What We're Up To

Forget the old garden calendar and get ready to see autumn in a whole new light! Instead of stashing your garden tools until spring, this fall offers a golden opportunity to invigorate your landscape and give your garden a head start.

So keep those trowels handy and join us for the Go Green Winnetka Fall Native Plant Sale! This year, we’re thrilled to offer many varieties of native plants that bring unparalleled beauty and ecological benefits to your garden. Native plants aren’t just resilient; they’re the true champions of local ecosystems. Think vibrant purple coneflowers that color your garden through summer and essential milkweed that supports the Monarch butterfly. These plants attract pollinators, enhance stormwater management, and thrive with minimal fuss in our Midwest climate.

See our Fall Native Plant Sale page for a complete plant list and more information..

JOIN ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCATES FROM ALL OVER CHICAGOLAND at the regular every-other-month Go Green Illinois meeting on Tuesday, Sept 9 at 1 pm on Zoom. The focus of this month's meeting will be on overconsumption and waste in our communities.

Americans consume more per capita than people in any other country in the world, and wealthy American suburbanites top the list. For example, even though the U.S. contains just roughly five percent of the world's population, it produces 40 percent of the world's waste. What can we do in our communities to reduce unnecessary consumption and waste? Join the Sept. 9th program to find out.

Go Green Illinois was founded in 2013 to encourage and support the establishment of volunteer citizens' environmental groups in every community in Illinois, to share best practices among the groups, and to collaborate on addressing environmental challenges that cross municipal boundaries.

Click here to register for this important meeting.

JOIN GO GREEN READS FOR A SPECIAL IN-PERSON GATHERING with Tamara Dean, author of Shelter and Storm: At Home in the Driftless, which tells the soul-stirring and practical account of living mindfully with nature during times of uncertainty. Dean's quest to live lightly on the planet drew her to a landscape unlike any other: the Driftless area of Wisconsin, where she confronted, in ways large and small, the challenges of meeting basic needs while facing the ravages of climate change.

Untouched during the last ice age, the Driftless area lacks the characteristic glacial deposits known as drift; its steep hills, forested ridges, deeply carved river valleys, and cold-water trout streams are more closely related to those of the Great Lakes region than those of the broader Midwest and central Plains regions. Dean will share her boundless curiosity, gift for storytelling, and sense of adventure in conversation with The Book Stall's beloved bookseller and book group leader Jon Grand.

Go Green Reads is offered through a collaboration between Go Green Winnetka and Go Green Wilmette in partnership with The Book Stall and the Winnetka-Northfield Public Library District.

Registration is not required for this event, which will be in person and at an earlier starting time than usual. Email gogreenreads@gmail.com with questions.

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

EVER WONDER WHAT REALLY HAPPENS TO YOUR RECYCLING AFTER IT LEAVES THE CURB? Join Go Green Winnetka and LRS (Lakeshore Recycling Systems) for a behind-the-scenes tour of the LRS Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) in Northbrook—where the magic of modern recycling happens! 

MRFs sort and divert recyclables in the Chicagoland area. On the tour of this state-of-the-art facility, LRS will explore the technology and people power that makes recycling possible, identify recycling rules, and show how recycling is important to protecting our natural resources, combating climate change, and building a circular economy. 

Spots are limited—email Go Green Winnetka to register and with questions. Don’t miss this rare peek into the world of waste reduction!

WE INVITE ALL INTERESTED COMMUNITY MEMBERS to our monthly Go Green Winnetka meeting, where we’ll come together to chat about current initiatives, upcoming sustainability efforts, and ways we can make a difference.

This month, join us in welcoming Lynn Wolff-Zaransky, certified TreeKeeper with Openlands, to discuss how we can learn more about our urban canopy and ways to protect it. This month’s meeting will be held on Wednesday, September 17 from 12 – 1 pm on Zoom.

Come discover what’s on the horizon for Go Green Winnetka, share your ideas, learn about volunteer opportunities, and connect with fellow environmentally-minded neighbors.

We’d love to see you there! Please email Go Green Winnetka with questions and to RSVP. We'll send you the link.

THE US DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE has proposed rescinding a rule (the Roadless Rule), which prohibits road construction, road reconstruction, and timber harvesting in certain roadless areas. The proposed rescission would apply to nearly 45 million acres of the nearly 60 million acres of inventoried roadless areas within the National Forest System.

Go Green Winnetka has substantive concerns about the rationale and consequences of this proposed rescission, in addition to procedural concerns about the public comment period, which is a mere 20 days, instead of the usual 30 or 60 days for complex issues.

Please let the federal government know you care by leaving a comment against rescinding the Roadless Rule. 

COME LEARN ABOUT MANY DIFFERENT ELECTRIC VEHICLE (EV) MODELS AVAILABLE from your friends and neighbors at Go Green Wilmette's local EV exhibit. Check out the Rivian truck and SUV, and a variety of EVs from Hyundai, Chevrolet, Volkswagen, Nissan, and more. Learn more about at-home, local, and road-trip charging options. This event will also display a small number of electric bikes.

This event will take place at the Wilmette Metra parking lot by the Bensidoun French Market in Wilmette.

Join Openlands' TreeKeeper Lynn Wolff-Zaransky for a Fall Tree Walk through Crow Island Woods, where you will ID trees, talk about urban tree care, and enjoy the fall colors! Please dress for the weather and meet at the firepit at Crow Island Woods.  

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

REDUCE FLOODING AND SAVE WATER FOR LATER USE. Rain barrels capture rainwater from your roof, preserving it for later use and keeping it out of the sewer system, which prevents basement backups, street flooding, and sewer overflows.

You can use rain barrel water to:

• Wash your car
• Water your lawn or garden
• Clean work boots, tools and bikes

Water from rain barrels is naturally free of chlorine, lime, and calcium and some gardeners swear their plants prefer it! 

Upcycled rain barrels are available while supplies last from the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District for only $21.50 ($10.75 for seniors). 

Did you know that it is illegal in Illinois to throw certain electronic devices into the trash?  Electronics contain hazardous materials that should be kept out of the environment, as well as valuable and precious metals that can be reused, such as gold, silver, copper, zinc, aluminum, platinum, cobalt, nickel, etc.

The Electronics Recycling Program in Winnetka operates on Thursdays from 1 – 3 pm at the Public Works Yards at 1390 Willow Road until November 20. Learn more about accepted items here.