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!

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?

Ryan Tracy, Beer On The Wall: We absolutely feel that as part of our local community as well as the beer community that each business decision we make should also have some degree of consideration towards environmental concerns.  Brewers themselves are making tremendous strides with renewable energy-fueled breweries, and selling their spent grain to farms as feed for animals, so on the retail side of things we wanted to do our part as well.  Our biggest waste is cardboard boxes/trays from which we receive our beer as well as aluminum and glass bottles that are consumed on site.  When we first opened it was very important for us to engage our waste management company and get a recycling program set up for our store.  We estimate about 2/3rds of our waste is cardboard, aluminum, and glass and based on watching our recycling bin fill up about twice as fast as our landfill bin.

In addition, we also have made some small changes within our operation to make ourselves more eco-friendly as well.  To reduce plastic/paper bag waste, we give members of our club a reusable bottle bag, and give them discounts for coming back with it.  Our coffee service uses compostable straws, cups, and lids, and both coffee and beer consumed on-site is served in a re-usable glass.  For theupcoming season we will be adding a new re-usable cups that our patrons can buy, come in and fill up to-go or use to drink from on-site that will also come with a discount just like the bottle bag.  Finally, our point-of-sale system is equipped with capability to send receipts via e-mail or text thus reducing our paper use as well.  

​Happy America Recycles Day! Our Next Change Maker is Alex Babich, an 11 year old at Eugene Field Elementary School. Along with the help and support of his parents, Alex is taking on a community project that is near and dear to his heart, as it honors the loss of his younger sister Kate in June of 2016.  Alex is helping to conserve the planet one plastic bag at a time and provide Benches For Kate throughout Park Ridge in her memory. Alex and his family officially launched Benches For Kate in May 2017.  Here is a special Change Maker interview with Alex conducted by Amy Bartucci, Founder of Go Green Park Ridge.

Did you already have an idea that plastic bags could be recycled into new products before Mr Bennett (aka Girl Scout King) came through with the idea for a collection for a bench for Kate?

Well, sort of!  I had seen a sample bench at Jewel-Osco one time.  But, yes, Mr. Bennett thought of the purple ribbon collection from the trees in Park Ridge. (Jennifer, Alex’s mom added: Scott & his Girl Scout troop collected all the purple ribbons to recycle and also collected the rest of the necessary 500 pounds of plastic for the first bench. It is near the Girl Scout labyrinth at the Wildwood Nature Center.)


Did you think collecting plastic bags would require so much (or so little) work?

I really didn’t know if it would be hard or easy.  I never cared if it was going to be something difficult. It was hard at first, until we got into our current system.  We had to work out timing and scheduling our pickups and how and when it would be best to take the plastic bags to Jewel after we weighed them.  We have a daily pickup at Centennial Fitness Center and we pick up as needed at Maine Park and Centennial Activity Center.  We drop off plastic about two times a month, with help from a friend Mrs Gonzalo, at Jewel on Busse.  People at Jewel have been very nice!

What kinds of things have you ever made out of trash?

Well, recycling ideas in our family usually came from Kate.  She would happily make things out of old boxes all the time.  She was the real recycler.  I am glad to be doing this now though.  I can make a difference by collecting 500 lbs of plastic for each bench.  We have one bench at the nature center, one at St Andrews Lutheran, and one coming up!

Did you ever hear of the old adage “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure?”

Yes.  I never thought of it that way, but I do now!

Do you practice or remember a certain thought, phrase, or visual memory when you are doing something so special in Kate’s name in Park Ridge?

Yes, I envision a cleaner ocean! I want to save marine animals.

Tell us about the weighing task you take on. Is it easy? Hard? Educational? Fun?
 
Weighing is really the easy part.  We leave the bags of plastic in our garage until we weigh each collection before taking them to Jewel for Trex – the company that makes the benches.  We use a spring scale.  My mom keeps a spreadsheet that we total up our weights and we contact Trex so they know how much plastic we have collected towards the next bench in Park Ridge.

What are some things that could make your job easier?

Plastic bottles - keep them out of the bins!

What can others do to help you further?
 
We use our own larger kitchen garbage bags for the loose bags in the collection bins.  It would be helpful if people tied up their bags into a larger bag because I hang the bags on our scale.  This isn’t necessary though. 

Did you ever think you’d be interviewed for something as usual as a “plastic bag collection”?
 
No!

What’s your favorite part of the Benches For Kate effort?

Pickups make you feel like you’re doing something important - especially on Sundays - we’re doing something together.

What is the strangest item you’ve ever found in a collection bin?
 
A loofah from the shower!

​GGPR:  Do you see an important connection with the role you have played to make your business more environmentally friendly and our future on this planet?  Would you like others in our community to know more about your efforts?

(Holly Recently Shared Her Press Release With Us)
63,180 lbs of hair clippings, 42,122 lbs of hair colour, 109,512 lbs of foil and colour tubes, and 206, 392lbs of
wastepaper, salon bottles, and other paper and plastic items – that’s the amount of waste being tossed out by
hair salons across North America EVERY SINGLE DAY; that’s a whopping total of 421,206 lbs! As a newly
Green Circle Certified Salon, we are proud to announce that Ash & Willow Eco Salon is now part of a
comprehensive recycling and sustainability program that sets out to significantly reduce our industry’s
environmental impact on the planet.

From the sourcing of ingredients to the disposal of packaging and products, the salon and beauty industry has
long posed many challenges to the environment. With this in mind, we wanted to join forces with Green Circle
to take a stand for our planet and work together to reduce our ecological footprint and make our industry more
sustainable. Through our partnership with Green Circle Salons, we will be redirecting what was once
considered garbage out of our water streams and landfills to be repurposed into innovative green solutions.
Starting September 19, all hair clippings, extensions, any excess colour and developer, papers and plastics,
foils, aerosol cans and colour tubes from Ash & Willow Eco Salon will be collected by GCS - effectively cutting
down our salon’s total waste, literally overnight, by 85-95%!

As our customers continue to take increasing interest in the ethical and environmental impacts of their
purchasing power, we wanted to give our customers a genuinely more responsible, and greener choice when it
comes to looking and feeling beautiful. As a member of the GCS network, Ash & Willow empowers our
customers with the ability to vote with their dollars for positive change. By supporting our salon, our customers
have the peace of mind knowing that they are taking meaningful steps to keeping our communities and
environment healthy.

Ash & Willow Eco Salon and Beauty Apothecary
604 Devon
Park Ridge, IL​
773-619- 2128

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.