Green Hero of Chicago-Jen Khatchatrian: Mom on a Mission

Liz Thullen | Jun 19th, 2009 | No Comments »

“Where are your recycling bins?” five year old Jack asked a Starbucks employee.

“Oh, don’t worry. We keep them in back,” the employee claimed.

“Well, you should really display them so people can recycle,” Jack fired back.

“Good idea, we’ll be sure to do that,” the employee responded.

Jack followed up on the employee’s words on his next visit to Starbucks only to find that no recycling bins had since been displayed. Marching up to the same employee he encountered last time he inquired as to where they were yet got the same response with the same lack of enthusiasm.

On Jack’s third visit to this Starbucks location he again found no recycling bins so he rushed to an employee’s side demanding some kind of bin be displayed. Resigning to the child’s persistence, an employee made a makeshift sign over a trash can claiming “RECYCLING” thinking this would alleviate the situation and ease Jack’s demands. As expected Jack followed up on his newly created recycling bin only to discover it was no longer there. Why is a five year old more educated and environmentally responsible than adults? It only makes sense that this persistent and eco-friendly boy was the son of environmental activist and our green hero Jen Khatchatrain.

At GreenWerks, we are not only interested in green paints, kitchen models, and solar paneling, but we are also interested in the expansion of Chicago’s green community. It is for this reason that we have identified and awarded a few local Chicagoans with the most prestigious honor of being a GreenWerks Green Hero. These people have displayed outstanding efforts to positively impact Chicago’s green community so in our minds they’re the modern heroes of today’s biggest battle—the battle for sustainability.

Many Chicagoans lack direction in their environmental endeavors…How can I manage my family and work while being responsible for the environment? How do I find time? What do I do first? The answers to all these questions lie in Jen Khatchatrain, a green navigator in Chicago.

Jen makes her name known through her countless blogs such as ecochicoraganizer.com where she divulges anything from interesting green tips to fun and interactive activities to do with the family while being mindful of the planet. She created Chicago Green Families that aims to allow families to be together outside and enjoy the beautiful (and free) simplicity of the city. Convening a couple of times a month, this group takes part in various environmentally friendly activities that promote sustainability and family fun including anything from making art out of used materials or planting food in the Edible Garden at Lincoln Park Zoo.

Jen has even adopted two beaches that she regularly monitors as if they were her adopted children. She removes every single piece of trash from the beaches every week. Jen urges Chicagoans, “We need to change our practices at the beach.” Having found syringes, beer bottles, and countless cigarette butts that will end up washing into our water, she is determined to change Chicagoans’ view on their own personal responsibility for their actions. “This is more than picking up trash, it’s education, grasping our impacts—it’s showing stewardship,” Jen declares.

What makes Jen a GreenWerks Green Hero is not only her ability to serve but also her exceptional ability to inspire. Through her countless “green networking” outlets Jen’s mission is “outreach, inspire, connect, act” and with her rock-on attitude she adds a fresh enthusiasm to Chicago’s green community.

Yet she needs your help. There’s a pivotal piece missing to this green puzzle and that’s a little taste of reality. “What’s missing” she claims, “is mainstream America seeing people walk the talk.” She explains her personal experience with a “green resistance” as people are unsure of such new practices—such practices that aren’t familiarized well enough in the media. Jen stresses that the real obstruction in seeing the Chicago’s full potential for sustainability is that “we need to see everyday green, we need to see real people doing green.” She outlines that this will be the challenge for the next couple of years, as we must face the drama of navigating through mainstream America.

“This is a movement about awareness and consumerism.” Jen points out. It’s about simple daily choices. “We must rethink where we put our dollars in this controlled burn.”

In Chicago, we have numerous resources and opportunities to make a difference, so grab hold of them. Take a Chicago Corp Conservation Class. Attend a Chicago Green Family Event. Or even more simply, follow Jen’s advice and simply “get on board with personal responsibility!”

We honor Jen for her endless efforts to navigate Chicagoans in the right direction. For her this is all about inspiring people to impact the greater good—it’s not for celebrity—it’s for future generations. People resist this “green movement” as they may be hesitant with any change, yet people like Jen aren’t here to intimidate and look down on newcomers, they’re here to teach, “we call ourselves ‘olive’—not yet green” Jen admits, “we’re not perfect.”

GreenWerks has chosen various environmental activists/enthusiasts of Chicago that we will be featuring every Friday for the next few weeks.  These people were chosen based on their ongoing dedication to  impact Chicago’s green community.  We will be highlighting some of the people that we, at GreenWerks, feel need to be recognized and appreciated in our newest blog series GreenWerks Green Heroes of Chicago.