Sunday, January 25, 2015

Current Eco Events Listing for DuPage County and beyond


April 21 (Naperville) - Introduction to Spring Plant Identification, by Pat Armstrong, at The Resiliency Institute

April 22 (Glen Ellyn) - Earth Day Festival at Lake Ellyn, with a food theme this year, Glen Ellyn Park District

April 22 (Springfield) - Earth Day Rally organized by Illinois Environmental Council - Also see Faith In Place page.

April 23 (Woodridge) - Earth Day Benefit dinner for the Conservation Foundation

April 23 (Glen Ellyn) - Save Energy and Money at Home, a new workshop offered by SCARCE.  You will learn something new at this workshop!

April 23 (Elmhurst) - Stormwater meeting, sponsored by Elmhurst Cool Cities and Elmhurst League of Women Voters

April 24 (USA) - Plant a tree on Arbor Day

April 25 (DuPage) - The Illinois Prairie Path and Great Western Trails cleanups.  The Sierra Club will handle a portion of the IPP in Glen Ellyn.

April 25 (Glen Ellyn) - Recycling Extravaganza in Glen Ellyn
and in other communities on various dates

April 25 (Downers Grove) - For the benefit of numerous groups, DuPage Human Race

April 25 (Wheaton) - Party for the Planet at Cosley Zoo

April 25 (West Chicago) - Illinois solar Energy Association sponsors a Legislative Solar Social

April 25 (Elgin) - Elgin Community College Sustainability Fair

April 30 (Naperville) - Green Infrastructure and Nature-Friendly Landscaping, a free workshop at Morton Arboretum, offered by the Conservation Foundation

May 2 (Naperville) - Come to a Permablitz and help plant fruit trees, organized by The Resiliency Institute  (note a date change may occur due to early arrival of trees - check with the Institute)

May 3 (Naperville) - Green Earth Fair at Green Earth Institute

May 2 and 3 (Lake Barrington) - Annual Native Plant, Shrub & Tree Sale, sponsored by Citizens for Conservation

May 6 (Springfield) - Solar lobby day, sponsored by ISEA

May 9 (Glen Ellyn) - Get Your Garden Growin' Green, an outdoor event at SCARCE

May 16 (West Chicago) - Blooming Fest

May 16 (DuPage) - Annual Conservation Foundation DuPage River Sweep

May 17 (Warrenville) - Sierra Club’s Party on the Farm fundraiser social with live music

June 13 (Aurora) - Aurora Greenfest

June 12-19 (various locations) - Bike to Work Week


Aug 10 (Naperville) - Veggie Fest

News items:




Smart meters and renewable energy, oh my!

The Glen Ellyn Historical Society hosted a popular event this past Saturday about the history and future of electricity, presented by ComEd. After ComEd's excellent presentation about the benefits of smart meters and real-time pricing, interesting questions arose about the real time pricing options, electrical aggregation, and community-wide purchasing of clean energy based on wind power.

Although most homeowners realize smart meters are being rolled out, many do not understand the nuances of how electricity is purchased and delivered to residences.  It is also not clear that the most Glen Ellyn residents are aware that we are purchasing wind power through the purchase of renewable energy credits (RECs) through the Village's electrical aggregation program. To be fair, this is not intuitive.  RECs are nevertheless considered by regulators to be valid way to buy wind power.  An excellent explanation is of how RECs work is published by the Elmhurst Cool Cities Coalition.


Sunday, January 18, 2015

Eco-Social scheduled for Wednesday, January 21

Come to our eco-social at Shannon's in downtown Glen Ellyn beginning at 6 p.m., followed by a short meeting around 7 p.m. or so, on Wednesday, January 21. Learn about exciting environmental initiatives and how we fit into a growing movement in DuPage County.  

Some examples follow:



Opportunities:
  • April 22 Earth Day festival – (proposed food theme) – planning committee being formed
  • February 5 – Green Group forum at Lombard library (noon luncheon) – GESG invited
  • SCARCE/Elevate Energy  home energy efficiency program – hold house parties for free energy audits
  • Quarterly Prairie Path cleanups with Sierra Club
  • March 30 – IIT small business and nonprofit energy efficiency outreach programs
  • Prairie Food Co-op coming to Lombard
  • Solar energy program at library (ISEA Solar Ambassador outreach)
  • Village may install LED street lights – possible committee?
Issues:

  • Flooding – DuPage County seeking feedback through survey and public meetings http://www.dupageco.org/swm/
  • Green Power Plan for Illinois
  • Idling at schools
  • Electronics and CFL recycling
  • Plastic Bags – Environmental Commission holding information meeting on February 3rd