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Food Waste: What is Being Done and How You Can Help

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Food Waste: What is Being Done and How You Can Help

Up to 40% of food in the US is wasted, while 40 million Americans lack consistent access to adequate and nutritious food.

To increase awareness of the causes and fixes for this complex problem, the Interfaith Green Network sponsored Food Waste Workshop on November 7. Speakers giving information about the scope of the problem and examples of local and national programs working to find solutions included: the Environmental Protection Agency, the Illinois Food Scrap Coalition, Bright Beat (sustainability practices for big events), and Rush Oak Park Hospital’s Food Surplus Project.

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Great Taste with Zero Waste: Oak Park Micro Brew Review

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Great Taste with Zero Waste: Oak Park Micro Brew Review

Did you know that the Midwest’s largest zero-waste craft beer festival happens right here in our own backyard?

The Oak Park Micro Brew Review, which started out 12 years ago as a fundraiser for local environmental non-profit Seven Generations Ahead (SGA), has grown in popularity along with the boom in craft brewing and eating locally and sustainably. With nearly 4,000 attendees, 80+ craft brewers, and dozens of vendors, the Micro Brew Review has the potential to leave a huge mess, but SGA founder and executive director Gary Cuneen and his team have developed a formula for events with great taste and zero waste.

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Think Like a Food Waste Warrior!

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Think Like a Food Waste Warrior!

Saving food starts with your mindset. It’s a skill, as well as a passion. Like a muscle, it strengthens as you use it!

We can make a big difference by becoming food waste warriors!  We don’t usually think of food being a major source of greenhouse gases that cause climate change, but according to research published in 2017 in the book, DRAWDOWN, edited by Paul Hawken, “reduced food waste” was ranked as the 3rd most effective of the 80 solutions that could actually reverse global warming.

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Make a Measurable Difference by Being a 'Green Guide'

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Make a Measurable Difference by Being a 'Green Guide'

PlanItGreen is launching a campaign to make a big reduction in the amount of material we send to the landfill. The PlanItGreen sustainability plan outlines a goal to divert 50 percent of Oak Park and River Forest “waste” away from landfills by 2015 and into compost and recycling, where it becomes a resource.