Green Options » Illinois

San Francisco Victory Garden

Keith Rockmael — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 16:15:57 +0000

The area in front of San Francisco’s city hall doesn’t exactly represent lush farmland but that doesn’t prevent it from being a viable SF food source. For the first time since 1943,
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, Slow Food Nation founder Alice Waters and more than 100 volunteers planted the first edible garden in the City’s Civic Center. This victory garden, which takes its name from from 20th Century wartime efforts, helps to address food shortages by encouraging citizens to plant gardens on public and private land.

Victory gardens continue to spring up in and around the City as food prices continue to rise and food sustainability becomes more of an issue. This Civic Center venture found its funding through various organizations including Slow Food Nation, CMG Landscape Architecture, City Slicker Farms, The Presidio Native Plant Nursery, Alemany Farms, Friends of the Urban Forest, Ploughshares Nursery, Urban Permaculture Guild, Coevolution Institute and many others.

Our salad bowl spins with the thought of the many crops being grown Amaranth, Snap Bean, Pole Bean, Dry Bean, Broccoli Raab, Ground Cherry, Chicory, Chinese Cabbage, Collards, Cowpea, Cress, Leeks, Okra, Bunching Onion, as well as Calendula, May Flowers, Sunflowers and many others. Being realists, we thought that in this City that how will these crops survive with all the pesky homeless and veggie thieves but the city provides on-site security to guard against theft.

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Eco-Libris: A Summer of Green Reading in Chicago

Raz Godelnik — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:55:04 +0000

This post was originally published on Wednesday, June 25, 2008.

The Chicago Tribune reported earlier this month (and thanks to Treehugger for the update) that Chicago’s Mayor Richard Daley announced on a summer reading program with a green focus, named “Read Green, Live Green” program.

The program, which will run until the beginning of August, includes, according to the Tribune, a series of discussion groups aimed at celebrating nature and the threats against it. The program will be offering books, reading tours and performances for adults and children on environmental issues including climate change, energy and farming.

Children and adults will be able to explore the environment with a good read during the summer at any of the 79 Chicago Public Library branches.

Participating children will read, report on books of their choosing and have fun with green programs and projects. Children will receive a sticker for their book log for each book read, win book prizes and earn a Read Green, Live Green t-shirt by reading lots of books!The list of events for children can be found here - http://www.chipublib.org/dir_documents/SRP08_Kidsa.pdf.

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How Peak Oil-Ready Is Your City?

Shirley Siluk Gregory — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 18:00:04 +0000

Why have gas prices risen to nearly $4 a gallon (or more) in the U.S.? Is it oil speculation? Rising demand? Or the first signs of peak oil?

Whatever the cause (and there’s good reason to blame all three to some degree), most so-called experts these days aren’t expecting oil prices to drop anytime soon. In fact, Newsweek this week features a sobering article titled, “The Coming Energy Wars,” that predicts we’ll soon see oil prices top $200 a barrel. When that happens, the authors warn, we can expect everything about our daily lives to change.

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Dry and Thirsty? No Great Lakes Water for You!

Shirley Siluk Gregory — Thu, 15 May 2008 20:03:27 +0000

A Great Lakes compact that would prevent the region’s water from being siphoned off into the thirsty Southwest and other dry parts of the country is a little closer to taking effect, now that lawmakers in Michigan have OK’d the deal.

The Great Lakes Water Resources Compact aims to protect the water rights of the eight states bordering the lakes: Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Michigan’s approval of the agreement brings the number of states signed on so far to five: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota and New York.

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Help the Environment, Land in Jail?

Shirley Siluk Gregory — Wed, 14 May 2008 16:24:07 +0000

Could you be breaking the law by brewing your own biodiesel for your car? You might not be aware that the feds and some states might require you to pay taxes for your grease-based fuel, as a retired chemist from Illinois rudely discovered last year.

It’s disturbing that you could face fines for doing something that’s both a money-saver and good for the environment. Still, I thought it might help any would-be biodiesel home-brewers out there to know where to find more information about the laws that might apply to you. Here are a few sites I discovered that might come in handy:

Alternative Fuels & Advanced Vehicles Data Center: This page on the U.S. Department of Energy’s Website gives a state-by-state summary of incentives and laws affecting homemade biodiesel, other alternative fuels and alternative fuel-powered vehicles.

The California Center for Sustainable Energy: According to this site, “The first 400 gallons of home-made biodiesel is exempt from federal taxation and anything afer 400 gallons is subject to normal federal tax rates.” The center also advises home biodiesel-brewers to check with their state to see if state fuel taxes apply to them. You’ll also find lots of good links here on home biodiesel production, equipment suppliers and biodiesel fueling locations in the U.S.

National Renewable Energy Laboratory: While this site doesn’t specifically address biodiesel tax policies, it does feature a large number of informative publications about biodiesel production, handling, use, quality, stability, compatibility, emissions and fleet evaluations.

Other sites with lots of information about all aspects of biodiesel include the National Biodiesel Board and its companion marketplace site, AllThingsBiodiesel.com, the National Biodiesel Foundation, an article on “Greasoline” at the Journal of Young Investigators and, of course, Wikipedia (here and here).

Image credit: Mejidori at Wikimedia Commons, released into public domain.

Obama: Blame the Iraq War for Lack of US Climate Change Leadership

Jennifer Lance — Wed, 14 May 2008 13:01:04 +0000

Oh, I admit it; I’ve fallen hard for Obama. Perhaps it is his handsome face or eloquent manner of speech, or perhaps it is because he is the first viable candidate (sorry Kucinich and Nader) to speak the truth. First, Obama opposed the gas tax holiday, designed to distract Americans from the bigger picture of our energy usage. Now, he is blaming the Iraq war for America’s utter failure as a climate leader.

Shortly after last week’s primaries, Obama stated:

I think the way we have run this war in Iraq has lessened our ability to move our allies. It has led us to ignore the critical needs for us to focus on a sound energy policy in this country. It has left us unable to lead on critical global issues like global warming. And it has led us to neglect what ultimately is the most important thing to keeping America safe, and that is having an economy that is the envy of the world and that gives us the resources and the power to project ourselves around the world.
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Kyoto in My Own Backyard

Sarah Pressman Lovinger — Sat, 10 May 2008 02:13:41 +0000

Why did more than 300 people spend a beautiful Sunday afternoon inside the first LEED-certified house of worship in the United States last week? Most likely because they want to help pass on lovely spring days to their children and grandchildren.

In 2006, Evanston, IL, which hugs Chicago’s border to the south, and Lake Michigan to the east, signed the US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement along with more than 800 US cities. Those cities who signed the agreement aim to lower carbon emissions to 1990 levels by 2012.

In an effort to achieve carbon reduction to 1990 levels, more than 130 dedicated citizens formed nine task forces, and devised broad recommendations on how this progressive and diverse city, home to Northwestern University and a lively downtown, could reduce its carbon footprint. Last weekend, a broad coalition of citizens and city government workers unveiled a draft of the Evanston Climate Action Plan.

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Green Your Home With DIY Projects

Shirley Siluk Gregory — Fri, 09 May 2008 16:24:02 +0000

Oakland, California-based architect Michelle Kaufmann has made a career of promoting green homes and green communities through her company, Michelle Kaufmann Designs. But if you’re not in the market for a new house, she still has some pretty cool tips for greening your home on the cheap.

On her blog, Kaufmann features do-it-yourself videos for a neat variety of eco-projects that let you reduce energy costs, recycle objects into useful items and add elements of clean, green living to your home.

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The Reuse People: Salvaging Building “Waste”

Cassie Walker — Thu, 08 May 2008 06:00:34 +0000

Every now and again, something really cool crosses my desk, and I think, “Wow, that’s really cool!” Just such an occasion happened this week, when a friend who works in PR sent over some information from The Reuse People of America, or TRP.

Based in Oakland, TRP is a nonprofit organization that works to reduce the amount of useable construction materials that go into landfills. Since its founding in 1993, TRP has salvaged over 200,000 tons of reusable building materials. The resulting resources are sold to the public, or are donated to a variety of worthy causes, including Habitat for Humanity and Goodwill Industries.

Though the materials can come from a variety of sources, over 90% come from TRP’s own demolition services. In demolition projects, TRP acts like any other contractor, except that they sell or donate the resulting “waste”. Homowners who use TRP for demolition get a bonus - tax deductions, based on the value of the materials salvaged. These deductions can be large, in some cases covering the cost of the demolition itself.

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Texas Tops in Wind Power

Shirley Siluk Gregory — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 16:07:04 +0000

Texas comes out on top in the American Wind Energy Association’s (AWEA) 2007 rankings of wind energy leaders, not only in its overall total number of wind turbines but in the amount of new capacity added last year.

Texas wind turbines generated 4,446 megawatts of energy in 2007 — enough to power nearly 1.2 million homes. The state added 1,618 megawatts of new wind power capacity last year, more than double the amount of second-place Colorado.

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Chicago Suburb Preserves Night Sky with Innovative Light Ordinance

Jason Phillip — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 07:05:16 +0000

Last week I wrote about preparations for Earth Hour, and this week I’m focusing on another way people in the Chicago region are re-examining the use of energy at night. The village of Homer Glen, in the Chicago suburbs, has made news recently for an attempt to curb an insidious manmade contaminant that is emitted by every population center in the world, but which few of us ever take notice of: light pollution.

The largely rural village of Homer Glen, located about 11 miles southwest of Chicago, adopted a groundbreaking ordinance in December that limits how much light a business can generate based on lumens, a measurement of emitted light. In doing so, the village became one of the first municipalities in the country to pass a law that specifically recognizes the night sky as a natural resource and that lays out specific measures to preserve it.

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Illinois Schools Sign Compact to Focus Green Efforts

Jason Phillip — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 23:02:15 +0000

A voluntary compact authored by the Illinois Lieutenant Governor’s office has elementary and secondary schools around Chicago putting their environmental priorities down on paper. Students, teachers, and administrators from the first six schools signed the compact at a ceremony hosted by Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn in January.

Modeled after the Illinois Sustainable University Compact, which began in 2006, the new Illinois Sustainable Schools Compact sets out 12 achievable sustainability objectives for elementary and secondary schools. These goals focus on conserving energy, encouraging recycling, and practicing natural landscape techniques (including minimizing the use of chemical fertilizers, following a conservative watering schedule, using rain barrels, and planting drought-resistant native species). For complete list of the goals in the compact, click here (PDF).

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First Chicago-Based Grocer Adopts Biodiesel

Jason Phillip — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 20:12:46 +0000

Dominick’s grocery stores, which operates 99 stores in the Midwest, announced in January that it will become the first Illinois retailer to convert its entire truck fleet to biodiesel. By converting 78 tractors and 350 refrigerated trailers to B20 biodiesel, the grocer projects a 1,457,256 pound reduction in its yearly carbon emissions.

For many Chicagoans, this announcement may alter the perception of a large grocery chain not known for being particularly green. In the Second City, Dominick’s is sort of the Pepsi to to Jewel-Osco’s Coke. These two large mainstream grocery stores are known for having stores in many of the city’s neighborhoods, and for serving very large portions of the populace with conventional packaged food and some organic produce. If you’re not a dedicated organic foodie doing your shopping at Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s (or at farmer’s markets or CSAs), chances are you’re a Dominick’s or Jewel regular.

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Getting America’s Lawns Off Drugs

Jason Phillip — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 20:35:00 +0000

Last week I wrote about how the Chicago nonprofit Safer Pest Control Project has been working to protect people from the harmful effects of toxic pesticides. In talking with the organization’s Executive Director, Rachel Rosenberg, I learned about how common it is for people to be exposed to chemical pesticides in public places without being aware, and how dangerous this can be for children.

But even more insidious than the harm posed by toxins used to rid our homes and workplaces of unwanted critters is the problem of chemical pesticides used to control outdoor pests. In fact, the use of chemicals to kill animals and plants in our yards is a lot more widespread than you may have guessed. Consider these statistics cited by the Safer Pest Control Project:

78 million households in the U.S. use home and garden pesticides.
$700 million are spent annually on pesticides for U.S. lawns.
67 million pounds of synthetic pesticides are used on U.S. lawns each year.
Three times as much pesticide is used on lawn per acre than on agricultural crops.

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Tackling the Toxic Problem of Pesticides

Jason Phillip — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 21:59:39 +0000

If you’ve ever faced a pest infestation in your home, you know how quickly you want the critters gone–whatever the cost. Whether it’s roaches, termites, or rodents invading your space, it’s natural to want to strike back. You want the toughest weapon you can find to beat back the onslaught of little beasties before they multiply and take over completely.

But before you go out and buy that can of Raid and take aim at the crawling menace, pause to ask yourself: Do you really want to coat your home in toxins that you can’t see and that may persist on surfaces for weeks? Are you willing to put your children and pets at even greater risk than what you yourself face from these poisonous chemicals? Are you sure the solution isn’t more dangerous than the problem?

Educating the public about the dangers of chemical pesticides and promoting safe, effective alternatives for dealing with pests is the mission of Chicago-based nonprofit Safer Pest Control Project. Since 1994 this organization — which began as a coalition of four environmental groups–has worked to reduce the risks to human health wherever pesticides are commonly used, including in schools, childcare centers, residential buildings, yards and parks and in agriculture.
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Illinois: Renewable Energy Feed-in Tariff Introduced in House of Representatives

Timothy B. Hurst — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 23:49:42 +0000

Illinois Representative Karen May (D-Highland) has introduced a bill calling for a system of renewable energy “feed-in tariffs” (FITs) like those used in Germany to spur the development of electricity from renewable sources. After its initial reading, HB 5855, The Illinois Renewable Energy Sources Act has been reported to the House Rules Committee for initial action.

Feed-in tariffs have proven remarkably successful throughout Europe, and especially in Germany, where some 55% of the world’s solar power capacity resides. I have covered the nuts and bolts of the FIT here and I have made a short argument for them here (but for a more comprehensive treatment of how and why the policy mechanism works, I recommend visiting the World Future Council’s PACT website, which is a powerful resource for advocates, policymakers, environmentalists, tech geeks and regular folks).

In a nutshell, a feed-in tariff offers a long-term guaranteed price contract (usually about 15-20 years) to any entity that contributes electricity to the grid via renewable sources like solar, wind, biomass, landfill gas, small hydro, geothermal and methane. Whereas existing policy mechanisms like the production tax credit favor large corporations with sizable tax liability, and investment tax credits favor those folks who can afford a large upfront cost that comes with a 20-30 year payoff, this policy tool encourages the distributed generation of renewable energy and it levels the playing field by providing long-term investment security for small businesses, homeowners, churches, schools and others, so they are more willing to make the financial commitment that is necessary for installing renewable energy themselves. This is not to say that our existing RE policy tools of choice (including renewable energy standards) are inherently bad, but they may be insufficient to spark the kind of growth in clean energy the public seems to be demanding.

The diffusion of renewable energy FITs has extended from Northern Europe to include some 47 countries worldwide, but the mechanism has yet to gain much political traction in the United States. The bill is modeled after the legislation proposed in the fall of 2007, when Rep. Kathleen Law introduced HB 5218 into the Michigan House of Representatives.

Ironically, while the eyes of renewable energy policy wonks (yes, there are such a thing) have been looking to California, Michigan and Minnesota for a successful German-style feed-in tariff, Rep. May’s bill took people by surprise.
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Greening Chicago With Building Permits

Sarah Lozanova — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 14:51:12 +0000

Chicago’s Mayor Daley declared that the city will be the “greenest city in the world.” This is no small feat. One tool towards achieving this goal is a new green permit program, which offers expedited building permits for buildings with environmental features. The building permit process is shortened to 15-30 business days, with preference given to projects with more extensive green features. Some buildings may qualify for a waiver of consultant code review fees, saving tens of thousands of dollars. Some of the features that are rewarded include:

Green Roofs
These living roofs reduce strain on the wastewater systems, while reducing the energy use of the building due to insulative properties.

Renewable Energy
Wind, solar electricity, solar thermal, biomass, and geothermal are energy sources that replenish themselves over time, unlike fossil fuels.

Affordable Housing
To help increase the housing options available to Chicagoans, affordable housing as determined by the Chicago Department of Housing standards is encouraged.

Combined Heat and Electric Generation On-site
These systems are more efficient for larger buildings because the generation of electricity typically produces heat as a byproduct that is frequently wasted.

Accessibility
This criteria increases the accessibility of buildings to people with physical disabilities.

Transportation oriented development & access to public transportation
In an effort to create vibrant communities, mixed use developments, proximity to public transportation, and developing previously undesirable areas is encouraged.

Exceptional Water Management
Water efficiency or innovative storm water management can improve water quality, protect ecosystems, and reduce energy use.

The green permit program can serve as an enticing opportunity, especially for developers, who will not benefit from the lower operating costs or higher occupancy after they no longer own the building. Combined heat and electric generation, green roofs, renewable energy can pay for themselves in energy savings over time, but come with a large upfront price tag. Accessibility, proximity to public transportation and affordability can help increase the occupancy of the building down the road, but may not offer short-term financial benefits.

Longer wait times to begin construction for building permits can increase construction costs, while giving a green light for projects with environmental and social features will make the future of green building in Chicago more lucrative.

Localvore Challenge Utilizes Regional Food Web

Sarah Lozanova — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 16:27:35 +0000

Editor’s note: We’re pleased to welcome Sarah Lozanova to the Green Options writing team. A native of Chicago, Sarah holds an MBA in Sustainable Management from the Presidio School of Management, and also writes for Worldchanging Chicago. Along with fellow Windy City resident Jason Phillip, she’ll be covering green issues in Chicago, as well as the broader Midwest.

The average bite of food on our dinner plates tonight has traveled more than 1500 miles from where it w as cultivated. This was not true, however, from September 10-16 for participants of the Chicago-based Localvore Challenge, who only ate foods grown in their region. The event sponsor, the Green City Market, created a list of restaurants that serve meals that are localvore-friendly and a blog site for support from fellow localvores. In addition to reducing their carbon footprint, many participants likely gained awareness of where their food comes from. Such a challenge did limit the food choices that were available to them, as they were not able to snack on mangos and sip on Chilean wine.

The United States imports food from more than 130 countries. The quantity of food has been increasing annually by about 15% since 1991, according to the FDA. Even though Illinois is covered largely by farms, it is estimated that the state imports more than 90% of its food. Corn and soybeans are the most widely grown crops in the state, but the majority of these harvests are not consumed by humans. For example, more than 80% of the corn grown in this country is used for cattle feed, while 1/6 of Illinois corn is utilized for ethanol production. Roughly 80% of the corn and soybeans grown in Illinois are genetically modified. Illinois is built on fertile farmland that is among the richest in the world thanks to glaciers, yet this natural resource is increasingly being developed and covered by concrete. Unfortunately, the rich Illinois soils rarely benefit the inhabitants of Illinois directly, as little of their food is cultivated here.

The demand for local foods in Illinois has grown considerably, and some are saying it is greater than the supply. As the price of fossil fuels increase, this trend may shift. In the meantime, some are voluntarily taking on the challenge of eating local foods. This is a concrete way to influence land use and reduce reliance on fossil fuels, while strengthening the local economy.

GreenSceneUSA: Chicago’s Green Alleys

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Editor’s note: Today, we’re pleased to start a content partnership with GreenSceneUSA, a site that’s provides “…a supportive, interactive, nationwide community that gives you access to everything for greening your life with style and ease.” In addition to broad information on green lifestyle, GSUSA also provides “City Scene” sections… so they seemed like a natural partner for Ecolocalizer. Today’s post, on Chicago’s Green Alleys intiative, appears here on the GreenSceneUSA site.

With 1900 miles of alleys, Chicago has more of the narrow service streets than any other city in the nation. In summer, all that blacktop radiates a lot of heat into the scorching metropolis, and during rain and snowmelt, it’s a conduit for rivers of contaminated run-off. But under Mayor Richard Daley’s Green Alley initiative, part of an ambitious citywide greening strategy, the Chicago Department of Transportation has begun resurfacing the alleys with new eco-friendly material.

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