April is Earth Month, Check out some local Green Events!
Chris Campbell | 
Mar 30th, 2008 | 
- April 1: Green Drinks North Shore
- April 5: Household Chemicals & Computer Recycling Facility Open
- April 9: Ford Calumet Environmental Center & Hegewisch Marsh Update
- April 19: Environmental Resource Event
- April 19: Calumet Discovery Day
- April 20: Green Apple Music Festival
- April 22: Earth Day at Daley Plaza
- April 22: Earth Day Celebration
What: GREEN DRINKS – NORTH SHORE EDITION
When: April 1st, 2008 (5:30pm)
Where: C.J. Arthur’s Restaurant, 1168 Wilmette Ave. in Wilmette
Join Go Green Wilmette, the Wilmette Chamber of Commerce and the Chicago Sustainable Business Alliance for the inaugural Green Drinks – North Shore Edition at C.J. Arthur’s Restaurant, 1168 Wilmette Ave. in Wilmette. Organic beer, organic wine, and tapas will be available for purchase. Live jazz will be featured later in the evening.
This networking and social event is for anyone interested in environmental and sustainability issues: North Shore residents, students, and interested individuals from the non-profit, business, education, government, and design sectors are all welcome.
What: Household Chemicals & Computer Recycling Facility Open
When: Saturday, April 5, 8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Where: 1150 N. North Branch St.
Celebrate spring by ridding your home of unwanted chemicals, paints, and computers. Bring in your old computers, monitors, cell phones and household chemicals this Saturday to the City’s permanent facility at 1150 N. North Branch St., 2 blocks east of the Kennedy at Division St. for proper recycling and disposal. For a complete list of accepted materials, visit www.cityofchicago.org/Environment and click on “Household Chemicals & Computer Recycling Facility” in the right-hand column.
What: Ford Calumet Environmental Center & Hegewisch Marsh Update
When: Wednesday, April 9, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Where: Hegewisch Library, 3048 E. 130th St., Chicago; open to the public
Join Chicago Department of Environment and Studio Gang Architects for an update on the Ford Calumet Environmental Center and the Hegewisch Marsh Restoration Project. Details about other Calumet-region open space efforts will also be covered briefly. Contact Jerry Attere at (312) 744-9136 or jerry.attere@cityofchicago.org with questions.
What: Environmental Resource Event
When: Saturday, April 19, 8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Where: DeVry University, 3300 N. Campbell Ave.
So you want to be green? Here’s your chance. Participate in the Department of Environment’s first Environmental Resource Event of the year. Make a dent in your environmental checklist for the spring. Take this opportunity to:
- properly dispose of your household hazardous waste
- recycle your old computers, monitors, laptops and cell phones
- properly dispose your old or unused prescription and non-prescription medications
- pick up a free compact fluorescent light bulb (limit one per household, while supplies last)
- pick up a free reusable water bottle (limit one per household, while supplies last)
- get a free environmentally-friendly gas can when you bring in an old one
- drop off your old gas-powered lawn mower and receive a $100 rebate towards an electric or push mower
- purchase a $30 outdoor compost bin and $40 rain barrel (both are available to Chicago residents only, must pay with check or money order, limit 1 per household, while supplies last)
Questions? Call the Chicago Department of Environment at (312) 744-7606.
What: Calumet Discovery Day
When: April 19, 10:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Where: Activities start at Powderhorn Prairie, just south of Brainard Ave. and Burnham Ave.
Come celebrate Earth Day with us in the field for a day of discovery and exploration. Activities start at Powderhorn Prairie, just south of Brainard Ave. and Burnham Ave., at 10:00 am with a bird hike let by
Field Museum Scientist Doug Stotz and a demonstration on how the site is managed to protect plant and animals. We will provide a free lunch at 11:30, and a then an optional hike led by Nicole Kamins of the Department of Environment at Hegewisch Marsh, the site of the new Ford Calumet Environmental Center. Please RSVP to Christy Page (312-665-7443 or cpage@fieldmuseum.org) by Friday, April 11th.
Scheduled activities:
10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Activities at Powderhorn Prairie
11:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. Lunch
12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. Hike at Hegewisch Marsh
What: Green Apple Music Festival
When: April 20, event starts at 11 a.m.
Where: Lincoln Park Zoo, 2220 N. Cannon Drive
Bring the family to this free all-day event, which will feature music, the arts, and environmental awareness. Green Apple Festival started in New York City in 2006, spread to Chicago in 2007, and is now happening in eight U.S. cities on the same day. For more information, visit www.greenapplemusicfestival.com.
What: Earth Day Celebration at Daley Plaza
When: April 22, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Where: Daley Plaza, 50 W. Washington St.
Take a break and come out to Daley Plaza on Earth Day. Enjoy entertainment during the lunch hour — hear from speakers on Chicago’s environmental movement and check out local environmental vendors and companies. Plus, you can pick-up a free compact fluorescent light bulb from the Department of Environment tent. The CFLs use 66% less energy than incandescent bulbs and can last 10 times longer.
What: Earth Day Launch Party
When: Tuesday, April 22 (Earth Day) 6:00-9:00pm
Where: Colori–2243 w. North Ave. Chicago, IL
This is an Earth Day event to launch new unlimited eco-friendly paint line, LoVo & to celebrate all things sustainable and eco-friendly! We are anticipating having the following other businesses supporting the event: Goose Island’s 312, CRUST, the first certified organic restaurant in Chicago, raw foods, bio-dynamic wines, chair massage offerings, green grocers, etc. in addition to launching a low-VOC line of healthy paint, called “LoVo”!
Making some news around town!
GreenWerks is excited to announce that we have moved into a new office to better serve our clients. Our new office lets us spread out a little more and have more room for samples! Don’t worry about our larger office using lots of power, we purchase all renewable energy, wind to be exact. So update your blackberrys and address books. Our new address is 79 W. Monroe St. Suite 900, Chicago, IL 60603. Feel free to stop in, but it’s best to call to double check we are in the office.
In the news, evidentially the green movement is catching on…
We were recently featured in an article in the Chicago Journal. They did a write up on the recent Chicago Green Homes Fair at the Center for Green technology on the near west side. We have to pictures to share and will have those up soon. A new site called Reno Digs also wrote a recent blog post on green painting and included GreenWerks as a reference. Thanks for the shout out!
CFL- the better bulb
Compact florescent bulbs (CFLs) are those swirley little guys that look like soft-serve ice cream cones. Actually, they come in a myriad of different shapes, sizes, and colors of light. Economically speaking, they’re a great deal, too. CFLs cost a bit more than an incandescent, but use about a quarter as much energy and last 7 times longer (usually around 10,000 hours). It is estimated that a CFL pays for its higher price after about 500 hours of use. After that, it’s money in your pocket. Also, because CFLs release less heat, not only are they safer, but your cooling load is less in the summer. CFLs aren’t hard to find anymore, and many cities will give them away for free, including Chicago. You can pick them up at most local alderman’s office or at the Center for Green Technology. Call ahead to confirm.
How to green your lighting from treehugger.
Suit made out of pop bottles
The lining and the EcoGir jacket is made from 100% discarded PET bottle. It takes about 30 recycled pop bottles to create this suit. Innovation continues to involve and impress the team here at GreenWerks.
Innovation is driving the new flat world and rethinking methods of reusing materials is key to future success. This suit is an excellent example of recycled products being used for another life cycle instead of going into the landfill. Let us know if you have seen any great ideas of innovation recently…Thanks.
Chicago Green Home Fair
With one week to go, we’re excited and gearing up for this spring’s Chicago Green Homes Fair on March 15, 2008! Right now, we have over 20 green companies registered for the event at the Chicago Center for Green Technology
In addition to the exhibitor area, this year, we’re also excited to offer a full day of educational programming for our attendees. In addition to the seminars, we will also be offering highlight tours of Chicago Green Tech throughout the day:
Educational sessions:
10:00 – 10:20 AM – Blue Diamond Sales (Turbotek)
10:30 – 10:50 AM – Chicago Dept. of Buildings (Green Permit Program)
11:00 – 11:20 AM – Wolbrink Architects
11:30 – 11:50 AM – AES Products/Soprema
12:00 – 1:00 PM – Historic Chicago Greystone Initiative (Green Tech U)
1:10 – 1:30 PM – Rain Garden Network
1:40 – 2:00 PM – Chicago Wilderness
2:05 – 2:25 PM – Whitney Wood Works
2:30 – 3:30 PM – Green Home Remodeling Guides – An Overview* (Green Tech U) (*The exhibitor area of the fair ends at 3:00 PM)
In the meantime, the Chicago Dept. of Environment has been working hard to get the word out to our Chicago residents. If anyone would like to help advertise their company’s participation, feel free to post the attached flyer, or send people to our website at www.cityofchicago.org/Environm
If anyone has any additional questions, please let me know. Thanks, and we’ll see you in next Saturday!
Here is the flier for the event.
Chicago Green Home Fair at the Center for Green Technology
Every thought of living a little greener everyday?
You should check out the Green as a Thistle blog. This blog keeps tab on a journey of a woman for the past year as she attempts to green her lifestyle a little everyday. She wrote a blog post everyday to let people know of her progress and what she was doing to become a little greener.
Picture is worth a thousand words…
This picture says it all. Amsterdam considers bike lanes as a joke and this picture fully illustrates that message. I know that this is how some Chicago bicyclists feel riding on the street of Chicago. I wish Chicago would add more bike paths for this cheap easy transportation.
An Entire Apartments Furniture in a Box
This idea may give ikea a run for their money. Casulo has created a box with an armoire, a desk, a height-adjustable stool, two more stools, a six-shelf bookcase, and a bed with a mattress. This simple design assembles in less than 10 minutes with no tools. Talk about making it easy to move. Watch the video and see that no part of the packaging is used again. Check out the youtube video.
Source- Tree Hugger
UK creates affordable Zero Energy Home
The UK has developed a system for home building that is affordable and produces a home that produces all of the energy it needs. These homes are $300,000 for a 3 bedroom home (that might not sound like affordable but you will zero gas and electric bills for life, then it becomes affordable)
“Built with energy-saving fabric and renewable energy systems, manufacturers say the “RuralZED” house can go for a whole year without drawing on National Grid power. It is capable of coping with almost any weather without needing more energy than it generates by itself. It uses environmentally sound materials, gains heat from renewable sources, and offers green solutions for water use and waste generation.
The house uses a flat-pack timber-frame kit based on the concept of the timber-framed houses that were built in Britain about 1,000 years ago. The timber frame is then laminated and built in a box shape formed by posts and beams on a low-carbon concrete foundation. Heavyweight eco concrete panels manufactured using a high level of recycled aggregate content rest on the solid timber beams. These are an energy-efficient alternative to domestic plasterboard and give the house its “thermal mass” that absorbs and releases heat slowly.”
Source- Guardian
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