The Greening of Chicago

This month the staff at shutter soul wanted to do something a little different for the monthly artist spotlight.  Moving forward, the monthly spotlight will include not only local Chicago artists, but periodically the spotlights will also include updates on Chicago civic, environmental, cultural, and social welfare organizations and events that are working to make Chicago the best city in the country. Okay, we're not going to lie we're slightly biased about the last statement. Well without further adeau, shutter soul is proud to announce the new monthly artist and community spotliight.  Just in time for Earth day we're spotlighting the green civic and community organizations dedicated to promoting the environmental health of Chicago for all Chicagoans.

Spotlight by Tedd Strom

Urbs in Horto (The City in the Garden): The Greening and Regreening of Chicago

 

The official motto of Chicago is Urbs in Horto, latin for City in Garden and Chicago is working to that end through an aggressive tree planting initiative (over 400,000 have been planted so far), the creation and landscaping of 63 miles of medians,  the development of community gardens throughout the city, a revamped recycling program, the most green rooftops in the county, the most LEED  green and energy certified buildings in the country, over 120 miles of bike lanes for alternative transportation (over 150 total planned by 2015 in Chicago's Bike 2015 plan), 63 miles of the development of a comprehensive Chicago Climate Action plan dedicated to cutting carbon emissions and promoting the general health of Chicago's environment, and the transformation of of former brownfield industrial areas with mixed use green space and corporate stewardship. 

The greening of Chicago over the past two decades is a testament to Mayor Daley's pledge to make Chicago the greenest city in America.  It's a pledge that certainly has its challenges.  Chicago's initial growth as a major manufacturing center created a staggering amount of air born and water based pollution, both in Chicago's Lake Michigan and feeder rivers including the Chicago river and the Calumet river.    The city that once reversed the flow of the Chicago river to move waste away from Lake Michigan is continuing to contend with waterborne waste from manufacturers and future threats to it's ecosystem.  Abadoned steel mills in South and East Chicago in the Calumet region have left the last remaining open lands on the lakefront a barren wasteland full of steel product byproducts, include slag and vacant contaminated buildings.  With every set back and enviromental hazard, the city is working to balance corporate environmental stewardship with green space initiatives for all.  While the challenges are many, the focus  is long term to benefit the environmental and economic health of the region.

William Olson from Greenbean.com noted Chicago's dedication to both environmentally and economically challenged parts of Chicago by stating in a 2009 article, "As part of an effort to stimulate sustainable and equitable economic development in one of the more socioeconomically distressed areas of the region, the City of Chicago is sponsoring one of the largest sustainable neighborhood revitalization developments in the country. Consisting of 1,140 acres in the South Chicago neighborhood, the Leadership for Energy and Environmental Design for Neighborhood Development (LEED ND) plan will serve as a guide to the city for sustainable redevelopment on the south side for the next 25 years.The importance of transit is underscored by the sheer size of the planning area. Encompassing acreage roughly the size of Chicago’s Loop, the redevelopment area is bounded by 79th Street and 93rd Street to its north and south, respectively, and extends easterly from Commercial Avenue to the shore of Lake Michigan. Comprising a large chunk of the plan is the former home of U.S. Steel aligning the lake—presently a brownfield unsuitable for development and an eyesore unseemly to local residents."

The environmental tasks and challenges to make Chicago the greenest city are formidable, but there are a number of ways that you can help.   I've included a snapshot of a couple of organizations, private and public, that are working to promote the overall qualiy of life in Chicago from increasing the number of folks recycling to preserving open green space and greenway connections throught Chicagoland.  Here are the mission statements of six very important city wide organizations along with a couple of notes on how you get involved.

Openlands

Founded in 1963, Openlands protects the natural and open spaces of northeastern Ilinois and the surrounding region to ensure cleaner air and water, protect natural habitats and wildliefe, and help balance and enrich our lives.

www.openlands.org/

Chicago Wilderness

Chicago Wilderness is an alliance of organizations that champions biodiversity and its contribution to the quality of life in the urban, suburban, and rural areas of the Chicago Metropolitan region. Together, we work across the region to:

1. Raise awareness and knowledge about the biodiversity and value of nature in our region, our neighborhoods, our workplaces, our schools, and our homes through formal and informal education.
2. Increase and diversify public participation and environmental stewardship.
3. Build alliances among the diverse constituencies throughout the Chicago region to foster a sustainable relationship with nature.
4. Facilitate applied natural and social science research, best practices development, and information sharing.
5. Generate broad-based public and private support and attract resources to achieve our goals

www.chicagowilderness.org/

Chicago Tree Initiative

The Chicago Trees Initiative is a city-wide, public-private effort to plant, care for and advocate for trees. This means many more trees will be planted in our great city, which is already known for its green urban spaces. Every Chicago resident - and indeed, anyone who cares about trees has an important role to play. The goal invites all of us to be involved in planting and caring for trees on both public and private land.

The Mission of the Chicago Trees Initiative is to inspire a social and civic movement that will involve all of us in meeting the goal of expanding Chicago's tree canopy.

egov.cityofchicago.org/chicagotrees/

Friends of the River

Friends of the Chicago River is the only organization solely dedicated to the Chicago River. Since 1979, Friends has been working to improve the health of the Chicago River for the benefit of people and wildlife and by doing so, has laid the foundation for the river to be a beautiful, continuous, easily accessible corridor of open space in the Chicago region.

Friends’ work spans the entire 156-mile Chicago River system and its surrounding watershed. The organization focuses on a greener river with healthy habitat, an accessible river that people can use and enjoy, and a river cared for by a broad group of supporters. Friends works in partnership with municipalities, businesses, community groups, schools, peer organizations, government agencies and individuals on projects that benefit the river.

The Friends of the River believe the river can be both ecologically healthy and a catalyst for community revitalization.

In 2006, Friends opened the seasonal McCormick Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum in a landmarked bridgehouse on the Chicago RIverwalk to provide new access and understanding of the dynamic relationship between Chicago and its river. Click here for opening hours and information.

chicagoriver.org/home/index.php

Chicago Recycling Coalition

The Chicago Recycling Coalition is an organization of people just like you – who believe that effective recycling and reuse programs are integral to a healthy environment. For more than two decades, we have provided recycling education and information to Chicago's citizens while advocating sound recycling policies for our city, county, and state.

chicagorecycling.org/

Chicago Center of Green Technology

Chicago’s CCGT (Chicago Center for Green Technology) building is one of only 5 LEED Platinum-certified buildings in the country.The CCGT is an office building, educational facility, factory, and a “Garden in the City”—so multifunctional components, like a lobby that doubles as a classroom, were devised. Seventy-three percent of the floorplate is daylit, creating sizable energy savings. The building is cooled and heated by geo-exchange heat pumps, and the elevator uses canola oil rather than hydraulic fluid.

Center for Green Technology