How do trees help keep us cool?

 They can reduce your air conditioning use and costs. 

Click here to learn more.

thoughts on home renovation and saving trees

Several years ago, I was happy to see a long-neglected home in the neighborhood getting a major renovation. I became increasingly concerned about the trees over the months when the trucks and heavy equipment were moving repeatedly over the lawn - and over the root zone of many mature oak trees on the property. Everything looked great when the project was finished. Over the last few years, I've noticed signs of deterioration in several of those trees. Now there are at least 5 huge oak trees that are completely dead. Oaks support many species of wildlife, so this has an impact on our local ecosystem.

A professional arborist who works regularly in the area and saw the renovation in progress says he noticed the amount of heavy equipment movement over the trees' root zones and wondered how long it would take for the trees to die from soil compaction. Soil compaction can gradually kill trees because it deprives the roots of oxygen.  There may have been other factors involved in the death of those trees, but they probably would have lived a lot longer if their root zones had been protected during construction.

Years ago I knew a family who had an older house renovated and a new house built in heavily wooded locations. They worked with their contractor and a professional arborist to develop a plan to protect trees on each site during construction. There were penalties written into the construction contract for damage to trees. Construction fencing was put up around the root zones of trees close to the house and driveway.  The contractor did an excellent job at instructing the crew, and there was no significant tree damage. 10+ years after construction those trees still looked healthy and had no dead branches. That was proof enough for me that it's feasible to preserve trees in spite of major construction if a well informed plan is made and the general contractor is on board with it. Those lots were more heavily wooded than all but the densest lots in Beverly and Morgan Park.

Now there's a nearby house with many mature oaks is in the middle of a comparable renovation. The contractors there have taken care to protect the trunks of vulnerable trees, and there's less heavy equipment movement across the lawn, so I'm hoping that the trees will suffer less of an impact from the construction and won't die prematurely. 

Even if new oaks are planted now at the first house to replace the ones that died, it will take decades for them to reach the size of the trees that were lost - beyond the lifetimes of the children who live in that house.

household hazardous waste and electronics collection this Saturday

 

Morgan Park United Methodist Church will host a collection of household electronics and hazardous waste this Saturday 10/5, 8:30 to 11 a.m. at 11030 S. Longwood Dr.

This event is sponsored by the Green Sanctuary Group of the Unitarian Church. Donations are encouraged to help cover costs. 

The following items will NOT be accepted: freon, incandescent bulbs, appliances, alkaline batteries, bio-hazardous products, needles, latex/acrylic/water-based paints, caulk or cleaning products, or other water soluble products.

Accepted items include: computers, monitors, printers, laptops, small electronics, small TVs, cell phones and pagers, mercury fluorescent bulbs, rechargeable batteries, mercury thermometers, anti-freeze, used motor oil, oil based-paints, paint thinner, aerosol paints, batteries, lawn chemicals, hobby and photographic chemicals, pool chemicals and solvents.  Hazardous items must be properly sealed.

They will also accept clean styrofoam items (except packing peanuts). Textbooks and eyeglasses will be accepted for reuse or recycling. 

For more information, click here or call 773-708-5111.

time for a better recycling plan

Tonight I was out for a bike ride and had plenty of reminders of a problem that's gotten out of hand: using Waste Management to pick up our recycling. I never saw a significant problem with broken glass on the pavement until they started handling our recycling. Now the areas around where recycling cans were picked up have a LOT of broken glass - on streets and in alleys.

To make matters worse, their recycling operation is a major conflict of interest, as they handle both recycling and dumps. Their rejection rate for allegedly contaminated recycling bins is much higher than that of other haulers. As owners of dumps, where they make money on loads taken there, they have a strong incentive to reject recycling as contaminated. If you want more detail, click here and read on.

The broken glass problem is a hazard to children, dogs and people riding bikes. It's also the proverbial last straw for me, on top of their ridiculous conflict of interest.

I hope that our new mayor will give them the sack. This is just one bad piece of a recycling program that's overdue for a major overhaul.

our trees need water

We've seen news stories about serious flooding in parts of our metro area, but that rain has been very unevenly distributed. Many storms that dropped huge amounts of rain in areas north, west or south of us left little or nothing in Beverly or Morgan Park over the last several weeks. In the last week, I've seen a few things that were vivid reminders of how dry our soil really is here in the neighborhood.

In areas that have not been watered, I've seen cracks in the bone dry soil. Recently I saw a gingko tree (a very tough species) that had lost all its leaves and was starting to grow new ones after we had 1/2" of rain. I've also seen a few young, recently planted trees that had dropped all their leaves and looked like they were dead or in very tough shape.

Other signs of drought: oak trees dropping acorns prematurely (before they reach full size and ripeness), tree leaves looking withered or starting to drop. I have seen these signs in various locations around the neighborhood this week.

Ideally, 1 inch of rain per week will keep a tree healthy. We've had a occasional heavy rain since early May, but it's usually been of a brief enough duration that we've only gotten 0.1" or 0.2" of water - nowhere near enough to make up for the long-term lack of soaking rains.

Our trees need water to stay healthy. If you don't regularly water the lawn area around your trees, please consider using a soaker hose around the base of each tree, or using a sprinkler over the root area (at least the area of the tree canopy). In weeks when we don't get at least 1" of rain, letting it soak for at least an hour is a good idea. That will help our trees catch up and stay healthy.

Trees under extreme stress become more vulnerable to health issues from disease, infestation or damage. Drought is a form of stress that we can do something about. As of today, there's no significant chance of rain in the forecast for the next several days, continuing the pattern we've been seeing for weeks.

In the more extreme weather we're seeing now, we get more heavy rains and more extended periods of heat and minimal rain. This is hard on our trees when it happens year after year. Please be kind to our trees and help them live longer, healthier lives. This makes neighborhood and our environment healthier. 

phase 2 of Chicago's plastic bag ban coming

Info courtesy of BAPA:

On Aug. 1 (today), the second phase of the City of Chicago's Plastic Bag Ban will be implemented and enforced. Smaller chain and franchise retailers with floor space less than 10,000 square feet will be required to come into compliance. Stores that provided its customers with carryout bags before the ban will only be able to provide reusable bags, recyclable paper bags or commercially compostable plastic bags. 

The ban does not apply to any dine-in or take-out restaurant or small independent or non-franchise stores. 

The City's Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection will host a workshop regarding the new laws Wed. 8/10, 3 to 4:30 p.m., City Hall, Room 805.

adopt a tree

Have you heard of the Openlands adopt a tree program? This local environmental non-profit has worked with volunteers in many Chicago neighborhoods, including ours, to plant new trees.

They are asking for our help to monitor the health of these young trees.  It's not a big time commitment. You sign up online (via the link above) to adopt one of more trees, then visit them occasionally and send an email reporting their condition.

Visiting my trees

A few years ago I volunteered to plant some trees along the Major Taylor Trail near 91st St. station. I have adopted several of those trees and went to visit them recently.

It's an easy way to help make a difference in our neighborhood.

what we could lose if Evergreen Plaza is redeveloped without ped access and bike parking

Crain's Chicago Business recently ran an article about the Lormax Stern redevelopment plan for Evergreen Plaza. One of the things that is too often overlooked in mall development is that, even when people are using cars as their primary form of transportation to get to the mall, they still need to be able to walk safely from their cars to where they're going. In many business districts, employees use bikes as transportation for much of the year - an affordable option that helps their income go further. This is typically overlooked at malls.

Thousands of people live within easy walking and biking distance of this site. If we miss out on the opportunity to get infrastructure that would make walking and biking reasonable options for people to get to Evergreen Plaza, we get more traffic congestion, air pollution, road rage and longer travel times to destinations we might reach via 95th and Western. All of this costs us in quality of life.

Here's a much better example from the north side.  Note the ped refuge islands at the ends of the parking rows, the red-colored sidewalk along those islands and between the north-south parking rows, and crosswalks connecting the refuge islands. This design does not sacrifice a significant amount of parking and greatly improves walking conditions.

Proposed Evergreen Plaza site plan

Now is the time to put pressure on the developer to modify their crappy car-centric site plan to accommodate safe pedestrian access and include some bike parking. Bike access from the 98th St. end of the site could be feasible from 99th via Maplewood, Campbell or Artesian - if there are bike racks to use. This could be useful both for customers and store employees.

When the mall was still open, I and many neighbors walked there to shop at Carson's and other stores. I'm not about to get in the car, make traffic worse, and deal with all the traffic and parking hassles to go half a freakin' mile once it's open again.

If reducing car traffic and having safer access whether or not you drive to the Plaza makes a difference to you, please take a few minutes to write to the developer. Ask that half a lane or a lane of car parking be replaced with one or two east-west sidewalks within the parking lot so that people can walk through the parking lot with less risk of being hit.

Also ask for bike racks in 2 or more locations. This can make a difference both for customers and for store employees. Employees typically don't make a lot of money. If they can ride their bikes to work, it's an affordable option that may be faster than a bus, depending on where they live. Bike rack locations that might work well include 98th St. by the southeast corner of Carson's and near the health club.  Access from 99th St. via Campbell or other adjacent streets is very workable if there's a place to lock up your bike.  Please include an information link on bike parking, and emphasize that bike racks need to be decent quality and properly installed.

This is a great opportunity to make a positive difference. I don't know if they'll listen to us. We have nothing to lose by asking. Who's with me?

You can become a TreeKeeper - spring class starts 3/19

Are you interested in joining the TreeKeepers volunteer program to plant and care for trees in our parks and neighborhoods?

You can be a TreeKeeper!

The spring class session starts on 3/19. Classes will be held at beautiful West Pullman Park, 401 W. 123rd St. Click here for more information.

you can become a TreeKeeper

Are you interested in joining the TreeKeepers volunteer program to plant and care for trees in our parks and neighborhoods?  There are 3 class locations this fall. Classes start this month.  Click here for more information.

household hazardous waste collection on Sat. 11/2

The Green Sanctuary Group of Beverly Unitarian Church will collect household hazardous waste and electronics for recycling Sat. 11/2, 8:30 to 11:00 a.m. in the church parking lot, 10244 S. Longwood Dr. (the Castle).

The following items will be accepted:  computers, laptops, printers, monitors, stereo equipment, boomboxes, mercury-flourescent lamps and bulbs, televisions, cell and land line phones and small microwaves, as well as eyeglasses, washable athletic shoes, and textbooks.

The following Hazardous items will be accepted if PROPERLY SEALED:

Anti-freeze, used motor oil, old gasoline, OIL-BASED paints, paint thinners, aerosol paints, car batteries, reusable batteries, herbicides, insecticides, pesticides, lawn chemicals, solvents, drain cleaners, pool chemical, and hobby chemicals.

In addition, we will accept unused or expired Prescription Drugs (non-controlled only) for transport to the Chicago Hazardous Waste Facility.

We CANNOT accept any latex, acrylic or water based paint, Freon, incandescent bulbs, or products you can clean up with water, Bio Hazardous Material or needles.

Thanks to Beverly Bank & Trust and Com2 for their ongoing support of this community service.

Modest contributions to help offset transportation costs are appreciated. To volunteer or obtain more information contact: Eileen Klees, eklees@gmail.com, (773)968-3396 or Fran Sowa, frannevpk@yahoo.com (708) 423-6392.

Dan Ryan Woods workday tomorrow 9/14

There will be a workday tomorrow at Dan Ryan Woods from 9 am to noon. We will be cutting invasive species as well as collecting and dispersing ripe native grass seeds.

We will meet at the "Dan Ryan Woods East" parking lot (2 blocks west of Damen Ave. on the north side of 87th Street). Please contact Benjamin Cox via email or 773-398-1178 for more information.

Tools and gloves are provided. It's a beautiful time of year to get out and see the forest preserves. We need your help to maintain healthy habitat for the plants and animals that live at these sites.

19th ward EcoDistrict workshop this Saturday

I got an announcement recently about this event, and I'm curious to check it out.  How about you?

environmental bus tour on 7/28

I'd like to share info from the Southeast Environmental Task Force about a tour that may be of interest to those of you who are concerned about the environment in our city:

Join the Southeast Environmental Task Force for the second tour in a series of OFF THE BEATEN PATH ECO-TOURS. Let us show you why the South side was known as the the home of Mt. Trashmore. See how the years of dumping household, hazardous, and contruction waste have impacted the surrounding communities. You'll also see dumps that have been repurposed and that produce energy. Discover the natural areas that border them and see how they have become important wildlife habitat.

You’ll learn how Chicago deals with garbage, sewage and waste treatment in general. This unique narrated tour highlights the Southeast Side’s overabundance of treatment facilities – huge landfills, recycling centers, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District wastewater treatment plant and sludge drying fields, as well as several former notorious illegal dumps.

DOWN IN THE DUMPS BUS TOUR
Saturday, July 28, 2012
10:00 am - 2:00 pm
$40.00 per person, includes lunch

Comfortable coach bus departs from the Cultural Center located at Randolph and Michigan Avenues in downtown Chicago. You are welcome to bring water or snacks. Lunch will be provided at a local establishment and is included in the price. You must pre-register for this tour by using the Paypal feature provided at: setaskforce.blogspot.com

For more details, call 773-646-0436 

Dan Ryan Woods volunteer workday tomorrow

If you'd like to help with the ongoing habitat restoration at Dan Ryan Woods, please come to a workday tomorrow morning from 9 a.m. to noon.  Tomorrow's goal is to pull the remaining garlic mustard (extremely invasive species) before seed pods open and scatter.  Tools and gloves will be provided.  

We meet at the "Dan Ryan Woods East" parking lot (2 blocks west of Damen on the north side of 87th Street). Please contact Benjamin Cox at benjamin@fotfp.org or 773-398-1178 for more information.

Major Taylor Trail clean-up on 4/21

Please join the Friends of the Major Taylor Trail and TreeKeepers for a community trail clean-up workday on Saturday 4/21.

We will meet at the Major Taylor mural (north side of 111th St., where the trail crosses the street) and work from 2-4 p.m. to continue where we left off on 4/7.

We welcome community participation in clearing small trees and brush to minimize trail blockage from summer growth, as well as improving sightlines along the trail.  Long sleeves, long pants and enclosed boots or shoes are strongly recommended.  If you have work gloves, please bring them.  Some gloves and tools will be available.  Our work area will be on the trail between 111th and 115th, starting from 111th St.  We hope to see you there.

household hazardous waste and electronics collection on Sat. 4/7

The Green Sanctuary Group of Beverly Unitarian Church will collect household hazardous waste and electronics for recycling Sat. 4/7, 8:30 to 10:00 a.m. in the church parking lot, 10244 S. Longwood Dr. (the Castle).

The following items will be collected for recycling and/or proper disposal:  electronics (computers, printers, cartridges);  properly sealed hazardous items (oil based paints, other petroleum products, toxic household and lawn products - antifreeze, used motor oil, old gasoline, oil-based paints, paint thinners, aerosol paints, herbicides, insecticides, pesticides, lawn chemicals, solvents, drain cleaners, cleaning products, pool chemicals, hobby chemicals, mercury, fluorescent lamps and projector bulbs. ); cell phones; thick-soled athletic shoes; eyeglasses; hard-cover and soft-cover books.

Water based paints, freon gas, incandescent bulbs, water soluble caulk or mortar, or bio-hazardous waste will not be accepted.

Modest contributions to help offset transportation costs are appreciated. For more information, contact Eileen Klees 773-968-3396 or eklees (at) gmail (dot) com.

sustainable backyard program

Chicago residents can receive rebates of up to 50% on locally purchased trees, native plants, compost bins and rain barrels through the Sustainable Backyard Program. Learn more about incentives for creating an environmentally friendly landscape and find rebate forms here.  What a great way to start your spring yard improvements!

HB 3884 has potentially disastrous environmental consequences

I just learned about a bill that is scheduled for hearing before the IL House Public Utilities Committee on 2/28/12 - this Tuesday.

Help protect our trees! Illinois House Bill 3884 (Utility Damage Prevention Act) says that trees/vegetation planted within 20 feet of an electric utility pole or overhead electrical conductor could be removed. If this bill passes, many of our beautiful mature trees could be in jeopardy.

The presumed goal of this bill - preventing power outages due to tree damage - makes sense.  However, this is a heavy-handed way of going about it, which could have many disastrous consequences for our environment.

The bill, as proposed, could authorize the removal of most existing trees in many of our back yards, potentially many thousands of mature trees.  Removal of these trees would reduce the ability of our ecosystem to absorb heavy rains, increasing flooding; increase the urban heat island effect; destroy habitat for many wildlife species; remove shade from many yards and houses; greatly increase summer air conditioning costs; and result in a significant increase in air pollution from power plants created by the additional demand for electricity.   

It is possible to maintain trees in such a way as to minimize risk to utility lines and poles.  Our trees should not be condemned when there are workable alternatives.

Please contact your State Representative to ask for these amendments to the bill:
1. a specific definition of "20 feet" regarding the proximity of planted vegetation to utility poles or overhead conductors;
2. a requirement for utilities to consider specific impacts before removing trees;
3. a requirement that utilities give any affected property owners 30 days written notice of any potential tree removal, with contact information to work out a compromise plan; and
4. a requirement that utilities should pay for replacement trees.

Urge representatives to amend HB 3884 or oppose it if it is not changed.

Here's more info on the bill as proposed:

Synopsis As Introduced: Creates the Overhead Utility Facilities Damage Prevention Act. Provides that it shall be unlawful for any person to plant restricted vegetation within 20 feet of an electric utility pole or overhead electrical conductor located within the State. Provides that any restricted vegetation planted, whether by a person or by natural means, within 20 feet of an electric utility pole or overhead electrical conductor located within the State shall be subject to removal. Provides that any person who sells restricted vegetation within this State shall affix a label to each piece of restricted vegetation identifying it as restricted vegetation. Permits the Illinois Commerce Commission to adopt rules concerning the removal of restricted vegetation. Provides that it shall be unlawful for any person to interfere with an electric utility while performing vegetation management and removal activities. Also creates provisions concerning findings, definitions, and Commission enforcement. Effective immediately. 

Short Description: UTILITY DAMAGE PREVENT ACT
House Sponsors: Rep. Jack D. Franks
Hearings: Public Utilities Committee Hearing Feb 28 2012 3:30PM Capitol Building Room 114 Springfield, IL
Last Action Date: Chamber Action 1/24/2012 House Assigned to Public Utilities Committee
Statutes Amended In Order of Appearance: New Act

Please contact your State Representative TODAY!