In 2009 on a cold Saturday morning, several hundred Oak Parkers gathered for a 350.org rally. It was October 24^th, half way to Earth Day. After a successful march and rally, I was chatting with Karen Rozmus and K.C. Poulos. Karen is Waste Coordinator at Public Works and K.C. is the Village’s Sustainability Manager. Their titles don’t even begin to describe all of the hard work they do to keep our village green! As we were talking, I remarked that I found it odd that a village with as many sustainability initiatives as Oak Park doesn’t have a village-wide celebration of Earth Day.  If I’d kept my mouth shut, I’d have a lot more free time in April! The saying, “If you want something done, ask a busy woman,” rang true at that moment. The three of us almost immediately began planning Earth Fest 2010, which was successfully help on April 24, 2010 at our Public Works building—the only LEED certified building of its kind in the U.S. This year, we decided to have the event in May so it could be held in conjunction with Oak Park ’s Public Works Day. We are also going to have Earth Fest outdoors this year, so let’s hope that Mother Nature will smile down on us with lots of sunshine.

We expect to have about 50 vendors this year, which is much larger than last year. Adoptable animals from the Animal Care League will be there. Learn about keeping chickens in your yard, edible landscapes and native landscaping too. Renewable energy and weatherization contractors, energy auditors and architects will be on hand to answer all of your home energy questions. Bring the kids to learn about recycling, play games and enjoy live music! Wonder Works Museum and others will be there to get us moving and feeling fit!

I hope you will join me at Earth Fest 2011. Be sure to ride your bike—we’ll have spring bike tune-ups! Or you can walk there and ask Rickshaw Rick for a ride home! I’m looking forward to seeing everyone at Earth Fest—a celebration of sustainability!

Maria Onesto Moran

Green Home Experts823 S. Oak Park Ave.

Oak Park, IL 60304

708-660-1443

Recycling with Roz!

Recycling with Roz  Karen Rozmus, Oak Park's Waste Reduction Manager shares tips on recycling including tips on plastic bottle caps and take-out containers in this 2 minute video.  Also, if you have additional questions, you can call Karen at 708-358-5700 or email her at rozmus@oak-park.us. We are big recyclers at my house, but I still have questions . . . like

• Can waxed milk and juice containers be recycled? . . . especially the ones with the plastic caps built into them?
• Regarding take-out containers -- since few are completely recyclable I know we should take our own containers, but does anyone really do that?  If so, how do you remember to take them?
• What ideas do you have about reducing the packaging that we bring home in the first place??

Let us know your questions and comments below in the reply section!

Our Experience as a "Green Block"

Our concept is to change our selves as a block as quickly and efficiently as we can and inspire other blocks, or communities in Oak Park to create a structure for a quicker change of lifestyle.  While our block has met for four years, once a month to establish group projects which we accomplish seasonally, we also change more rapidly as an individual family because of our involvement--we are encouraged and supported by belonging to a larger group of families.  We hope by our block's structure to encourage many blocks in Oak Park to become a Green Block, then Oak Park as a Green Village will encourage other villages to change faster which could happen exponentially.                           A “Green Block” is formed by a group of neighbors who are committed to learning about energy conservation and environmental programs and taking individual and collective actions to implement these initiatives in their neighborhood.  The Green Blocks program has proven to be beneficial for residents in their efforts to make their homes more energy efficient, participate in ongoing environmental activities and share their success stories. 

Getting Started:  A core group met to form the first Green Block and created the following Vision Statement:  “To encourage actions in our every day life to support a sustainable, healthy environment, for the earth and its people.”  Your group can work together to write your own vision statement.  

Inventory:  Develop a survey and distribute to each home on the block (sample survey attached).  Discuss findings at the first meeting.  Conducting the “inventory” each year to measure results is recommended as it will help you see your successes and plan future projects and activities.

Meetings:  It is helpful to have a regular meeting schedule.  The core group meets monthly and they have arranged larger meetings for the entire block with guest speakers on topics such as weather stripping, energy efficient furnace replacements or green remodeling possibilities. 

Networking:  Form an email list or telephone tree to help keep everyone informed.    

Projects and ongoing activities:  Plan a project for each quarter of the year and ask all to participate.  Here are some of our projects and accomplishments:

1) Grow our own food or change to native plant gardens

2) Replace our cars with hybrids

3) Learn and share info

4) Insulate our home and reduce heat and a.c.

5) Reduced travel costs by staying closer to home

6) Use an electric or push mower

7) Have purchased water barrels in bulk for the block 8) Recycle, compost food  and garden waste

9) Encourage change of lifestyle in our community by speaking, taking booths at Green Festivals and joining discussions for change,

10) Join other green groups to expand and encourage change faster

11) Walk, bike and commute more than drive 12) Mulch grass clippings and mowed leaves.

13) Eat fresh, locally grown and produced foods

14) Reuse when you renovate with recycled alternatives

 Want more information?

Call 300 S. Humphrey Block Margot McMahon

708.848-5393 or

Dorie Blesoff 708/660-1280

See more Resources for Green Blocks in the Resources section.