Growing Green 052224

Growing Green 2024

LO CA L • AC TIONABLE • HOPE

Growing Green 2024

Forest Park Bank makes it possible.

Growing Green 2024

Takeout without:

How Oak Park’s restaurants – and customers – are handling the Styrofoam ban

Need a plastic fork,too?

you have to ask for one

ABy HOPE BAKER Contributing reporter

ban on polystyrene, commonly known by the brand name Styrofoam, went into effect in Oak Park on Jan. 1. The ban established that businesses cannot sell or distribute disposable food containers that partially incorporate or are entirely composed of polystyrene foam packaging.

According to Dan Yopchick, the village’s chief communications officer, implementing the ban has gone smoothly so far.

“From our perspective, the rece ption from business owners has been positive,” he said. “I haven’t heard anything ne gative or any pushback against it.”

The ban does not apply to food establishments with an annual gross income less than $500,000 per location until Jan. 1, 2025.

Yopchick said that when eliminating the use of polystyrene was being discussed by the Village Board, concerns were mainly related to smaller establishments with low-

been working closely with food establishments to educate them about the new policy. They have also provided downloadable signage and talked with businesses about the seven exceptions in which single-use plastic food ware is allowed.

According to Engage Oak Park, drinking straws are still permitted as well as single-use plastic food ware that is necessary to address safety concerns, comes in a vending machine or is pre-packaged by a manufacturer

Not-for-profit corporations and federal, state or local government agencies that provide food to needy individuals are exempt from the new policy.

“Staf f, led by our Environmental Health division within the Health Department, is responsive to questions and I personally have not heard of any issues with enforcement,” Yopchick said.

Rob Guenthner, owner of Kettlestrings Restaurant Group and President of the Oak Park Chamber of Commerce, said his businesses are not impacted by the ban on polystyrene.

request from customers.

According to Yopchick, village staf f has

had any impact on us use Styrofoam before,”

“At all of our places in e used compostable takeout for a long time.”

Guenthner added that although his busiimpacted by the single-use food ware ordinance, implementing the new rules has ended up being easy. e still get a fair amount of people askerware, but it’s certainly ,” he said.

Kettlestrings Restaurant Group includes rn at 800 S. Oak Park e., Kettlestrings Grove at 105 S. Marion St. and Betty’s Pizza and Pasta at 1103 which are in Oak Park, as well Starship Restaurant & Catering at Forest Park

“The concern I hear from other people about the Styrofoam ban is that places that use Styrofoam tend to be lower-cost establishments that do a lot of carry-out and at r price point, so moving from Styrofoam to something else is probably going to for those folks,” Guen-

He said he has also heard that some business owners feel like certain products, ver better in Styrofoam because soup stays warm and is easy to rning one’s hand when s packaged in Styrofoam.

“But I think the benefits will still ultimately outweigh the inconvenience and the slight increased cost,” Guenthner said.

Growing Green 2024

Pollinators: They need you. You need them.

Climate change is real. So

is

As we move through spring toward the arrival of summer, the colors of the landscape will come to life as many plants begin to flower. All this would not be possible without the dutiful work of our pollinators. Without this generally unnoticed effort, agricultural economies, food supply, and the surrounding landscapes would collapse. Did you know somewhere between 75% and 95% of all flowering plants on earth need help with pollination?

To give a sense of scale, that’s over 180,000 plant species, 1,200 crops, and it adds over $200 billion a year to the global economy. Honeybees alone contribute $1 billion to $5 billion in agricultural productivity in the United States. Safe to say, these birds, bats, bees, butterflies, beetles and other small mammals are vitally important to the world. So, what else do they do? In addition to our food, they support healthy ecosystems that clean the air, stabilize soils to prevent erosion, sequester carbon, and support other wildlife.

How can you help? Providing a habitat that supports them is the key. Research has shown that local pollinators prefer local, native plantings. Making this small change makes a difference—so I encourage you, if you’ve not already done so, to make 2024 the year to grow your role in this collective effort.

Aclimate anxiet y. Climate cafes may help

By JACK HELBIG Contributing Reporter

2021 survey of young people ages 16 to 25 in 10 countries published in the British medical journal The Lancet found that 59% of those who responded said they were “very or extremely” worried about climate change while 84% said they were at least “moderately” worried.

More than half said they experienced strong, ne gative emotions about it, whether sad, anxious, angry, powerless, helpless or guilty. Another threefourths of respondents said they were frightened about the future.

So, how do you address concerns about the climate without triggering paralyzing anxiety?

Climate cafes may provide a solution.

Jess Pepper, the person credited with holding that first climate cafe, told the Guardian newspaper in 2021 that she hosted her first cafe in in Dunkeld and Birnam, Scotland, because, “It just dawned on me that people needed to be speaking with each other, and not just in a one-of f kind of session.”

The result was both political and therapeutic. Climate cafes provide a forum where information is shared, but in a way that is not overwhelming. Too often these days what you want is a glass of water, and instead you get a blast from a firehose.

“It just dawned on me that people needed to be speaking with each other, and not just in a one-o kind of session.”

Begun in Scotland in 2015, climate cafes provide informal get togethers in which attendees intentionally discuss topics many find too inconvenient or troubling to discuss in larger, more for mal venues. Some climate cafes meet re gularly. Some meet online. Others just pop up for a couple of sessions and then disappear again.

JESS PEPPER

One participant in a climate cafe told a reporter at the Guardian that she had “shed a lot of tears, and gotten in touch with some powerful feelings” that came from sharing her anxieties with like-minded people.

All politics is local, and you can’t get much more local than a group of people getting together to discuss the issues. Participants in climate cafes have reported they feel relief from anxiety and numb helplessness.

One of Chicago’s first climate cafes, held last December at the Pe gg y Notebaert Nature Museum in Lincoln Park, was organized by a Chicago-based psychotherapist

and clinical social worker, Libby Bachhuber. Her climate cafe also was part of an ongoing program of climate cafes associated with the Climate Psychology Alliance North America.

The Climate Psychology Alliance’s online answer to the question “What is a Climate Café?” sounds as much like a group therapy session with snacks than a political action committee: “a gathering of people meeting with facilitators to share their responses to the climate crisis,” “a confidential, warm, friendly, hospitable occasion –involving cake, hot drinks, maybe a glass of wine or beer,” “the focus… thoughts and feelings about climate change, rather than what we ’re doing about climate change.”

Bachhuber’s climate cafe at the Pe gg y Notebaert Nature Museum definitely had a group therapy feel. As she told a Tribune reporter in a December 28, 2023 article: “Unless we can process our internal responses to climate change, we are not going to be able to respond appropriately to it.”

The Chicago-based Climate Psychology Alliance, North America, hosts a virtual climate care the fourth Tuesday of each month, 6 to 7:30 pm Central (https://www. climat ep syc holo gy.us/climate-cafes/climate-cafe).

Those interested in the inter national climate cafe movement can also visit the Climate Cafe Network Hub (https://www.climate.cafe/).

Scott McAdam Jr.

Growing Green 2024

The climate is changing: How will local residents be impacted in

By ELIZABETH SHORT

Contributing reporter

As wildfires, severe storms, droughts, and flooding impact daily lives of Americans in all 50 states as a result of climate change, some media outlets have upheld the Great Lake region as a potential climate refuge.

Yet the region is not exempt from the changing climate currently impacting and uprooting lives all over the world.

Consider the facts.

In the last decade, Lake Michigan rose more than six feet in less than eight years and then fell three feet in three years. In February, Chicago-area residents flocked outside as temperatures reached 74 degrees, making it the warmest February on record. Last summer, temperatures in Chicago reached 100 degrees, a rarity in the city. In early July, Chicago-area residents witnessed a cluster of severe storms cause flash flooding and power outages, including on the West Side. It also forced the cancellation of the NASCAR Chicago Street Race.

Yet at the same time, Illinois was experiencing a drought (April 1 through June 30 brought the 11th-driest period on record in Illinois), a disaster that cost billions of dollars. This drought, which re-intensified at the end of the summer, impacted Illinois farms and dropped river levels

“In the coming decades, Chicago will experience warmer and wetter winters and hotter and drier summers due to climate change. These temperature and humidity shifts will also lead to changes in weather and increased frequency of severe, dangerous, and financially damaging storms,” said Jelena Collins, founder of the Climate Youth Coalition and 2022 OPRF graduate studying climate science and physics at McGill University.

Extreme temperatures and floods disproportionately impact poorer and minority communities, as experts say climate change exacerbates problems for under-invested communities, like those on the West Side, including Austin.

“Nearly every climate model has projected an intense increase in precipitation in the Midwest, leading to greater risks of flood-

ing, stress on infrastructure, and, conversely, more intense dry seasons,” Collins said.

“These dry seasons are damaging to agriculture, increase respiratory hazards, and again place undue strain on infrastructure.”

This begs the question: In coming years, how can Illinoisans expect to be further impacted by climate change?

And what should we do to pre pare?

Illinois Extension, University of Illinois network of educators and experts working to sustainably protect the health and wellbeing of Illinois residents, reported that the primary impacts of climate change in the region will be an amplified risk of high temperatures and heavy precipitation.

These changes can also create public health hazards and expand mosquito and tick populations, as well as corresponding diseases. To prevent these bites, the CDC recommends using insect-repellent, wearing loose and long clothes, treating clothes with 0.5% permethrin, and checking for ticks after being outdoors.

Higher temperatures and heavier rainfall can impact air quality, affecting people with healthy lungs and exacerbating issues for people with seasonal allergies or asthma. Climate change also impacts residents’ mental health. The Mental Health and Climate Change Alliance has collected resources for individuals experiencing climate distress.

Above all, Collins stressed the importance of flood preparation. “I think residents of Chicago would be wise to prepare for flooding in the immediate years to come,” she said. “This could mean updating their basements or housing foundations, but also having emergency equipment on hand in case of severe rainstor ms.”

To prepare houses for floods, the Natural Resources Defense Council recommends buying flood insurance, elevating your boiler, and reconsidering your landscaping to help water seep into the ground.

In emergency flood situations, Illinois Extension recommends that households prepare for extreme weather by gathering supplies including a first aid kit, water, canned food, and medications Additional resources for emergency situations can be found on its Extreme Weather Preparedness site

Latest News

from the

7 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Saturday ● May 18 - October 26 ●

Olmsted Society

www.oak-park.us/

Stewards of the land and Olmsted’s Plan

Walking Tours of Riverside return May 26 and continue on the last Sunday of the month through October. 2-4 PM. Riverside train station. $25 per person (discounts for seniors and Olmsted Society members). Visitors will enjoy stories about homes, people, landscape and history. See website for details.

Walking Tour: North Sunday, May 26, 2024 2:00 pm

Workday: Big Ball Park Saturday, June 1, 2024 9:00 am

THANKS TO

Workday: Big Ball Park Saturday, June 29, 2024 9:00 am

Walking Tour: South Sunday, June 30, 2024 2:00 pm

FWith programs and lm festivals

By JESSIC A MACKINNON Contributing reporter

rom its humble beginning in 2010 as an informal community meeting organized by green pioneers Sally Stovall and her partner Dick Alton, One Earth Collective has grown to encompass a plethora ofdiverse programs dedicated to increasing awareness ofthe impact of climate change and inspiring action regarding the environment and social justice

T he initial group, wh ich quickly ga i ned traction in progressive Oak Pa rk , focused on developing local green block pa rt i es offering info rm ation on p lanting milkweed , essential for the survival of monarch butterflie s, as ell as omposting and hemicalfree lawn care

In 2017, the organization launched a summer pilot pr on Chicago’s west side. The pr eventually became ration with youth development pr side nonprofits, offers cooking instruction, a speaker series and field trips. Young people involved in the pr an urban

The broad-based One Earth Collecti “mothership” now comprises One Earth Local, for One Earth Youth developing young sustainability leaders; and the highly popular One Earth Film Festival, widely

Organic Lawn Care Since 2007

Compost tea soil feedings

Natural techniques for pest control

Biochar & microbiological soil amendments

Yard Drainage Solutions

Sustainable Landscaping

Native Pollinator Gardens

Vegetable Gardens

We are

By HECTOR CERVANTES

Contributing reporter

Illinois is gearing up for Invasive Species

Awareness Month this May, a critical period spotlighting the ongoing battle against ecological intruder s.

Patti Staley, Director of Horticulture and Conservatory Operations at the Park District of Oak Park, delves deep into the topic of invasive species in garden environments and offers insights on effective management strat egies.

Staley said that this month provides an opportunity for increased education and action on the dangers of invasive species in the garden.

According to Staley, invasive species are plants or animals from different environments or parts of the world that do not belong where they are locally found. These invasive species are typically not native to the ecosystem they inhabit and can cause harm to the ecosystem.

“It’s important to distinguish between invasive and non-native or exotic species. Many people use the term ‘invasive’ loosely, it’s a strong word that shouldn’t be used lightly,” Staley said. “Terminology is crucial for understanding. It’s not just invasive; some plants can be aggressive without causing harm to our ecosystem,”

In Illinois, some common invasive species include garlic mustard, honeysuckle, buckthor n, burning bush, and certain shrubs and trees.

Studies indicate that garlic mustard exhibits allelopathic traits, whereby it emits substances that hinder the growth of competing plant species.

In terms of animals, emerald ash borer, a green buprestid or jewel beetle native to north-eastern Asia and Asian carp are also significant concerns. Asian carp refers to a group of invasive fish species native to Asia, including the silver, bighead, black, and grass carp, which have rapidly proliferated in waterways across North America, posing significant ecological and economic threats.

“Invasive species, as shocking as they may be, are introduced into environments, ecosystems and even your own backyard by humans, whether done purposefully or inadvertently,” Staley said.

Staley, who used to work in the landscape industry, said they sometimes planted invasive plants without the knowledge that they were har mful

Growing Green 2024

Is your pret ty garden hiding a danger?

Unlocking the battle against invasive species in the garden with tips and tricks

“Science is always evolving and changing and our ecosystems are adapting, and what we know now, we didn’t know back then, and what we knew then, we won’t know now,” Staley said. “Paying attention to science and keeping updated on species, and we talk about climate change and how that will impact invasives, it’s not black and white.”

Weather, including climate change, plays a huge role in the spread of invasive species.

“I’ve observed how climate change impacts plants, whether invasive or not, and we saw those effects this spring with the early war m-up,” Staley said.

According to Staley, invasive species can choke out native species, pushing them to the brink of extinction.

“Education is crucial; understanding what plants you have in your garden and replacing invasive species with native or nonaggressive plants is essential,” Staley said.

Staley suggested that once the invasive species has been identified and removed, one should ideally opt to grow a native plant or a plant without ag gressive tendencies.

Staley added that there are some great nonnative perennials that can be planted that can extend the growing season that

be mixed in with native plants. A perennial plant is a plant that lives more than two years.

When asked about the significance of public awareness and education in addressing the spread of invasive species, as well as the role of gardens and conservatories in this ef fort, Staley emphasized the crucial importance of public awareness and education.

“Organizations like garden locations and conservatories can play a significant role in educating the community about invasive species and what individuals can do to help prevent their spread,” Staley said.

Staley acknowledges the wealth of resources available for combating invasives, citing the remarkable ef for ts of organizations like the Kane County Forest Preserve Staley highlights their impactful cleanup initiatives along the Fox River and the multitude of volunteer groups involved.

As for this warm winter: Could warmer temperatures and climate change lead to an increase in invasive species in the garden?

Perhaps.

“With a prolonged growing season, there are increased chances for plants to propagate over an extended timeframe,” Staley said.

Spotted Lantern y

Insects: Spotted

can

ONE EARTH Hopeful climate

from page B7

vironmental film festival.

One Earth Film Festival, which was launched in 2012 by local sustainability leader Ana Garcia Doyle, has garnered international reco gnition. The first festival, which primarily featured films by local filmmakers, attracted 500 attendees; last year the festival reached 4,500 virtual and in-person viewers. This year’s festival, which ended April 23, was held in venues throughout the Chicago area, including the Chicago Cultural Center and Pe gg y Notebaert Nature Museum as well as the Oak Park Public Library and Unity Temple, and showcased submissions from filmmakers around the world.

In 2013, the organization debuted the One Earth Young Filmmakers Contest, launched by for mer River Forest resident Sue Crothers Gee. T he progr am has grown significantly in the past do zen years; last year it received more than 400 entries from young filmmakers throughout the country and as far away as Australia, Taiwan, Brazil and Mexico.

T he contest is open to youth as young as third graders to post-graduate colle ge students. With the support of the Manaaki Foundation, winning filmmakers receive cash awards between $100 (third graders) to $1,000 (colle ge students). In an ingenious “pay-it-forward” initiative, winners also receive matching grants that they, in turn, award to nonprofits dedicated to projects that align with the themes of

Growing Green 2024

their films. In addition, several nonprofits, including the Sierra Club, Jane Goodall Institute, and Wild Ones West Cook, offer $500 Environmental Action Awards.

“The Young Filmmakers Contest encourages young people to create films that propose solutions and inspire action to combat the impact of global climate chang e,” said Lisa Biehle Files, who joined the YFC team in 2016. “And the matching grant progr am gives them the agency to make an impact that ripples throughout the sustainability movement.”

Winning YFC films are shown throughout the annual One Earth Film Festival. Beyond the contest, young people are supported by connecting them with professional filmmakers and providing them with opportunities to strengthen their skills

Files was pleased to see that, in general, this year’s films were more hopeful than last year’s submissions, which included film titles like Code Red, The Apocalypse, and Our Generation, a film exploring the environmental challenges faced by the younger generation due to the actions of previous generations. She attributes some of this to the waning of COVID, which was so isolating and depressing for many young people.

“Some of the films submitted in 2022 were kind of dark and filled with dread. But, in the past year, they seemed to be more optimistic about the future,” Files said.

The deadline for submitting films for the 2024 One Earth Young Filmmakers Contest is June 25. Winning films will premier on September 22 at the Gene Siskel Film Center and will be shown during the 2025 One Earth Film Festival. For more information, contact https://www.oneearthfilmfest.org/ contest-details.

The Village of Brookfield recently adopted its first five-year Sustainability Plan, which sets ambitious goals and creates opportunities for residents, businesses, local partners, and village o cials to act on sustainability e orts in Brookfield.

Visit our new Brookfield Sustainability Resources webpage to check out the plan, read about current initiatives, find local resources, and learn about opportunities to get involved. Scan and visit the website!

Growing Green

How the city is addressing Chicago’s environmental injustice issues

An inter view with the Chicago Department of Public Health

By DEBORAH BAYLISS Contributing Reporter

The release last year of the Chicago Cumulative Impact Assessment found that Austin, East Garfield Park, West Garfield Park and North Lawndale communities are among the areas disproportionately impacted by higher heat-related illnesses, industry pollution, increased amounts of ground level ozone and particulate matter, flooding, lack of green space, higher density of buildings and pavement — and historic disinvestment. All of these environmental conditions intersect to play a role in the life-expectancy gap between Black and white Chicagoans. Studies show on average, Black Chicagoans live 8.8 years less than whites do.

Austin Weekly News spoke with Grace V. Johnson Adams, a spokesperson with the Chicago Department of Public Health to see which actions are being considered and put in place to deal with the environmental injustice

According to the federal Environmental Protection Agency, environmental justice is achieved when all residents have the same de gree of protections from environmental and health hazards.

AWN: Since the release of the assessment, which actionable measures have been put in place so far to address the study’s findings?

CDPH: Several actions have been taken already since the release of the Cumulative Impact Assessment in September 2023 to address the findings. For example, one Environmental Justice Action Plan tactic called for at least 5,000 trees to be planted per year in targeted communities using tree canopy data, and 78% of trees planted in 2023 in the arterial tree planting program were in priority areas. Additional measures began before or during the As-

sessment process and have continued since then, such as the development and implementation of a data collection strateg y to inform and report on the effectiveness of community engagement activities. There are other measures that have not yet begun, but will be completed per the Environmental Justice Action Plan.

CDPH and community partners, including Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, Center for Neighborhood Technology, and the UIC School of Public Health’s Environmental and Occupational Health Science, are co-leading a community air monitoring network strategy, with a focus on environmental justice neighborhoods. A planning award for co-developing this strategy is provided by The Partnership for Healthy Cities and funding from the Chicago Recovery Plan will be used to implement a co-developed and sustainable community air monitoring network and create a unified public-facing platform for air quality data. Once operational, the air monitoring network will address the identified data gap of local air quality in Chicago from the CIA.

AWN: What is the Environmental Justice Action Plan?

CDPH: The Interdepartmental Environmental Justice Working Group was for med in March 2023 by the Department of Environment and the Department of Public Health to ensure that all city departments are working together to promote environmental justice by identifying and addressing inequities. Out of this group came the Environmental Justice Action Plan, which includes dozens of specific, actionable policy changes that can be implemented in partnership with more than 10 city departments The city committed to publishing an annual report based on progress made toward the Environmental Justice Action Plan, beginning in December 2023. The first version of the report was released December 22.

e resulting Chicago EJ Index map shows that the areas of greatest concern for pollution burdens and vulnerability to its e ects are located on the South and West Sides of the city. ese EJ Neighborhoods are o en bisected by major highways and have high concentrations of industry, including community areas such as Austin, East Gar eld Park, Englewood, Humboldt Park, Lower West Side, McKinley Park, New City, North Lawndale, Roseland, South Deering, South Lawndale, West Englewood and West Gar eld Park.

es, strategies, policies being considered to address heat zones, and the other environmental issues residents on Chicago’s West Side are facing?

CDPH: The cumulative impact ordinance is cur rently being drafted and is expected to be introduced to City Council this year. Additionally, work through the Defusing Disasters Working Group, which encompasses researchers, public health officials, policy advisors, emergency management teams and community partners, will leverage data and local knowledge to identify those most vulnerable to extreme heat in Chicago’s communities. Last summer, researchers and local community members be g an collecting the data needed to characterize heat vulnerabilities through Chicago’s Heat Watch 2023 initiative as part of the National Oceanic

Watch Campaign, which aims to help cities across the U.S. identify specific neighborhoods where heat-mitigating interventions could save lives. Now, the Defusing Disasters Working Group is creating heat vulnerability tools that function at both the community and clinical levels. The community-level tool will be used operationally by the City of Chicago’s Office of Emergency Management and Communication and CDPH in both emergency prevention/response and long-term mitigation contexts. The clinical tool will be used at the doctor-patient level to identify and protect at-risk individuals. Actions remain in progress, and as additional information becomes available, CDPH and DOE will continue to share these updates with Chicago residents, especially those in community areas.”

Growing Green 2024