Our Voices, Green Choices is a blog highlighting green projects and programs happening at the Library as well as providing news about all kinds of "green living" topics both locally and beyond. We want to educate and inspire our community to embrace a greener lifestyle by sharing ideas and conversations with each other.Posts by lmulford
Posted on 05/17/12
Have an old TV or computer monitor you’d like to get rid of, but you’re not sure how to dispose of it? Bring it to SWANCC’s Electronics Recycling Day on Saturday, May 19, at the nearby Wheeling Public Works Facility, 77 W. Hintz in Wheeling. Remember, as of this year, the Electronics Products Recycling and Reuse Act (SB2313) bans TVs and computer monitors from Illinois landfills. This is a great, green way to rid yourself of those old clunky items.
You can always drop off smaller electronics like phones, iPods, and laptops for recycling at the library. The collection bin is located near the Returns Desk. Don’t forget, this Saturday the library is hosting a Cool Tools Day on the first floor. Come learn about all types of electronic devices as representatives from Apple and Best Buy will be here to give demos and answer questions. There will also be a drawing for store gift cards.
Tags: Cool Tools Day, electronic recycling, SWANCC
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Posted on 05/14/12
'Tis the season to party – BBQs, grad parties, holidays – summer fun is in full swing! But parties also create an abundance of trash. According to the Clean Air Council, we toss out enough paper and plastic cups, forks, and spoons to circle the equator 300 times per year. Make a difference in the environment this season by making your party planning a little greener.
Join us on Sunday, May 20, at 2 p.m. for "Green Party Planning," a panel presentation of green vendors who will share tips for summer and future party planning with an environmentally friendly focus. From the invitations to the food to the decorations, come hear the pros and cons of hosting a green party. Register.
You might also want to check out Simply Green Parties by Danny Seo. He offers lots of tips for fun and creative green entertaining. Read some of his ideas here.
Do you have a tip for planning a more eco-friendly party? Let us know here or on our Facebook page.
Don’t forget, the library is collecting used eyeglasses during May and June and continues to be a collection site for small electronics. Check here for a complete list of accepted recyclables. Both collection bins are located near the Returns Desk.
Posted on 05/01/12
Many Arlington Heights students are learning outdoors these days by digging, planting and nurturing their school gardens. These gardens are serving as outdoor classrooms offering opportunities to learn about different types of gardening, while observing and studying our natural ecosystems.
Here are a few examples of local school gardening activities:
- A sensory garden that includes a new butterfly garden at Windsor School
- A vegetable garden with a pollinator patch at Ivy Hill School, plus the foundations for a prairie garden. The prairie garden will include plantings of native shrubs and plants. You can view photos of their student gardeners here.
- Jim Platt, former owner of Sylvia’s Flowers in Arlington Heights has instituted a greenhouse renovation project at Miner School, an NSSEO facility for individuals with developmental disabilities. Students are assisting Mr. Platt with the project and, in turn, learning important life skills.
The gardens have also been a great way to involve the community. Support and encouragement for these programs is being provided by parents and families, school personnel, as well as the expertise and guidance from local Master Gardeners. One of the outcomes of this hands-on learning experience is reconnecting students with our community’s rich traditions. Many of the farming techniques that were used by immigrants that flocked to this prairie town 125 years ago are now coming into vogue again, as sustainability and ecological cycles have been researched and found to be “tried and true”. Students are creating a foundation for a green future by learning to nurture school gardens for those that will follow them.
When you drop by the library this month, be sure to view all the student artwork from Arlington Heights School District 25. For the past 20 years, the library has set aside the month of May to feature works from all nine schools that highlight the art units and artistic techniques that students have learned throughout the current school year.
Posted on 04/20/12
Growing up in Chicago, I remember spring break week was always called Cleanup Week and was always in April. To this day, I still think of April as a time for cleaning out all of the clutter that’s hanging around closets, garages, basements, and that proverbial “junk drawer”.
This year, it’s easy to be green while you clean out the clutter because the Village of Arlington Heights is holding a
Spring Sweep Recycling Day on Saturday, April 28 from 9 a.m. – Noon at the Nokia Siemens campus, 1475 W. Shure Drive in Arlington Heights. They will have a number of recycling stations for all sorts of items including bikes, shoes, school supplies and more. They will also be passing out light bulbs, tree saplings and lots of information on gardening, recycling and the emerald ash borer. Time to get a jump on that junk drawer!
Don’t forget – the library is still collecting small electronics and, during the month of May, will again be collecting used eyeglasses. Look for both drop-off boxes near the Returns Desk.
Posted on 03/15/12
Have you noticed the ribbons tied on so many of the trees in Arlington Heights? Imagine if all of those trees ended up being removed. The Emerald Ash Borer beetle has now set up shop in AH and is threatening the aesthetics of our beautiful tree-lined streets. To see what a street might look like after the trees are removed, check out the photos from Mt. Prospect. This is the dilemma our village is currently facing.
There are over 13,000 ash trees on public property in Arlington Heights. One-third of those line all of our parkways. This figure doesn’t even address how many are in homeowners’ yards. Many residents do not even know if they have ash trees.
There has never been a better time to live up to our village motto, "City of Good Neighbors”, as we work together to do everything we can to stare down this natural disaster. A good place to start is to join in the community conversation about EAB at the library on Tuesday, March 20 at 7 p.m. in the Hendrickson Room.
There is a lot to understand about this challenge and Scott Schirmer, Plant and Pesticide Specialist with the IL Department of Agriculture will be discussing EAB and the options that are available to help preserve our neighborhood's trees. Dru Sabatello, Forester for Arlington Heights will also be present to talk about the impact on the village and the People’s Choice Program.
Posted on 12/29/11
Here’s one new year's resolution you should easily be able to keep - recycling your old electronic devices. Many of you may have received a new electronic gift or two this past holiday and now want to get rid of the old outdated ones. It’s now easier than ever to find locations for recycling your unwanted items.
That’s good news because effective January 1, 2012, the Electronics Products Recycling and Reuse Act (SB2313) adds 14 new items to its list of electronic products that are banned from going into Illinois landfills. The ban is a result of research that confirms the harmful environmental effects of these items on landfills, while many of the components and metals in them can be successfully recycled for new uses. Items banned include:
- TVs and monitors
- Computers, including laptops and tablets
- Computer accessories (keyboards, mouse devices)
- Printers and scanners
- Fax machines
- VCRs and DVD players/recorders
- Video game consoles
- Portable digital music players
- Small-scale servers
- Digital converter boxes
- Cable/satellite receivers
The Library continues to collect small electronics in the blue bin near the Checkout Desk. We are partnering with Recycling Avenue, a non-profit company run by a group of physically challenged young adults wanting to make a difference. There are tax-deductible forms attached to the bin for you to record your donation. Check here for a list of acceptable items.
If you have a number of items to recycle, both large and small, you might want to consider an upcoming electronic recycling drive being held at the Countryside Center in Palatine on Friday, January 6. For more information, click here.
The Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County (SWANCC) has a very good list of sources for recycling all kinds of electronic items. The list includes nearby retailers such as Abt Electronics, Apple stores, and Best Buy. Some even offer gift cards when you trade-in old items. Even the nearby Goodwill store will take old computers. For a small fee, SWANCC will even arrange to pick up all your items. For the complete list, click here.
Have a happy, healthy and greener new year.
Posted on 12/01/11
The surrounding neighborhoods are beginning to see the light – holiday lights that is. If your to-do list for the weekend includes the annual stringing of holiday lights, here’s a green idea you should know about.
If you have strands of lights that no longer work, or you’re taking the plunge this year and buying all new energy-efficient LEDs, there are now local drop-off sites for recycling lights and keeping them out of our landfills. Last year, 28 area communities contributed more than 51,000 pounds of holiday lights for recycling instead of throwing them in the trash.
In Arlington Heights, you can bring your old lights to:
Public Works
222 N Ridge Avenue
Monday - Friday: 7:30 am to 3:00 pm
November 21, 2011 - February 24, 2012
(847) 368-5800
Health Department
33 S Arlington Heights Road
Monday - Friday: 8:00 am to 5:00 pm
November 21, 2011 - February 24, 2012
(847) 368-5760
Check here for recycling locations in other nearby suburbs.
Another green and giving option is to donate them to Clearbrook’s Old Holiday Lights Recycling Program. Proceeds they derive from selling the recycled strands provide programs and services to children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Check here for locations.
Happy Holidays!
Tags: Clearbrook, holiday lights recycling, LEDs
Posted on 11/15/11
For the last 14 years, November 15th has been celebrated across the United States as America Recycles Day. This is the only nationally recognized day dedicated to promoting recycling. With statistics showing that each American produces about four pounds of waste every day, it’s more important than ever to take an active role in promoting recycling and to seek out more ways to recycle waste at home, at work, and at our schools.
An excellent way to become more educated about recycling is to attend the library’s program, “Choose to be GREENer – Know Your Options” on Tuesday, November 29 at 7 p.m. in the Hendrickson Room. Mary Allen, Recycling and Education Director for SWANCC, Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County, will talk about the latest technology in recycling as well as resources for disposing of items such as:
- paint
- pharmaceuticals/sharps
- large and small electronics
- batteries
- CFLs and more.
You’ll learn about new ways to incorporate green living habits into your daily life and how to be a greener consumer.
Here are a few recycling ideas that you can do right now:
- Vow to never use another plastic water bottle.
- Get a new reusable shopping bag and keep it in your car.
- Bring your unwanted clothes or household items to a local resale shop.
- Bring your old laptop, cell phone or other small electronics to the library’s small electronics recycling bin near the Checkout Desk.
Got a good green idea of your own? Enter the Illinois Library Association’s “Go Green, Win Green” contest by Friday, November 18, and you may win one of four $1,000 cash prizes. To learn more and to submit an entry, click here.
Posted on 10/26/11
Who hasn’t, at some point, picked up a 24-pack of bottled water at the store, or grabbed that nice cold plastic water bottle at a fast food restaurant or a community event? We didn’t give it a second thought, but now we are learning that we definitely should be thinking about the practice.
If you have long suspected that bottled water is not good for the environment, but only had a vague notion about its specific consequences, you will definitely want to attend the library’s screening of the film, Tapped, a documentary about the bottled water industry on Wednesday, November 2 at 7 p.m. in the Lindsey Room.
The film chronicles the practices of the bottled water industry and the consequences it has levied on our collective health, communities, environment, economy and policy. We’ll have a discussion about the topic after the screening, so register to participate. Watch a trailer of the film, Tapped.
Got a great green idea? Don't forget to enter the Illinois Library Association’s “Go Green, Win Green” contest by November 18, and you may win one of four $1,000 cash prizes. To learn more and to submit an entry, click here.
Got a great green idea? Don't forget to enter the Illinois Library Association’s “Go Green, Win Green” contest by November 18, and you may win one of four $1,000 cash prizes. To learn more and to submit an entry, click here.
Tags: bottled water, Go Green Win Green, Tapped
Posted on 10/20/11
It’s the spookiest time of the year! Have fun this Halloween in a more eek-o-friendly way with these easy and fun tips:
- Choose Make-Up Over Masks. This year, rather than buying your kids those plastic masks that only wind up in the trash, have them put on some non-toxic make-up or make your own. It can even be more fun for them by allowing them to paint each other's faces before the big night.
- Give Your Kids a Flashlight: Rather than buy a few dozen of those neon glow sticks that usually only last a few hours, give each one of your kids a flashlight to carry with them throughout the evening. Those neon glow sticks are made of plastic and filled with toxic chemicals that can only hurt the environment.
- Lose the Loot: If your kids come home with a bounty of sugar filled treats, consider having the Switch Witch come. Tell them to put their leftover bag of treats outside their bedroom door and the Switch Witch will replace the bag with a special toy or treat.
- Save the Costumes: Once Halloween is over, save your kid's costumes and have other neighborhood parents do the same. Next year have a local swap to trade last year's costumes and/or accessories with some of your neighbors. This way each child gets a different costume each year and each costume gets more than one use out of it.
For lots more green Halloween tips and resources, check out the Green Halloween website. 
Have a green tip or idea to share about Halloween? Let us know here or on our Facebook page and have a happy green Halloween.
Tags: Green Halloween
