First Ever GreenBuilt Home Tour Features Local OPRF Residents

The two homes we featured in this previoiusly published post will be on the Sept. 28th Green Living and Learning Tour.  We are happy to bring another opportunity to the public to tour these "green-built" homes.  Read more about them and plan to visit them on the Tour! The first ever GreenBuilt Home Tour will take place on Saturday, July 20 and Sunday, July 21 and homes will be open from 10 am – 6 pm on both days.  The tour’s theme, Living Healthy and Saving Green, features 16 exceptional, award-winning, nationally-recognized Chicago area homes, including two stops in Oak Park and River Forest.

By attending the tour, you will learn about the latest advances in healthy living, energy and resource efficiency, and cost-effective green design. Home owners, as well as the builders, architects and area leaders building sustainable homes will be onsite to answer questions and share their experience with the sustainable building process. For more information on the tour and to purchase tickets, or to volunteer, check out the website at http://greenbuilthometour.org. Enter the coupon code "green" for $5.00 off your ticket price!

Featured Oak Park Home

The Doyle residence, underwent a deconstruction and gut rehab in 2012.  The project won a 2012 Green Award from the Village of Oak Park and incorporated green innovations for energy and resource conservation, while preserving the character of the original Prairie-style, American Four Square home. The home utilizes a geothermal energy system for HVAC and domestic hot water. It includes one of the first residential greywater systems in IL, anticipated to save 20-30% on indoor water use by recycling water from tubs/showers into toilets.

Ana Garcia Doyle is active member of Green Community Connections and leader of the One Earth Film Festival.  Ana and Jim Doyle and family hosted a water conservation tour stop for the 2012 Green Living and Learning Tour.  At that time, the house was still under construction.  If you haven’t seen the completed project, the GreenBuilt Home Tour would be an excellent opportunity to do so.

Featured River Forest Home

 Oak Park architect Tom Bassett-Dilley has designed the first certified passive house to be built in the Chicago area and 28^th in the nation.  The new house, built for the Lema family, uses only a small fraction of the heating and cooling energy of a conventional house.  What is a Passive House?  Passive House is the most stringent building energy efficiency standard in the world; it requires that the envelope of the home is designed to minimize losses and maximize passive gains, with careful attention to building science and indoor air quality. The result is a super comfortable home with minimal operating costs, great indoor air quality, and far less maintenance requirements than a typical home. With its cost-effective emphasis on the building envelope, Passive design is a good first step toward Net Zero building.

For information and tickets or to volunteer:  http://greenbuilthometour.org.

Seeking Volunteers for Green Living and Learning Tour

Consider being part of making this year’s Green Living & Learning Tour - on September 28th - a great event by volunteering!  There are many different ways to help. Sign up now, and if you know others who'd be interested in volunteering for this change-making event, please direct them to the sign up page.

Get involved and become a part of this vibrant, enthusiastic group that's working toward a resilient, sustainable community!

Oak Park EEC now accepting 2013 Green Award nominations!

The Oak Park Environment & Energy Commission is presenting Green Awards in recognition and appreciation of specific deeds or actions that embody and advance the mission of the Village of Oak Park to work toward a sustainable and secure future.  By celebrating these achievements, the EEC hopes to inspire more such ventures. Nominations for 2013 must be received by September 20, 2013.  NOTE NEW DEADLINE - NOW EXTENDED! Get the nomination form here: 2013 Green Awards Form

Nominations may be submitted by anyone on behalf of any person, organization, group, or business. For questions contact Karen Rozmus at 708.358.5707 or e-mail rozmus@oak-park.us. Nominations for 2013 must be received by September 20, 2013.

2012 Green Awards Winners

1.  Robert Morris University in recognition of its sensitivity to Oak Park’s sustainability goals in the development of Eyrie Restaurant.

2.  Beye Elementary  School in recognition of excellence in Zero Waste practices and 4^th and 5^th grade Green Ambassadors.

3.  Sam and Phyllis Bowen in recognition of their creative use of space by building a vegetable and flower garden on the roof of their new garage.

4.  Debbie Becker for leading the way to change the village ordinance to legalize beekeeping.

5.  Jim Doyle & Ana Garcia Doyle in recognition of their commitment and tenacity in obtaining the first permit in Oak Park to install a greywater system.

6.  Park District of Oak Park in recognition of excellence in the renovation of Taylor Park.

7.  Cary-Laszewski Residence in recognition of being the first house built in Oak Park to obtain LEED Platinum status.

Read more about the work of the 2012 winners

First Meeting of West Cook Wild Ones

If you think a landscape should be about more than a lawn of non-native grasses, and want to learn more about native plants, attracting pollinators and birds, and the restoration of natural landscapes, you’re invited to attend the kickoff meeting to form a local chapter of Wild Ones, an organization devoted to creating natural gardens and landscapes using native plants. This first meeting will be held from 2:30-4:30 p.m., Sunday, July 21st, at Green Home Experts, 811 South Blvd., Oak Park, Illinois.

 Local Wild Ones member, Stephanie Walquist will give a butterfly presentation.  She has been gardening for butterflies and rearing/releasing some species over the years. Stephanie has also been assisting in the installation of a native plant garden at Beye School with the hope of getting other schools and local residents to join in to create wildlife corridors.   Plans will also be discussed for future educational programs, seed and plant swaps and field trips.  Anyone interested in gardening and in preserving biodiversity through their landscaping is invited to join the chapter.

Wild Ones members help and learn from each other – beginners and experienced members alike – about identifying native (and invasive) plants, creating natural landscapes, protecting biodiversity and our native pollinators, dealing with “weed ordinances,” and a lot more.

Members learn through monthly educational chapter meetings, field trips, and presentations by experts in the field of native plants and natural landscaping. Chapters are supported by a national organization; each member receives access to handbooks related to natural landscaping along with the regularly published newsletter, the Wild Ones Journal.

For more information – and to let us know you’ll attend – contact Pam Todd (pamtodd5@me.com), Ginger Vanderveer (gingervbrown@gmail.com) or Marni Curtis (sassyspider@gmail.com).

Wild Ones began in 1979, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and was granted non-profit tax- exempt certification in 1995. With 50 chapters, Wild Ones has approximately 3,500 members across the United States and Canada. See website at www.wildones.org.

Sustainability Pledge to Act! Group Gathering

Lively conversation and energy filled the room as forty people committed to making their lives more sustainable shared their successes and challenges at the OP Library on May 20^th. We met in groups of 10-15 in the 6 topic areas to talk about what we are already doing, and what we plan to do going forward. Ideas and resources were shared to help one another take the steps they are planning. See a brief summary of the primary actions discussed by the various groups.

As an ongoing support for this group and others that are working on sustainability projects, check out the resources section on www.greencommunityconnections.org.  You will find resources for each of the 6 focus topics. (See the links below.)  If there are additional resources that would be useful to you and others please let us know.

• Food: Local Healthy Food
• Energy: Efficient & Renewable Energy
• Waste: Reduce – Reuse – Recycle
• Water: Water Conservation & Quality
• Transportation: Eco-Friendly Transportation
• Habitats: Native Habitats & Open Space

Regarding next steps -- we are just starting preparations for the Green Living & Learning Tour this year and we expect to have a couple of sites related to each of the pledge topic areas on the tour, creating more opportunities to learn from one another and be inspired.

400 Parts Per Million Marks Attention-Getting Reality

We reached a major milestone last month: Carbon-dioxide levels in the atmosphere hit 400 parts per million. “The 350 ppm level, which a number of scientists regard as the safe limit, is growing smaller and smaller in our rearview mirror” (L. Pettengill, The Witchita Eagle, June 4, 2013). Reaching this milestone, along with major storm activity is generating a new sense of urgency to take action. The following is one example that Chicagoans and Oak Parkers participated in.

Below are excerpts from an article submitted to 350.org by a member of the Chicago Youth Climate Coalition, Dylan Amlin, who participated in last week’s demonstration:

Hundreds gathered outsidegathered outside the Chicago Hilton during Obama’s visit last week as a reminder that that the president’s decision on the Keystone XL Pipeline could determine the fate of our climate and our future.

As a student at Roosevelt University, and a member of the Chicago Youth Climate Coalition, it was inspiring to experience the growth of this movement. I was encouraged to meet with so many young people—from high school through grad school—who were trying to get more involved.

It was great to meet with students working on fossil fuel divestment campaigns across the country. Divestment has become a common thread among student leaders. By challenging our colleges and universities to end their profit from the destruction of our planet, we prepare ourselves to challenge the economic and political forces that will wreck our climate.

We’ll also be working this summer with several urban agriculture and community groups. As we continue to build resistance against fossil fuel extraction, we must also create resilient communities and foster a city independent from fossil fuels.

To learn more about climate issues and what we can do, please see the Climate Resources on Green Community Connections web site.

River Forest's Green4Good Recycling Extravaganza

District 90’s Green4Good committee will host their second drive-up, drop-off recycling event Saturday May 4, 2013, from 8 am to 1 pm rain or shine at the parking lot of River Forest United Methodist Church, located on the northeast corner of Lake Street and Thatcher Avenue (7970 Lake Street, River Forest).

Partners for this event include the Village of River Forest, River Forest Citizens Corps, River Forest United Methodist Church and Roy Strom Co. Drivers will enter off of Lake Street and will be asked to remain in their cars while volunteers unload items. Click here to View/Download the PDF Poster

What to Bring

New this year - carpet and padding and fluorescent tubes will be accepted. ACME Recycling returns to collect electronics (including de-humidifiers and air conditioners - but NOT refrigerators), batteries (household, computer and car), and scrap metal. SCARCE, an environmental education not-for-profit in Glen Ellyn will collect musical instruments, school supplies (old crayons, rulers, usable spiral notebooks and binders). The Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Chicago will accept apparel and shoes in any condition in addition to small housewares.

Additional collections on site: Whole Foods - corks; Cook County Sheriff’s Office of Support Services will accept prescription medications (except for liquids); Air Cycle-CFL bulbs and Fluorescent tubes; Lions Club - eyeglasses and hearing aids; Amerigas - propane and Oxygen tanks; Cintas - fire extinguishers; Working Bikes - working and non-working bikes, sewing machines, bike helmets and accessories, non-motorized wheelchairs; Animal Care League - collars and leashes.

No refrigerators, mattresses cribs, car seats or plastic ride on toys will be accepted.

For a more complete list of what is accepted at this year’s Extravaganza, please see http://www.district90.org/subsite/dist/page/green-team-1385 and click on the link for the event’s poster which lists all accepted items.

For more information contact Julie Moller, 312-961-2306, or Judy Deogracias, 773-793-3449

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Green4Good

District 90’s Green4Good Committee is comprised of the Green4Good committees at each school, as well as several District 90 administrators all working toward making District 90 greener. Within each school, Green4Good strives to promote a safe and healthy learning environment; encourage environmental stewardship at school and in the community; and foster a lifelong connection to the natural world for all District 90 students and their families.

Please look for additional announcements about Green4Good’s initiatives on the District 90 Green4Good website. Green4Good school committee members include Katarina Berin, Keary Cragan, Judy Deogracias, Laura Maychruk, Julie Moller, Renee Sichlau and Liz Ziehl.

For more information about the Recycling Extravaganza, please contact Judy Deogracias or Julie Moller.

Contact:

Julie Moller, 312-961-2306 Judy Deogracias, 773-793-3449

Email: recycling.extravaganza@gmail.com

Website: http://www.district90.org/subsite/dist/page/green-team-1385

Home Energy Efficiency Program Extended

Energy Impact Illinois (EI2), the US Department of Energy and utility supported home energy efficiency program, has been extended through most of the summer. Instead of ending on May 1st, the program will cover work that is completed by August 26th.

Scores of people in Oak Park, River Forest, Chicago, and others have already taken advantage of the program. What they get is “one-stop shopping”: qualified energy auditors from EI2 come and analyze what can be done to weatherize the house, at what expense, and providing what savings. EI2 connects people up with contractors that are highly qualified and thoroughly vetted and have a an extra certification from Building Performance Institute.

If the homeowner decides to proceed with the recommended improvements, the program subsidizes 70% of the cost of the work, up to $2500 ($1750 subsidy). For most houses, the work does not exceed $2500 so the homeowner's expense does not exceed $750.

The result is a more comfortable home, lower heating and cooling bills, and less CO2 emissions contributing to global warming.

The August 26th deadline is not far away. People who call now for an assessment are getting appointments in June. Once the assessment is done, the homeowner makes the decision whether to go ahead with the work, signs an agreement, schedules the work, and gets it done. Most often it is a one-day job, usually focused on air sealing in the basement and insulation in the attic. All of this must be complete by August 26th to qualify for the subsidy. (The program calls it a “rebate” – but it is paid directly to the contractor and the homeowner never has to put out more than his/her 30% share.)

Interested people in Oak Park and River Forest can call: Pamela Brookstein at (708) 252-0623.  (Get your energy assessment free by hosting a "house party" - see what this is all about in this video.)

Others in the six-county area can call EI2 at 1-855-9-IMPACT.

 

Encore Presentation of Chasing Ice in Oak Park

In celebration of Earth Month, Green Community Connections is sponsoring an encore screening and discussion of Chasing Ice  at Lake Theatre in Oak Park, IL, on Saturday, April 27th at 10:30am. In the spring of 2005, acclaimed environmental photographer James Balog headed to the Arctic on a tricky assignment for National Geographic: to capture images to help tell the story of the Earth’s changing climate.

Even with a scientific upbringing, Balog had been a skeptic about climate change. But that first trip north opened his eyes to the biggest story in human history and sparked a challenge within him that would put his career and his very well-being at risk.

Chasing Ice is the story of one man’s mission to change the tide of history by gathering undeniable evidence of our changing planet. Within months of that first trip to Iceland, the photographer conceived the boldest expedition of his life: The Extreme Ice Survey. With a band of young adventurers in tow, Balog began deploying revolutionary time-lapse cameras across the brutal Arctic to capture a multi-year record of the world’s changing glaciers.

Battling untested technology in subzero conditions, he comes face to face with his own mortality. It takes years for Balog to see the fruits of his labor. His hauntingly beautiful videos compress years into seconds and capture ancient mountains of ice in motion as they disappear at a breathtaking rate. Chasing Ice depicts a photographer trying to deliver evidence and hope to our carbon-powered planet.

AWARDS:  Chasing Ice has won 23 awards at film festivals around the world, including: SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL – Excellence in Cinematography Award: US Documentary; The Environmental Media Association’s 22nd Annual BEST DOCUMENTARY AWARD

BUY TICKETS NOW!

Event registration for Chasing Ice: One Earth Film Festival 2013 Encore Presentation powered by Eventbrite

Oak Park Earth Fest 2013 April 20

Oak Park’s fourth annual celebration of green living – Earth Fest – is scheduled for 10 a.m. – 2 p.m., Sat., April 20, in the LEED Gold-certified Public Works Center, 201 South Blvd. This year’s event will focus on the zero waste movement. Most aspects of the festival, including event banners and food service products used for chefs’ demonstrations, will be reusable or compostable. Organizers will have sorting stations located at the event to help attendees compost and recycle as much waste as possible.

“Green living means being smart about our resources – not just consuming less but also creating less waste. This year's focus on zero waste will help folks learn about reducing waste at home, in the garden, at school and work,” said Maria Onesto Moran, an Earth Fest organizer. “Our vendors range from a restaurant using goat milk produced in Chicago, to composting experts offering free information on backyard composting.”

In addition, Earth Fest plans to partner with Oak Park’s Public Works Department to offer a close-up look at the many services provided to the community. Kids and parents can explore snow plows, heavy-duty trucks and other essential pieces of equipment.

Dozens of Earth Fest vendors will provide plenty of hands-on activities, free samples and information for families. Some of the day’s scheduled highlights include:

• Free composting and organic gardening consultations

• Up close and personal visits with urban goat farmers
• Chef demonstrations from Marion Street Cheese Market and Constructive Chaos
• Details on zero-waste lunch initiatives in Oak Park’s schools
• Car sharing information
• Tips on eco-friendly landscaping
• Important details on raising chickens and keeping honeybees in Oak Park

Back by popular demand, Earth Fest once again will feature Recycle Alley – an on-site opportunity for residents to bring items that aren’t part of the regular blue bin recycling program. Items to be recycled include blue jeans, glasses, hearing aids, prescription medication, CFL light bulbs, cell phones, rechargeable batteries and corks.

For more information on Earth Fest 2013, call 708.660.1443 or e-mail maria@ghexperts.com.

Information also is posted online at www.oak-park.us/earthfest.

[Article information taken from the Village of OP web site:  http://www.oak-park.us/earthfest/]