Analysis and Viewpoint: For 40 years, a solid waste transfer station in Evanston’s historic Black area
Every day dozens of garbage trucks rumble down Church Street to dump their loads onto the floor of Waste Management’s transfer station at 1711 Church St., a 1.688-acre parcel along the…
CLIMATE WATCH
Protecting trees has deep roots in Evanston history
At the beginning of the last century, smoky air and sewage-filled water plagued Chicago. So when a group of civic-minded residents wrote the 1917 Plan of Evanston, they focused…
Aligning local resources to global impact: Budgeting for climate action
During the month of September, Evanstonians will have a powerful new experience with direct democracy. And climate action is on the ballot. The city’s pilot Participatory Budgeting (PB) process…
Don’t Trash Glass: Evanston businesses sign on to ‘a no-brainer’
In November 2021, I was fortunate to profile an Evanston Township High School senior, Maia Roothaan, in a RoundTable article about her Cookies for Compost effort. She wanted to…
Survey, town hall to let residents weigh in on natural gas use in Evanston
The Building Electrification Working Group – formerly the Natural Gas Phase Out Working Group – will release a public survey this week to gauge Evanston residents’ awareness of and concerns…
environment news
City receives grant to enhance urban forest health in channel-side parks
The City of Evanston has been awarded an $802,500 Urban and Community Forestry Grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service Agency…
Biss: Natural gas phaseout key step toward goal ‘where nobody is burning any fossil fuels’
Effectiveness, grid capacity and future expansions were leading questions at a town hall Wednesday evening on an incoming proposal to phase out…
Free trees: An effort to improve the 5th Ward’s thinner tree canopy
Evanstonians can see the impact of redlining every day, through home values, access to grocery stores and neighborhood infrastructure. You can also…
Revitalizing a hidden treasure
For much of the North Shore Channel’s 100-plus-year history, the land along the drainage canal in Evanston was used infrequently and neglected…
Local produce, local impact: How the 5th Ward is fighting food insecurity
Due to a dearth of major grocery stores, more than 94% of Evanston’s Fifth Ward residents have “limited access to healthy foods,” according…
Evanston buildings install ground source heat pumps, attempt to boost energy efficiency
Installing a geothermal heating and cooling system is an innovative solution some Evanstonians use to reduce their carbon footprints.
Back to school with less waste
It seems like summer just started and, yet, the 2023/24 school year already is upon us. Thinking about the future our children are…
Meet Brian Zimmerman, solid waste junkie
How best to get rid of no-longer-needed “stuff”? Brian Zimmerman, Evanston’s solid waste coordinator, is tackling that challenge.
more environment news
Here’s how Evanston’s new plastic bag ban affects stores – and you
The Evanston City Council voted in May to ban single-use plastic bags at all businesses and charge a 10-cent tax on any non-plastic bags provided to customers at larger stores. The new bag law, Ordinance 1-O-23, takes effect Tuesday, Aug. 1. Todd Nichols, who sells produce at the Downtown Evanston Farmers’ Market, is one of…
Envisioning a circular Evanston
Leaning toward a circular economy We are used to thinking about buying and using stuff as a straight line: Raw materials are manufactured into things we want, which we purchase, use or consume and then dispose of. But what if we can change our thinking to a different model, a regenerating loop? A circular Evanston…
Sustainability team spreads the word about new environmental initiatives
The city hopes to improve 50 homes within the first two years of the Green Homes Pilot Program. Sustainability and resilience manager Cara Pratt spoke with Eighth Ward residents on Thursday evening about the program, which uses public funds to provide environmentally friendly home upgrades. Currently, it is only available for those in the Fifth…
Gardener brings experience, poetry to Civic Center garden
Where can you find a wild and beautiful natural garden? Visit the Morton Civic Center Habitat Garden at Ridge Avenue and Leonard Place, tended by steward Doug Macdonald since 2018. The garden has about 60 species of wildflowers and shrubs plus a few trees. Tags or signs on rocks offer details on many of the…
Local author’s new children’s book spotlights environmental activism
Evanston resident Laurie Lawlor’s most recent non-fiction book, Restoring Prairie, Pond and Woods: How a Small Trail can make a Big Difference, was inspired by the grassroots activism in a small Wisconsin town.
Civic engagement is a powerful form of climate action
April 22 is Earth Day, and here in Evanston it’s an occasion for renewing our commitment to working for a healthier, more sustainable community. For those of us on the city’s Environment Board, that work goes on year-round. A volunteer group appointed by the mayor and confirmed by City Council, the board is charged with…
Getting to know Cara Pratt
The word “sustain” is fascinating: In one definition, it means to prolong in the same manner, such as pressing the pedal on a piano to prolong the resonance of a note. Or, put another way, it means to keep to business as usual, maintain the status quo. In the case of climate change, however, it…
Environment Board aims for more engagement, swift action on plastic bag tax
With more than a dozen people online, the Environment Board deliberated at its virtual meeting on Thursday, March 9, about how to reach more people and foster greater engagement. “When we talk about community engagement, what I hear often in Evanston is that people don’t feel like they’re heard,” said board member Kimberly Marion Suiseeya.…
Biss attends White House environmental meeting
From the City of Evanston On Friday, Jan. 27, Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss joined Vice President Kamala Harris, EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan and state and local leaders from across the country for the White House Summit on Accelerating Lead Pipe Replacement. At the summit, Harris announced a new “Get the Lead Out” partnership, a…
Tree preservation ordinance debated at Environment Board
The city is considering a new tree preservation ordinance, which would mean property owners need a permit to cut down any tree six inches or larger in diameter. Cara Pratt, the city’s sustainability and resilience coordinator, told the Environment Board during its meeting this week the proposed ordinance was based on one in Wilmette. “Our…
The 10 Second Film Festival will showcase environmental films created by District 65 students
Celebrate Earth Week with D65 Climate Action Teams and Citizens’ Greener Evanston on Friday, April 22 at 6:30 p.m. in the Rotary auditorium,1560 Sherman Ave. The event will feature a screening of 10 second environmental films created by District 65 students. The 10 Second Film Festival is an event for the whole family. Come watch…
Learn about Evanston’s Environment Board April 6
The League of Women Voters of Evanston will host a Zoom event at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 6, to educate the community about the Evanston Environment Board. Wendy Pollock and Cherie LeBlanc Fischer, Co-chairs of the Evanston Environment Board, will talk about what interested them about serving on a city board or commission, how…
Eighth grader tackles lead pipe problem in winning environmental short film
Evanston eighth grader Lion Birnecker developed an interest in filmmaking last year. Lion, who is homeschooled, took a couple of online filmmaking classes, including a video-editing class, and decided to submit a film to the One Earth Young Filmmakers Contest, which invites students from third grade through college to create a short film on an…