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General

Sunday, November 18, 2007
1:30 – 5:30pm
North Shore Congregation Israel, 1185 Sheridan Road, Glencoe, IL

Featuring:

• A Green Fair offering environmental solutions
• Experts discussing energy, water issues and opportunities
• Text study led by members of the North Shore Fellowship of Rabbis
• Keynote speech by Rabbi Steve Gutow, Executive Director, Jewish Council for Public Affairs
• Teen-lked Action Projects

For more information, volunteer opportunities or to apply for an exhibit table contact www.jecns.org or email info@jecns.org

— Abby Ashkenazi

Saturday, October 27 was “Make a Difference Day” in our community.
The electronics recycling plant in West Chicago offered free recycling
of electronics and strap metal (normally people pay by the pound for this
service).

Their free recycling is usually offered in April around Earth Day and it is a
very popular event. Knowing that people expected this to occur in the spring,
I tried to make a difference by spreading the word. I told friends, neighbors
and co-workers that my husband and I would fill our truck and take everyone’s discards.
I appreciate SIMS for offering us this opportunity.

— Teri Hill

When we bring leftovers home from a restaurant, I always ask for a piece of aluminum foil rather than a big Styrofoam container. Most of the time I’m taking home my kids’ chicken strips, a half a sandwich or a piece of steak and wrapping it in foil does the trick. Also, many restaurants offer “fun” plastic drinking cups for my kids. My 3- and 5-year-olds can handle glasses just fine. If yours can, too, make sure your server knows to just put their water or other beverage in a regular glass. It doesn’t hurt to ask!

— Lily Waal , Park Ridge

Instead of lading your groceries in bags at the register, walk your cart to the car and place groceries in a Storage tote Container with handles. ( I keep 2 in the Van).

Once home you can carry the tote(s) into the house and put groceries away. I put tote (s) right back in my car for future use. I don’t use any bags at all. This also protects your carpet free of any leakage from products.

— Kathy Lee, Dixon

There are ways to live “greenly” that we now take for granted:
-We have a battery powered mulching lawn mower, no paper bags, no gasoline.
-We also use baking soda to replace many cleaning products, good for sinks,
countertops, tubs.
-Also vinegar used undiluted cleans toilets, windows and mirrors.

— M. Gaynor, Skokie

Here’s something I’ve started doing that has made a huge difference in the number of plastic and paper bags I bring home each week: Anytime I go to a store for just 1-2 items and am going straight back to my car, I don’t have the items put in a bag, but carry them as is, or put them in my purse if they’re small enough. There is really no need for a bag in these cases.

— Judy Minsley, Lakewood

I am fortunate to live in an area where I can walk or bike to the grocery store, library, church or post office. It’s great exercise! My washing machine has a suds saver so that machine can reuse the 18 gallons of suds for at least 3 times…… Newspapers are handy to line paper shelves and the date indicates when it’s time to reline! I use a clean dish towel instead of paper toweling to “dry” the damp salad lettuce. I hang my washed rag rugs over the metal back door railing to let them dry in the wind.

— Junita Borg Hemke, Wilmette

When there is a choice of products to fill a need, I ask myself the question, “What will become of this, when I no longer need it?” Recently, this question prompted me to purchase a corn broom with a wood handle rather than a plastic one with synthetic bristles. It’s a no brainer! Everyday choices can add up to a significant impact on the world we live in.

— Rita Brown, Northfield

Four years ago my husband and daughter priced cat condos at a pet store and were astonished at the prices and the simplicity of the construction, so they came home and made our cat one out of two corrugated boxes. They cut a large hole cut in one side of each box and taped them together with packaging tape. For a luxurious touch, carpet was placed on each level. The cat loves his condo on the piano and spends much of the day curled inside.

— Dr. Pat Burke, Downers Grove

Don’t throw away an old discolored towel, washcloth, or blanket. Even if it is slightly frayed or has a hole in it, your local animal shelter will be happy to take it.

— Carol Sir, Elmhurst

I spread the word, I practice my words about being green: I collect cans, plastics and anything recyclable at work, take home to the curb where my village do recycling. I use recyclable more than once before it goes to recycling. I use newspapers and gardening dirt bags to line my gardens beds. I bring my own bags to shop for grocery or other stuff. I recycle/donate old portable phones, eyeglasses, clothes, anything acceptable.

— Anonymous

We stopped wrapping presents a few years ago. For family members we use colorful newspaper ads to cover up boxes on which the names are written with color makers. After opening, the wrapping goes into the recycle bin. For others we use heavy-duty reusable gift bags. Old cutting boards end up in the garden under birdbaths to keep them level. Heavy-duty junkmail pages are folded into boxes.

— Ray Copeland

A user of ONLY cloth bags when I shop, I am constantly on the look out for other ways to walk gently on this earth.

— Julie Daly, Park Ridge

One way I try to be more green is to ask my dry cleaner to forego using the plastic bags for my cleaning; also I recycle our metal hangers. Further, when rinsing dishes for the dishwasher, I don’t leave the water running–I fill the sink with some water and then plug it. I scrape off the excess food and then rinse the dishes in the sink of water and put in the dishwasher.

— Julie Strauss

Being both a dog-owner and city-dweller posed an environmental problem for me. I wanted to be good to my neighbors by picking up my dog’s poop. At the same time, I wanted to be good to the earth by not using plastic bags. They are made with non-renewable resources and never biodegrade. While trying to solve this dilemma, a quick Internet search pointed me to the Biobag Dog (found at www.biobagusa.com). These 100% biodegradable and compostable small dog waste bags are made from corn. I found them online for a price that averaged out to 10 cents per bag. Now I can feel like a good pet-owner, good neighbor, and good earth-dweller!

— Jessica Thompson, Logan Square

Health club: I bring recent magazines from home or the office to the health club for people to read in the sauna or on the treadmill.
The better quality water bottles can be reused a couple of times before being recycled.

For the dog: Old pillows and flannel pillow cases provide many comfortable spots throughout the house and can be washed periodically to provide clean resting areas.

Gift-giving: I use many baskets from previous gifts, i.e. food baskets to make specialized gifts. The baskets are much sturdier than gift bags, so I feel confident using them for breakable items. I use the stuffing that comes in purses for the bottom to provide cushion and desired placement of items. Among the items packed for gifts I always try to enclose favorite books, cd, or dvds that we are no longer using to match the theme of the gift, i.e. the movie “Pot of Gold” (James Stewart) for St. Patrick’s Day.

— Marcia Pierson

Whenever I used to go outside to clean up after my two labrador retreivers, I always managed to step in a large pile of dog poop no matter how carefully I walked upon the lawn. Now I put plastic grocery bag around each foot and tie it at the ankle. I can walk through the yard with no problems – even on wet spring days. When I am ready to come in the house, I simply untie the bags and dispose of them in another plastic bag.

— Linda Verbeke, Lake Bluff

Some of our practices:
1. We save wrapping paper & gift bags and reuse. Or, we wrap gifts in the Tribune Sunday comics.
2. We save the blue bags that the Tribune comes in to wrap up stinky diapers.
3. We use cloth napkins & wash them vs. paper napkins.
4. We grow vegetables in the summer & freeze the extra in containers we have saved throughout the year.
5. I belong to freecycle.org to give away items and obtain items from others for free.
6. We wash & reuse plastic baggies.

— Jan Visser

I’m a very environmentally conscious 20 year old college student who is always looking for ways to make my lifestyle “greener”. Your article, The eco-centrics, was very inspiring and made me happy to know that there are other people who are making efforts to live green. Here’s a list of a few of my green habits:

– Over the summer, biked to my job at Starbucks, even for those 5am shifts.
– My school is on to way to my mom’s workplace, so we carpool everyday.
– I pack my lunch in plastic containers and bring my own silverware.
– I’ve figure out the school printers so that I know how I can print double sided on the printers. And I take the stacks of printed pages left at the printer to reuse at home.
– I reuse my shower towel by letting it air dry between showers.
– I hang my laundry on a clothesline instead of using the dryer.

— Flora Liu

Our family uses our public library all the time. We discovered few years ago that we had too many books, but we didn’t want to stop reading. We decided to save trees by borrowing books from the library and only purchasing books that we know we will use and read again and again in the future, such as a dictionary or a favorite story book.

— Anna Jannak, Tinley Park

I am often inspired (and instructed) by my grandparents’ examples. For instance, they planted evergreen trees on the north and side of their home to protect it from cold wind and snow. They planted trees that lost their leaves during the winter on the south side of their home in order to let more warm sunshine during the winter and to shade the house
in the summer. They hung heavy drapes over windows in the winter in order to better insulate their home. They removed heavy drapes in the summer in order to let cooling breezes into the house.

My Grandmothers incorporated clothing and other fabrics that were not longer useful for making into quilts and rag rugs. They hung wet laundry up outside to dry; in the winter they hung wet laundry up inside to dry — the best place often being over the radiator or close to a heat source.

While I cannot duplicate some of my grandparents’ habits — like saving table scraps and throwing them over the fence to the pigs — I often reflect on their lifestyles and find that I can sometimes translate them into mine in the 21st Century.

— Carolyn Miller, Dekalb, Ill.

I just returned to Chicago after a few months’ absence, so don’t know if you reported on a San Francisco group called
the “Compactors.” I have a December article from the Washington Post talking about the group who agreed not to buy anything new for a year. Recycle, Reuse, Reduce – Regift. Doesn’t apply to some new items that can be determined to be “necessities.”

And speaking of gifts: In our family we do not wrap gifts in toxic gift wrap. We use gift bags (and save them for next year) or package them in more creative ways in recyclable wraps of newspaper, decorated boxes, etc. Our favorite gifts come in huge stockings which we’ve had for years and fill with unwrapped gifts for the recipients.

— Carol Douglas

Women: alternatives to tampons and menstrual pads reduce landfill waste! Rubber menstrual cups in different sizes are easy to find on the Web, last 10 years, and are great for travel or camping.

— Jennifer Zinnecker, Naperville

When going for your walk – take the Plastic Jewel Bag along – pick up garbage as you walk – and then throw the darn thing away full – except recycle the plastic you pick up.

— Sara Noel, Glen Ellyn