What We're Up To

This is your chance to help move the needle on climate change. Let's keep up the momentum. 

The Illinois Municipal Electric Agency* (IMEA) has set an arbitrary deadline of April 30 for renewing our energy contract a decade early—locking Winnetka into purchasing coal power for decades. This decision does not align with our community’s values, and we need to act now.

Your voice matters. By speaking at Tuesday’s Village Council meeting, you can help show our leaders that Winnetkans demand clean, sustainable energy options.

We invite all concerned residents—from ages 10 to 100—to stand with us. Residents are allowed three minutes each at the beginning of each Village Council meeting to speak about anything that is not on the evening's agenda. Here’s how you can stay engaged:

Attend Tuesday’s meeting and make your voice heard
Follow the Winnetka Future Energy Coalition (WFEC) on Facebook for updates
Visit the WFEC web page for key information
Share this message with friends and neighbors
Encourage others to join the Winnetka Future Energy Coalition

On February 27, the Winnetka Future Energy Coalition (of which Go Green Winnetka is a member) submitted a letter to President Rintz and the Village Trustees urging them not to rush into this decision. There are critical missing components that must be addressed before committing to a long-term contract. Winnetka deserves the best possible energy future, and that means exploring all options.

Let’s fight for a sustainable future. Let’s show up.

Spring is a great time to start composting, but how? Join the Kenilworth Union Church Green Team on Tuesday, March 4 at 7 pm to learn about the many options available in your community and even in your own backyard. Also find out about local policy and why composting is critical to the health of our planet.

They will be joined by experts in the field and experienced composters: Tracy Cammack, Communications and Education Committee member of Illinois Food Scrap and Composting Coalition; Liz Kunkle, Founder and President of Go Green Winnetka; and Tom Nahrwold, church member and backyard composter; as well as representatives from Collective Resource Compost Cooperative and WasteNot. All are welcome! To attend, please RSVP below.

Trees offer us a mystical connection to our spirituality and play an important role in many mythologies and religions. Join us as we welcome Lynn Zaransky, Treekeeper with Openlands, and Gerald Savage, Chief White Winnebago, Ho-Chunk Nation Elder, for a presentation and tree walk focusing on the symbolism of trees and their spiritual meaning in Native American culture. This event will begin in the Lloyd Room at the Winnetka Public Library and proceed outside to identify significant trees and explore the profound bond between nature and humanity. Please dress for the weather!

This event is co-sponsored by Go Green Winnetka, the Winnetka-Northfield Public Library District, and Openlands Treekeepers.

Join environmental advocates from all over Chicagoland for our March program, “The Problem with Plastic.” Leave with information and solutions for your home and community. The program will cover issues like pfas, recycling challenges, plastic grass/artificial turf, local plastic bag bans and fees, and an Illinois legislative update. 

Go Green Illinois is an organization founded by Go Green Wilmette in 2013 to encourage and support the establishment of citizen's environmental groups in every community in Illlinois, to share best practices among the groups, and to collaborate on addressing environmental challenges that cross municipal boundaries.

BLUE MIND, by Wallace J. Nichols

[Zoom]

Blue Mind is a fascinating study of the emotional, behavioral, psychological and physical connections that keep humans so enchanted with water. Author Wallace J. Nichols examines seas and oceans, lakes and rivers, even swimming pools and the contents of our bathtubs in a study that is both highly readable and rooted in real research.

He is a marine biologist whose passion for our planet’s water goes far beyond the classroom—he urges us to get closer to water, not only for our own sake but for the environment and a healthier future for us all. The "blue mind" refers to the neurological, psychological and emotional changes our brains experience when we are close to water. Nichols draws on science and art, hard data and anecdote, and plenty of experience, to explain our blue mind in detail. Not just what it is, but how we can enter into this state and—perhaps most important—why we should do so.

Ultimately, Nichols suggests that being close to water can make us not only happier, calmer and more emotionally healthy, but also more successful in life, relationships and even business. By tapping into an evolutionary urge that lies dormant in us all, we can access a powerful mental capacity for greatness. It’s something we all have the ability to do. This book shows us how to recognize it, stop ignoring it, and tune into it. 

Please register below and email Go Green Reads with any questions. Join us whether or not you've read the book.

Thank you to The Book Stall and the Winnetka-Northfield Public Library District for their generous support of our communities and these discussions!

Go Green Winnetka meets monthly to discuss current initiatives and sustainability efforts. This month we will meet on Wednesday, March 19 at 12 pm on Zoom. Join us to find out what's up for summer 2025, add to the discussion, find opportunities to volunteer, or just listen in. All community members are welcome. Email us at gogreenwinnetka@gmail.com to receive a link.

EcoShip is a Chicago-based nonprofit that diverts packaging materials from landfills and provides them to local businesses and artists for reuse. Now you can drop off materials at Rebuilding Exchange in Evanston.

Drop off packaging materials, along with other hard-to-recycle items such as toothbrushes, sneakers, and more in collaboration with the City of Evanston. You can also pick up materials like bubble wrap and packing peanuts. This site will accept a limited list of items: mailers, bubble wrap, packing peanuts, packing paper, and crinkle cut shred (no personal documents of any sort!)

Know someone moving? Have new neighbors unpacking? Let them know about EcoShip. We also have a handy New Homeowners Guide on our website to assist in making environmentally-friendly choices throughout the moving process.

Go Green Winnetka has created a New Homeowners Guide, a go-to resource to help people moving homes make a sustainable transition. The Guide has numerous suggestions for conscious choices before and after the move that positively influence our environment. Practical tips are offered, from eco-friendly packing materials to waste diversion strategies.

Please pass this link along to friends and neighbors who are moving or have recently moved. 

That's why Go Green Winnetka is partnering with other organizations to collect  Bread Tags for Wheelchairs. These tags (bread, bagel, muffin, produce, veggies) are pristine plastic and a valuable raw material and billions are made each year. They can’t be recycled through standard curbside programs because they are too small and too lightweight to sort easily. Most are made from #6 plastic/polystyrene.
 

Look for Mason jars at Grand Food Center and D36 schools—and start saving those bread tags!

260,000 bread tags = 200 lbs of plastic = one basic wheelchair

Check out these websites of participating organizations for more information.

Go Green Winnetka
Glencoe Sustainability Task Force
SCARCE
Danielle Cares for Chairs

Contact Go Green Winnetka with any questions.