 |
Resilient Communities Forum offers
OPRF residents climate action options
|
|
| Caroline Marinoff (left), Mann Green Team, and Denise Frank, D97 Parent Representative for PlanItGreen, talk about zero waste in schools. |
The Resilient Communities Forum on Jan. 31 at the 19th Century Club drew 175 residents from Oak Park and River Forest. They heard from municipal and environmental leaders on ways nations and communities are addressing the challenges of climate change.
PlanItGreen helped organize the event, which featured a presentation by SGA executive director Gary Cuneen on PIG's priorities for the year.
|
|
|
Jason Funk |
Oak Park resident Jason Funk, who attended the UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn, Germany, was the evening's first speaker.
He offered a hopeful message from his experiences at the conference. "From the village to the federal level, things are still happening [on the environmental front], so don't be too discouraged by whatever news stories or tweets you might come across," said Funk, associate Director of Land Use at the Center for Carbon Removal.
Cathy Yen, executive director of the OPRF Chamber of Commerce, emceed the program that included Village of River Forest President Catherine Adduci and Oak Park Mayor Anan Abu-Taleb, who both participated in the North American Mayors' Climate Summit in December. They shared their takeaways from the conference and its meaning for local communities.
|
|
|
|
ZERO WASTE SCHOOLS
OPRFHS students conduct waste audit
The Oak Park and River Forest High School Environmental Club conducted a waste audit of the student cafeterias in late January. Seven Generations Ahead's Zero Waste Schools Program Manager Susan Casey provided on-site support and guidance for the audit.
Seven members of the club, along with their faculty adviser, collected trash and recycling bins after lunch periods. They weighed and examined the contents of each bag to determine the amount of waste the school lunchroom typically produces. The measurement gave the students a good sense of how much landfill, recycling, and liquid contamination the lunchroom generates throughout the day.
Students are now working with SGA to create customized sorting signs to label trash and recycling bins in the cafeterias.
|
|
PIG joins national
solar energy
network
The PlanItGreen team has been selected as one of 20 communities to participate in the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's
Solar Energy Innovation Network, a three-year private-public collaboration managed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and supported by the U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Initiative.
NREL is based in Golden, Colo.
|
|
Ask us about solar
Do you have questions about solar energy-everything from small home projects to community solar and beyond? For answers and resources, s
end your questions to
solar@sevengenerationsahead.org
.
|
|
7th One Earth Film Festival starts March 2
Back for its seventh year, the One Earth Film Fest is ready to engage audiences on issues ranging from climate action to protecting our Great Lakes. The Midwest's Premier Environmental Film Festival runs March 2-11, 2018.
This year's theme is "This is the Moment," meant to underscore the urgency of taking action for the planet. This is the moment to learn...find our voice...collaborate...and take action. Festival attendees can sign up for any of 100 action opportunities offered over the nine days of events.
The festival will present 33 films, including "Wasted: The Story of Food Waste," "Happening: A Clean Energy Revolution," and "An Inconvenient Sequel; Truth to Power," at more than 50 screenings throughout Chicago and surrounding suburbs. Each screening offers beautiful, award-winning documentaries; rich discussions with trained facilitators and expert panelists; and one-on-one access to local partners who can connect attendees to meaningful action.
The Festival kicks off with its signature Green Carpet Gala on March 2 at 4th Presbyterian Church's Gratz Center, in Chicago's Magnificent Mile neighborhood.
Most events are FREE with a suggested $7 donation. Seats are limited and reservations are strongly advised. Visit
oneearthfilmfest.org
to reserve tickets.
|
|
|
|
Upcoming Events
March 18, 2-4 p.m.
Retired Chicago State University professor Richard Treptow will review the causes, consequences and cures for climate change at
River Forest Public Library. Then, hear Eric Simon of the River Forest Sustainability Commission on how you can participate in local initiatives to help.
April 4 and 5
Triton College will host a Chicago Region Tree Initiative Forestry Basics Workshop.
Register
here
.
|
|
CompostABLE program promo
To help expand Oak Park's efforts to reduce the amount of organic refuse sent to landfills, the Sustainability team created this video to spread the word about the village's CompostABLE program.
Sign up for the program here.
|
PlanItGreen is a project of the OPRF Community Foundation facilitated by Seven Generations Ahead, which engages multiple community institutions, and is guided by the OPRF Community Foundation's Communityworks Advisory Board and the PlanItGreen Core Team.
|
Communityworks provides a coordinated, systems-based approach toward
the achievement of community aspirations.
|
|
|
PlanItGreen | sevengenerationshead.org
|
|
|
|
|
|
