Environmental & energy issues in Chicago

Anyone live in Hillside? Smell the delightful odors of decomposing trash? Well not for much longer. Hillside landfill is in the process of closing once and for all. And, they say, they’re ahead of schedule.
But just how do you close a landfill? I’m on it. More to come.

Right now the abandoned elevated rail line along Bloomingdale Ave. in northwest Chicago is frequented by restless teenagers and the occasional transient. But there’s a plan to transform the deteriorating tracks into a 3-mile paved bike trail with benches, lighting, and fencing. Check out the story and slideshow I did on it here.
I walked along […]

I went to an event May 7 at Union Station. It was called “Downstate Illinois Day.” Basically, it was a lot of booths set up by tourist agencies representing cities around Illinois, encouraging people to travel by rail.
Because gas prices keep rising. And the tourism industry knows that can’t be good.
But I made a […]

There’s a new exhibit at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum called Lawn Nation. It explores the obsession we Americans have with lawns and offers some startling facts about lawn care’s potential impact on the environment.
Two artists from Chicago got together to build a wall out of empty plastic water bottles. It took them a month, […]

I’ve been doing a little research on how Chicago recycles. Blue bags are on their way out, and no one seems to mind.
I didn’t live in Chicago back when the blue bags were the way it worked. Can someone tell me please, did you go out and pay money for these blue bags? And […]