Adopt-a-Beach
Brent Lamm: Adopt-A-Beach – Ohio Street Beach
Brent’s project was an Adopt-A-Beach clean-up at the Ohio Street beach in the Streeterville neighborhood. Throughout the summer, Brent’s project team’s cleaned the beach’s 55,000 square feet, took 6 water samples from various points along the lakefront and collected more than 50 pounds of litter and recyclables.
Jennifer Khatchatrian: Adopt-A-Beach at 12th Street Beach and Hartigan Beach
From April through October, Jen and her Chicago Green Families group held monthly beach clean-ups at 12th Street Beach and Hartigan Beach. Over the course of their visits, they collected more than 500 pounds of refuse and recyclable material. Jen secured great publicity for her cleanups and was featured by WLIT-FM, A Fresh Squeeze, Mindful Metropolis, Greenwerks, and the Chicago Green Families website.
Kara Borden: Adopt A Beach Clean Up at Fullerton Beach
Through the Alliance for the Great Lakes’ Adopt A Beach program, Kara and fellow Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum employees engaged museum visitors in water quality testing, trash removal, and discussions about the use, quality, and pollution sources associated with Fullerton Beach. As a result of this effort, museum staff will develop a citizen science water quality testing program which will be available to museum patrons on an ongoing basis.
Laura Pawlik: The Green Games
Laura recruited 15 people from the Wrigleyville neighborhood to perform a beach clean-up at 57th Street Beach. Laura and her team collected 50lbs of trash and were rewarded afterward with a field day of games to support ecological awareness. The winning volunteer team won a bar tab at a Wrigleyville bar.
Lisa Scacco: Foster Avenue Beach Clean-Up
Lisa conducted an Adopt-A-Beach project at Foster Avenue beach in the Uptown neighborhood. She held two clean-up events, attracting volunteers from the surrounding communities. Lisa and her team collected trash, measured water quality, and performed educational outreach directed at her volunteers and other beach visitors.
Margo Patterson: Adopt a Beach at Foster Beach
Margo and her group of 6 volunteers held 3 Adopt-A-Beach Clean Up days at Foster Beach. The group gathered 10 pounds of trash, recorded their findings on the Alliance for the Great Lakes’ online database and will continue to visit Foster Beach and host clean up days in the future.
Suzanne Meyering: Adopt-a-Beach Loyola Park at Lunt/Greenleaf
Suzanne’s Adopt-a-Beach in Loyola Park focused on collecting beach litter and measuring water quality during 5 beach visits over the summer of 2009. The clean-up was promoted in the community via email and face-to-face interactions in Loyola Park, the Heartland Café, and at the beach. Fifteen dedicated volunteers participated in the planning, promotion and cleanup, collecting more than 20 pounds of litter over the summer.
Go Against the Flow
Jeffrey Nolish: One More Care Giver Giving and Caring: Water Conservation Campaign
Jeffrey provided 86 families of the Lincoln Park Athletic Club Kids Club with water conservation packages containing Save the Source brochures, aerators, and a one-page write-up with an overview of the Chicago Conservation Corps, aerator installment directions, and educational resources found on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Kid Website.
Kevin Anderson: Promoting Voluntary Residential Water Metering in North Center and Lincoln Square
Kevin’s goal in piloting this project was to demonstrate the value of water from the Great Lakes watershed and encourage his community to voluntarily switch to metered water service. Nine residents signed up to convert to metered service and many more were educated about the importance of water conservation and metering. The water conservation and monetary savings from this project are still being monitored in his community.
Roll out the Barrel
Adrienne Nothnagel: Roscoe Rain Barrel Distribution
Adrienne distributed 41 rain barrels and 13 compost bins at the Roscoe Village Garden Walk where she and her project team set up a ‘Green Center.’ In addition to picking up pre-reserved bins or barrels, residents were provided with city recycling brochures and were encouraged to ask questions regarding City greening initiatives and green lifestyle choices.
Audrey Fischer: Rain Barrel Warm Up
Audrey housed and sold 56 rain barrels and 5 composters in her Beverly Hills store, Beverly Pet, and at the Beverly Garden Walk in June of this year – this amounts to over 80 thousand gallons of water diverted from the sewers each year and 55 thousand gallons conserved. Audrey also volunteered at Taste of Chicago and Lollapalooza, touting the benefits of rain barrels, dark skies initiatives and other environmental actions one can take in the city.
Carl Breving: Rain Barrel Education and CFL Distribution at the Midsommerfest in Andersonville
Carl set up a booth at the Midsommarfest in order to distribute 1000 CFLS, instructing people to pass one on to a friend, and also provided information on biking, vermicomposting, and rain barrels. He was able to obtain impressive donations and estimates that his project will save up to 32,850 kW-hours of electricity each year if the bulbs are used at least 2 hours a day.
Erin House: Roll Out the Barrel! – Rain Barrel Distribution
Erin and her project team held a rain barrel education and distribution event in the North Center/Ravenswood neighborhood this summer. Erin raised significant interest in her event through an extensive local media advertising campaign, including the Alderman’s newsletter and website. In addition to the barrel distribution, Erin helped raise awareness about the problems caused by storm water run-off and how rain barrels can help to alleviate these issues.
Jay Nelson: Rainbarrel distribution event with the Greater South Loop Association (GSLA)
Jay worked with the Greater South Loop Association (GSLA) to present a water conservation awareness workshop to 35 local residents. Workshop participants learned about both city efforts and individual actions being taken to reduce storm water runoff. Following the workshop, Jay sold rain barrels to residents interested in taking immediate action.
Jill Caly: Roll Out the Barrel and Compost Sale
As part of a weekend long yard sale at her Ukrainian Village apartment, Jill sold and educated attendees and passerbys about the benefits of rain barrels, composters and other environmental initiatives that residents could apply in their homes.
Julie Peterson: Rain Barrel Demonstration and Giveaway in Lincoln Square
Julie worked with community members to distribute 20 rainbarrels in her Ravenswood neighborhood. She and four other volunteers assisted in delivering and installing the barrels and provided tips for use and maintainance. She discovered from followup surveys that the barrels reduced flooding. Julie plans to conduct more rain barrel distribution days in her neighborhood in the future.
Leah Patriarco: Rain Barrel Distribution and Demonstration in Uptown
Leah Patriarco led a rain barrels distribution and demonstration in Uptown. 18 barrels were distributed to individuals and non-profit organizations.
Mark K. Johnston: Rain Barrel & Composter Distribution
Mark held a community class about storm water run-off and management, followed by a rain barrel and compost bin distribution event. The class was scheduled a few weeks before the distribution to raise awareness about water management and the importance of rain barrels. At the actual distribution, Mark prepared information tables on installing and maintaining rain barrels and composters. Approximately 50 rain barrels and 47 composters were sold at Northside College Preparatory High School in North Park on the day of the event.
Michelle Kaicener: Roll Out the Barrel in the West Walker Community
To encourage stormwater management and water conservation in her neighborhood, Michelle and her project team held a rain barrel distribution event at the Crafty Beaver store in the West Walker neighborhood. Through impressive advertising, Michelle’s team attracted 30 people to purchase rain barrels, which will result in more than 29,000 gallons of water being conserved in her community each year.
Monica Garcia: Compost Bin Sale
Monica and her project team held a compost bin sale in the Edgewater neighborhood. To ensure the project’s success, she teamed with her block’s recycling captain who in turn reached out to active community members. This resulted in the team selling 48 composters exclusively through word of mouth. Monica and her project team also collected used and broken electronics and recycled them at the Goose Island Household Hazardous Waste Facility.
Morgan Conlon: Portage Park Rain Barrel and Compost Bin Distribution
Morgan hosted a rain barrel and compost bin distribution event for residents of the Portage Park neighborhood. Morgan raised awareness for his event through the Portage Park Advisory Council. Through successful promotion, Morgan sold 50 outdoor composters and 44 rain barrels.