What We're Up To

Come see us at the Green Bay Trail Day event this Saturday! Sponsored by the Friends of the Green Bay Trail, this event is intended to celebrate and showcase the Green Bay Trail and the conservation efforts being made to restore native plants along the path. We will have native plants for sale in advance of our Fall Native Plant Sale, compost demonstrations, and conversations around the many reasons and ways to reduce and compost your food waste and other organics - including the Village's exciting new expanded composting options for residents, businesses, and institutions! We'll also have our popular, kid-friendly scribble stones, some treats, and lots of information about what you can do to reduce your environmental impact. We're always up for meeting people who are interested in sustainability! You can find us just north of the Scott Ave. bridge. Hope to see you there!

Find out more about Green Bay Trail Day.
 

Want to find out what Go Green Winnetka is up to, including learning about our participation in the Winnetka Futures: 2040 Plan conversations? Grab your lunch and join us at our next monthly members' meeting.  We meet once a month, currently on Zoom, and typically the third Wednesday at 12 p.m. Email us for the meeting link at gogreenwinnetka@gmail.com.

The Village of Winnetka continues its Comprehensive Planning process to create The Winnetka Futures: 2040 Plan, a document that will inform Village decision-making for years to come. That means your opinion matters. We invite you to attend meetings as you can and share your thoughts about how the Village should prioritize sustainable thinking and action in its planning process. The next meeting of the Plan Commission will discuss the sustainability aspects of the Comprehensive Plan.

Remaking the Way We Make Things

In their book, Cradle to Cradle,  architect William McDonough and chemist Michael Braungart present a reimagined view of industrial and manufacturing systems. Nature becomes the model for making things and products are designed and  manufactured with new uses already in mind. Rather than seeking to  minimize the harm we inflict, Cradle to Cradle reframes design as a positive, regenerative force — one that creates footprints to delight in, not lament.                  Their design framework is characterized by three principles derived from nature:

1)  everything is a resource for something else; 

2)  use clean and renewable  energy; and 

3)  celebrate diversity 

This integrated view of design and  science creates safe materials, water, and energy in circular economies  and eliminates the concept of waste, all of which provides enduring  benefits to society. And this paradigm shift reveals opportunities to  improve quality, increase value, and spur innovation.
 

Register in advance for this meeting using the link below. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. 
 

Email Go Green Reads with any questions or issues.

There are so many different ways to recycle food waste, and so many great reasons to do it. In fact, if food waste were a country, it would be the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases, behind China and the United States. Stop by the Go Green Winnetka table at the Winnetka Farmer's Market this summer for a demo on the many ways you can compost your food scraps. Learn about the exciting news from the Village on what they're doing to give residents another composting option. We'll be there on Saturday, June 4, June 25, July 2 and July 16 from 9 to 10:30 a.m. Hope to see you there!