Sunday, April 24, 2011

Glen Ellyn Earth Day celebration - report

Various local environmental groups attended, and created plenty of warth and excitement as we shared our stories about what we do to improve the environment.  Pictured - Jodi Trendler and Kenneth King of Naperville Green Drinks.

Barb Perry of the First Presbyterian Church Earthlings wrote the following:

- Sierra Club River Prairie Group: Connie Schmidt encouraged membership. Political action. http://illinois.sierraclub.org/rpg/

Cool Cities: Jeff Gahris. A part of Sierra Club. Initiative started by Mayor of Seattle.
o Look into Blue Star Energy. http://www.bluestarenergy.com/
o Watt meters can be checked out at the library to see how much power our appliances are sucking.
o Average home uses 10,900 kWh/year (in the past year we used 11,854) http://illinois.sierraclub.org/rpg/coolcities.html

- Citizens for Glen Ellyn Preservation: Linda Gilbert. A lot about the tree ordinance. http://www.glenellynpreservation.org/

- Glen Ellyn Environmental Commission. More about the tree ordinance. Go to website for schedule of events. http://www.glenellyn.org/Commissions/Environmental.html

- Glenbard West Eco Club. Very active and energetic group. I didn’t know there were solar ipod chargers.

- Ben Lowe. Now works for Evangelical Environmental Network. Talked about starting a community garden in his apartment complex on Roosevelt and Main Street. http://creationcare.org/

- Green Group. Small group in Glen Ellyn that meets monthly at PPK Architects. Will have a booth at the Taste of Glen Ellyn this year where you can enter an energy challenge with ComEd to see who can reduce their energy the most over the summer.

- Green Drinks in Naperville uses social networking to communicate. http://www.greendrinks.org/IL/Naperville
o Also mentioned meetup.

- Earthlings: Barb Perry (pictured) shared the group’s mission and activities, including Creation Care Sunday (beehouses, rain barrels and battery collection), our Facebook page and our desire to help the poor.

- SCARCE showed a lead-free garden hose sold at Ace Hardware, passed out cards to check to see if your toilet leaks and said that we will all have to reduce our water usage by 15% by 2025.

- Green Festival is May 14 and 15 at McCormick Place

Thanks to Bethany Licht – circulation manager – for putting this all together.--Barb Perry

Glen Ellyn Cool Cities Coalition also thanks Bruce Blake of the Sierra Club for contacting all of the presenters and handling much of the logistics.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Earth Day festival in nearby Carol Stream

There is so many things going on this Spring for adults and the kids alike.  Carol Stream is hitting it off big by combining Earth Day with a farmer's market.  Growing food locally is good for the Earth's climate, and is a more exciting and healthy addition to our diet.  And what farmers can grow locally can also be grown in our backyards.  Few things match the joy of watching things sprout and grow, and then eating them!

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Cool Cities part of Earth Day program at the library

Monday, April 18, 7:00-8:30 p.m. Join us in the Main Meeting Room to celebrate Earth Day. The Sierra Club-River Prairie Group and many other civic, religious and environmental groups will present how they practice Earth Day every day. Groups presenting include: Glen Ellyn Cool Cities Coalition, Friends of the Great Western Trail, It's Our Earth, The Green Group, Naperville for Clean Energy and Conservation, Green Drinks (Naperville & Wheaton/DuPage), Naperville Area Sustainability Meet Up Group, First Presbyterian church: Glen Ellyn's Earthlings Group, Ben Lowe (environmental author & past candidate for Congress), Glen Ellyn Environmental Commission, Citizens for Glen Ellyn Preservation, Glenbard West's Eco Club, SCARCE

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Call for speakers for back yard gardening symposium

Glen Ellyn Cool Cities is building an exciting symposium, and is looking for local speakers and poster presentations for a home gardening and local food.  We will be happy to include high school students.  This event will be scheduled in May.  Look here and on Facebook for updates.


Upcoming eco-events

April 9 - Awakening the Dreamer Symposium, sponsored by the Wheaton Franciscans, "Where on Earth are we going? And what can we do about it?" - http://www.taucenter.org/atd.html

 April 13 - Earth Day Party - http://www.greendrinks.org/IL/Wheaton

April 16 - League of Women Voters of Wheaton announces their April program collaborating with A Rocha of Wheaton College, a student chapter of an international conservation group, "TAR CREEK" - http://wheatonlwvil.org/calendar.html

April 17 - Lombard's Helen Plum Library and the SIerra Club continue the Green Readin' book discussion series. On April 17, the group will discuss Bill McKibben's "Eaarth: Making Life on a Tough New Planet" - http://www.helenplum.org/adult-services

April 22 - EARTH DAY - http://www.earthday.org/

April 23 - Glen Ellyn Park District restoration work day at Churchill Park on St. Charles, just east of Bloomingdale Road - http://www.gepark.org/new_events.htm

April 30 - Glen Ellyn Recycling Extravaganza - http://www.glenellyn.org/index.asp
Prairie Path cleanup - http://www.ipp.org/ Great Western Trails cleanup, http://www.friendsofthegreatwesterntrails.com/

May 1 - Green Earth Fair, Naperville - McDonald Farm, 10S404 Knoch Knolls Road, Naperville. Native plants are for sale at this event, which features many other activities: presentations, vendor booths, etc. (I thank First Presbyterian Earthlings for the details)
http://www.greenearthinstitute.org/

May 7 - Village of Glen Ellyn's "Less is More" landscaping seminar and tour - http://www.glenellyn.org/Commissions/Environmental.html

May 14-15 - Green Festival Chicago, now at McCormick Place- http://www.greenfestivals.org/chi/updates/

Friday, April 1, 2011

Village of Glen Ellyn Upcoming Events

Less is More Landscaping...Seminar and Walking Tour

If you’d like to spend more time enjoying your yard and less time working on it, don’t miss the Village of Glen Ellyn’s Native Landscaping Seminar and Walking Tour from 9:15 a.m. – 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 7. The seminar will start at the Glen Ellyn Public Library, 400 Duane St., Glen Ellyn.  Keynote speaker, Jack Pizzo, president of Pizzo & Associates, Ltd., an award-winning firm, will help residents understand how to incorporate sustainable practices into their landscape. A presentation on the basics of ecology and the ecology of the Chicago region will precede the landscape discussion. The event will begin with a formal presentation followed by an outdoor discussion of landscape issues. Attendees will learn about what native plants to use in their landscapes and where to use them. We will discuss rain gardens, butterfly gardens, low maintenance gardens and low maintenance lawn grasses. A list of plants will be handed out.  Reservations are not required (but encouraged) for the event which is being sponsored by the Glen Ellyn Environmental Commission and the Village Public Works Department. Please call the Public Works Department for more information at 630-469-6756.

The 2011 Recycling Extravaganza

This perennial favorite will be held on Saturday, April 30 from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. in the Duane/Lorraine Commuter Parking Lot just west of the Library Parking Lot. Bring unwanted, recyclable items to this event, which is organized by the Village of Glen Ellyn and the Environmental Commission. Various local organizations will be on hand for this event, which this year will also include electronics.  For more information about this event, please see the below flyers, or contact Kristen Schrader, Staff Liaison to the Environmental Commission at 630-469-5000.