Go Green Park Ridge asked Vanessa about her role in stepping up to be our "Point Person" to get commercial composting up and running in Park Ridge!  Please email vanessahill75@gmail.com for more information on how you can get bi-weekly pickup for compostables at YOUR residence!

GGPR:  Do you see an important connection with the role you play in spreading awareness of composting and our future on this planet?  Would you like others in our community to know more about your efforts?


Vanessa: As a city kid, I never really had a relationship with growing food or thinking about how to use food waste to best impact the planet.  It wasn't until moving to Park Ridge three years ago that we started with a few tomato plants and began to understand how valuable compost can be to the growing process.  We began to compost ourselves and our food gardens have expanded to take over almost all of the border areas of our yard.  Seeing how much of our daily waste was able to be composted instead of being thrown away was eye opening.  As I heard about other communities piloting commercial composting programs and the additional waste items that can be composted commercially, I was excited.  Thankfully, Go Green Park Ridge was able provide some experience and know-how to help us begin our own pilot.  With so many issues facing our planet today, it is sometimes difficult to feel you can impact anything on your own. It was a wonderful experience to see my small efforts translate into something tangible and I feel lucky to live in such a great community. 

Meet Lauren Maloney, Denise Reeder, and Jenny Duerkop of the Lincoln Seed Library

 
Do you see important connections with the role you play in our community and our future on this planet?  Would you like others in our community to know more about your efforts?
 
“Three years ago, with the decline of heirloom seeds being grown and in danger of being lost in our area, the Lincoln Seed Library was created! The Lincoln Seed Library shares our love of seeds with students, families and the community. We offer heirloom seeds (saved consistently for at least 50 years) for flowers, veggies and herbs; we "check them out" in the spring and hope our seed library members have a great growing season, then in the fall our members save seeds from their best plants and we "check them in." There is no charge, we just ask for a name and email address to register our members.
 
Not many people save seeds anymore and we hope that the LSL will expose more people to the joy of Purple Carrots, Mini Chocolate Peppers, and Thomas Jefferson Blue Buttons. We are proud that our LSL sustainability footprint has grown to include worm bins for vermicomposting and we have community volunteers plant our heirloom seeds in early spring. With the help of our growing lights we are now able to offer seedlings as well as seeds in May and June during our member checkouts.
 
Denise Reeder, Library Information Specialist, Jenny Duerkop, Seed Library Coordinator, and Lauren Maloney, volunteer, are all excited to share the Lincoln Seed Library with local students and everyone in the community!”
 
For more information about the Lincoln Seed Library,
please contact: 
​dreeder@d64.org

Erick Huck, Pak Ridge Park District
MLA, PLA, ASLA
Facilities and Parks Planner
ehuck@prparks.org
 
Do you see important connection with the role you play in the Park District and our future on this planet?  Would you like others in our community to know more about your efforts? 
 
“Yes! My efforts with the Park Ridge Park District to establish native natural areas, restore a vibrant urban forest, and utilize native plant materials are part of a global effort to design a built environment that is inclusive of natural systems.  The positive impacts of small design moves like utilizing native plants in our parks can:

1. reduce our community’s carbon footprint
2. promote water conservation
3. strengthen our urban ecology

 
At a global-scale, our myriad local impacts can promote positive change.  By showing that sustainable buildings and landscapes are also aesthetically beautiful, I hope others in our community and throughout the Greater Chicagoland Area are inspired.  Together, we can set an example and design a better environment for future generations.”