Maine South Senior, Catherine Vittallo: December ChangeMaker and Go Green Park Ridge intern12/15/2019  "We learned a lot from this waste audit. Over two bins of recycling were placed in the trash with remaining liquid as well as a lot of other food which was wasted." Hi, my name is Catherine Vittallo. I’ve been working with SWANCC (Solid Waste Association of North Cook County), Go Green Park Ridge, as well as the environmental club at my high school to make the cafeteria specifically more environmentally friendly. We are starting with the huge recycling issue ... it’s nonexistent. A couple long term goals are to save electricity in vending machines, reduce plastic use, as well as implement more water filtrations in the school.
I've also been trying to promote the use of ecosia more - the search engine that plants trees. It's basically the same as google except that they use their profit to plant trees where they are needed the most. Specifically to make steps for a greener cafeteria, Mrs. Lauren Maloney and I applied for a SWANCC grant to implement recycling stations into the cafeteria. This way, students are forced to have a choice of where to put their trash; recycling, landfill, or compost. Currently, their only option is the trash and that's not ok. Additionally, I've also met with Dr. Collins and Mr. Berendt at my school about putting up posters around the school and in classes above recycling on what should and shouldn't be recycled. The problem is most people still don't know what to recycle. Implementing signs would be extremely helpful so that the trash is correctly sorted right away. One last thing Dr. Collins and I are working on is saving electricity. Starting small with the vending machines, but working towards hiring a dedicated person to turn everything off at the end of the night. This would not only save the school a ton of money but save a lot of electricity at the same time. A future goal of mine is to use social media such as facebook and instagram to share current events about the environment. Most people don't understand the little things that they can do to make a difference. Even at the end of my internship if only a couple more people know small alterations they can make to their everyday routines to better the planet, I would be extremely happy.
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 Her students learn how to learn, so they can succeed in school and life!
GGPR: Do you see important connections with the role you play in our community and our future on this planet? Laura: Yes! Compass has purchased a Cupanion bottle with a Fill It Forward bar code and a green T-Shirt for our clients to show our support for going green. Each time our students fill up the water bottle the student scans the barcode on top of the bottle and then gets feedback on what water project is currently in progress. We believe the less paper and plastic cup waste we produce will help lower our environmental footprint on the earth. The Cupanion,Fill It Forward, partnership allows our students to make a difference in the lives of individuals that do not have access to clean water and it also lets our students see how much they are saving in carbon emissions. Recently, we have also begun recycling paper by putting bins around the office. Each week we empty the bins and take the recyclables home. This way we are saving paper from contamination and increasing its recyclability. GGPR: 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?
Heidi: Absolutely! I created the Facebook group this past April because we are gardening enthusiasts and wanted to connect with other local enthusiasts and focus a bit more on fruit/vegetable gardens. We always start our plants from seed, but we plant more than we need to make sure our seedlings survive. Once we know we have what we need we like to give away our other seedlings instead of them just going to waste. Once the garden gets started we usually have too much produce and again would rather share than go to waste. There was a much larger interest in the Facebook group than I originally thought. We do have a lot of members, but I would like to see more posts and definitely more sharing of ideas, plants and produce. It’s still new so hopefully it’ll grow in that direction! GGPR: 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? Dr Nham: As a part of our local community, we absolutely feel that we have a certain level of responsibility to make efforts to protect our environment. As a small business, we may not be able to make a huge impact, but we hope we can set an example that will encourage others to make small steps towards becoming more eco-friendly. Some of the steps we've taken in our office are:
GGPR: 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?
JEN: For years, I spent my time as a marketer in positions where I didn't truly feel like I was making a positive impact. About two years ago, I made the change and took a position with Verde Energy Efficiency Expert, where I believed in their mission to help our Chicagoland neighborhoods like Park Ridge, become energy efficient, and to help create more sustainable futures for the businesses and organizations that make our communities so great. I feel much more content, and fulfilled waking up every day feeling like I'm doing a small part to help move the needle in reducing our cities dependence on coal as well as reducing our collective carbon footprint. Verde Energy Efficiency Experts is an L3C, which is a low-profit social enterprise venture with a goal of benefitting society, not maximizing revenue. While at Verde, one of my proudest accomplishments has been the creation of the Light the Way grant program, which awards organizations with the gift of energy efficiency, a gift that lowers their daily operational costs, so that they can, in turn, use that money to further their mission. The entire Verde team works hard every day to streamline the process and make energy efficiency an easy and obvious decision for the private and public sector, and we're happy to do it. As a Park Ridge Chamber of Commerce member, I'm heading a committee to help businesses become aware of the resources available to them to be more sustainable. So far, we've announced the Green Star Business Award program, which looks to recognize businesses in Park Ridge that have made outstanding efforts in sustainability practices. My hope is to grow awareness, but also to demonstrate to our businesses that sustainability not only helps our community, but it is an important part of them preparing for the future, as well as attracting new generations of patrons that want to support businesses making these sorts of impactful changes. My husband, Dan and I alongside our three children, Charlie, Hazel and Theodore and dog, Phil are residents in Park Ridge and hope to be here for many years to come. Seeing our town make greener strides over the last year has been very exciting. I also recently joined the City of Park Ridge Sustainability Task Force. We have an amazingly tight-knit community, and we can do great things when we come together. GGPR: 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?
DEANNA: For me, Going Green started with a reusable straw and from there I was able to incorporate other things like bringing reusable veggie bags to the grocery store and Farmers Markets, traveling with a reusable water bottle on my weekly flights to NYC, ditching plastic ziplock bags - simple stuff that I could tweak in my own life to make an overall impact on waste. When I started my business, Outta Thyme Veggie Butcher, I made a conscious decision to use packaging that could be reused, recycled and composted, to compost all of the veggie waste and to encourage customers to bring their own shopping bags – as I wasn’t providing plastic ones. I loved talking to customers about seasonal produce and the best way to prep, pair, cook and eat them BUT it was also a great opportunity to talk about why I chose to ‘Go Green’ with my business and how they could join in on this great initiative. Something as simple as bringing back their reusable plastic container for their next Veggie Butcher order was a huge win in cutting down on waste and incentive for them, as they received a discount on their order. We made some great progress during the 2018 Market Season, we are excited to be back in 2019! For the past several years, a small group of sustainability-minded members of St. Luke’s Lutheran Church have been working to help the congregation operate more sustainably. Go Green Park Ridge Members Cindy Grau and Carol Becker are part of this energetic team along with Jeff Greve and Jim Pearson. It’s a matter of Christian stewardship to reduce waste and save money for more charitable purposes. Here are a few examples that Go Green Park Ridge would like to recognize the St Luke’s Green Team for: St Luke’s has a sustainable perennial garden managed by Master Gardeners. This group has become the go-to people for all things related to managing the grounds sustainably. Additionally, one year ago, a major drainage project was undertaken to ensure that all rainwater on the property is managed on-site with tiling, French drains and a rain garden. St Luke’s held a Bike to Church Sunday that eventually led to the installation of new bike racks adjacent to the parking lot. These ensure bike safety while more and more members begin to think about biking to church anytime the weather is good. The bike racks were made possible by memorial donations from members who are not on the committee, but still want to support Green Team projects. Sustainability efforts also extend to larger community events! St. Luke’s is the host to Sunday Night Suppers prepared and served on a rotating basis by many congregations in the community. The St Luke’s Green Team has recently made an impact on this weekly project by developing and implementing a composting program. Thanks to the cooperation of everyone who works on the supper service, the weekly meal has reduced its waste from several garbage cans full to only a few small bags of trash each week. Everything else, including eating utensils, plates, cups and food is composted with Collective Resource, Inc.  On October 29, 2018, Kristi will speak at an important forum in Milwaukee, WI. We are so proud of the fact that Kristi's efforts in Park Ridge are recognized beyond our community. The Midwest Grows Green Lawn & Land Forum is a collaborative effort coordinated by advocacy experts and sponsors in the turf management industry. It's an annual event to document, summarize, and improve the state of Integrated Pest Management and Natural Lawn Care policies and practices locally, regionally, and nationally. All summaries, findings, and resources developed from this forum will remain open source to turf managers, policymakers, and individuals interested in applying IPM policies and programs to their work. Maine Park (pictured) has been our first official Pesticide Free Park in Park Ridge. GGPR: Do you see important connections with the role you play in our community and our future on this planet? Kristi: Absolutely! The decisions made regarding maintenance of the Parks impacts the users of our Parks, my staff that maintain the Parks and the future of our planet. When decisions are being made regarding products to use on the Parks, great care and much thought is put into making those decisions. GGPR: Would you like others in our community to know more about your efforts? Kristi: I think that word regarding our efforts to be environmentally responsible in the care of our parks is spreading more each year. We hope this will allow the users of our parks to feel safe in using our parks. We also hope that by setting a good example and sharing knowledge, we can help residents decide what is right for their families in regard to turf care at their own homes.  Do you see an important connection with the role you play in spreading environmental awareness and our future on this planet? Park Ridge is one of 23 communities that is part of the Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County (SWANCC), and as the Recycling and Education Director, I have had the privilege of educating and assisting the following groups with waste prevention and recovery initiatives through presentations, grants and programs: ● Chamber of Commerce ● Churches ● Go Green Park Ridge ● Library ● Municipal Staff - Coordinating special material collections (electronics, paper shredding, pharmaceuticals & sharps, fluorescent light bulbs and mercury items) ● Rotary Club ● School District 64 Would you like others in our community to know more about your efforts? As a resident of Park Ridge, it does my heart good to see that citizens and municipal staff are dedicated to implementing steps to be a more sustainable community. It is important to work together and share our expertise, and “Education empowers us to make changes where needed!” Information about the Agency’s programs and resources can be found at: Building A Sustainable Future: Go Green Park Ridge Changemakers Many people may not realize it, but Tim's efforts reach far and wide! Tim cares for our environment in many roles. He is a great asset in Park Ridge! Tim Milburn has over 35 years of technical and commercial experience in energy and environmentally-related fields. He has been active as a business leader and practicing engineer in projects related to waste-to-energy, biofuels, materials recovery and recycling, municipal and industrial by-product management, alternative fuels for transportation (like electric and natural gas vehicles), renewable energy and energy efficiency, including programs in the US, Asia, Europe, and North and South America. He owns and operates an environmental/energy consulting and technology solutions company, called Green Ways 2Go, based in Park Ridge, focusing on green solutions in power and transportation. Tim is a member of GGPR and is on the Park Ridge Community Health Commission, a team of volunteers who are working with the City to establish sustainable practices and programs within Park Ridge, including developing a Sustainability Plan. This planning step will follow the Greenest Region Compact 2 Resolution signed by Mayor Maloney in September 2017. This Resolution states that the City is committed to sustainable practices. Key objectives of the Sustainability Plan are to find ways to increase the adoption of renewable energy, reduce energy consumption, reduce petroleum consumption and to better manage waste and water resources for Park Ridge homes, businesses, schools, park district and the City. Tim is also on the Executive Committee of the Northwest Cook County Sierra Club, a member of US DOE’s Chicago Area Clean Cities Steering Team and the Illinois Solar Energy Association and represents Park Ridge on the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus Environmental Committee. Tim is a life-long Park Ridge resident and lives with his wife, Tracy, near Carpenter school.  |
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