Come to the Green Side

ANIMAL TRACKS IN YOUR BACKYARD

jrozek — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 07:00:56 +0000

The Stillman Nature Center in South Barrington is sponsoring a program on the various animal tracks you might see in your backyard. Join Susan Allman as she shows you how to recognize the different types of tracks made by winter’s active animals. The event will be held on Sunday, January 29 at 2:00 p.m.

After an indoor introduction, explore Stillman’s trails for signs of rabbit, squirrel, deer and fox. Remember to call (847) 428-OWLS to make reservations.

The Stillman Nature Center is located at 33 W. Penny Road in South Barrington.

SHREDDING EVENT IN SCHAUMBURG TOWNSHIP

jrozek — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 07:00:45 +0000

What: A Community Shred Day
Who: Residents and Businesses may bring up to 5 boxes of unwanted and outdated documents
When: Saturday, January 28 from 12-3 p.m.
Where: Representative Crespo’s office at 1014 E. Schaumburg Road, Streamwood
How: Compliments of State Representative, Fred Crespo

Representative Crespo would like to provide you with the opportunity to clear up storage space in a finanically and environmentally friendly way. Please consider participating!

INCANDESCENT LIGHT BULBS–WILL THEY STAY OR WILL THEY GO?

jrozek — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 07:00:19 +0000

Back in 2010 a posting appeared on this blog regarding the Energy Independence and Security Act passed by Congress of 2007 that would begin the phaseout of incandescent light bulbs in the year 2012. Light bulbs that are 100 watts were destined to go next year, followed by 75 watt bulbs in 2013, and 40 and 64 watt bulbs in 2014.

Republicans in Congress have put a temporary halt to the enactment of this portion of the law. As a result, they have pushed back the time frame for the 100 watt bulbs to October 2012.

Compact fluorescent light bulbs are expected to be the leading replacements for standard incandescent light bulbs, at least at first. These bulbs use less energy to emit the same levels of light as the incandescent bulbs. While more expensive, these bulbs last longer and are more energy efficient.

CFL bulbs must be recycled, however, in a safe manner. The villages of Hoffman Estates and Schaumburg accept their residents’ bulbs for recycling as does any Ace Hardware.

HOLIDAY LIGHT RECYCLING

jrozek — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 07:00:59 +0000

Now that it’s time to start thinking about taking the holiday decorations down, you might want to consider recycling any of the strands that you’re tired of, didn’t work or those that kept going out intermittently. The Village of Schaumburg can help you keep this out of your trash and give you a convenient location to drop off those light strands.

Take them to:
Engineering and Public Works Building
714 S. Plum Grove Road
Receptacle is in the lobby next to the CFL bulb and battery recycling boxes.
Monday through Friday 8-4

KEEPING YOUR ELECTRONICS OUT OF LANDFILLS IN 2012

jrozek — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 07:00:03 +0000

In September 2009, Illinois passed the Electronics Products Recycling and Reuse Act. With the passage of this bill, Illinois becames the 16th state in the U.S. to ban electronic items from the state’s landfills.

Items that can no longer be disposed of in your garbage are:

TVs and monitors
Computers: desktops, laptops and tablets
Computer accessories: keyboards and mice
Printers and scanners
Fax machines
VCRS, DVD players/recorders
Videogame consoles
Portable music players
Digital converter boxes
Cable/satellite receivers

Now is the time to take note–and advantage–of local electronic recycling events. The villages of Elk Grove Village and Hoffman Estates are SWANCC communities and they provide a number of programs throughout the year. Check out their website at www.swancc.org. The Village of Schaumburg provides a big electronics recycling event every April. And, the village of Hanover Park has an ongoing electronics dropoff at their Public Works facility on Lake Street.

The EPA also has a list of Registered Residential E-Waste Collection sites here.
Some of the local sites are:

Goodwill Retail Services 900 W. Algonquin Road, Arlington Heights, 262-551-2843
Goodwill Retail Services 1420 S. IL Route 59, Bartlett, 262-551-2843
Goodwill Retail Services 543 E. North Avenue, Glendale Heights, 262-551-2843
Groot Industries, Inc. 1759 Elmhurst Road , Elk Grove Village, 773-242-1977
Vintage Tech Recyclers 6N030 Rosedale Road, Bloomingdale (no phone number listed)

Keep this blog in your favorites and we’ll keep you up to date on any upcoming events!

CUTTING HEATING COSTS THIS WINTER

jrozek — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 07:00:06 +0000

When the heating bill starts to go up in the winter it can be a little hard to take. These simple tips from the Citizens Utility Board (CUB) can be a starting point for reining in some of your winter expenses:

Try using a crock pot instead of the stove. Soups, chilis and stews are a good food choice for the winter and the crock pot can be a simple and economical way to sit down to a warm meal on a cold night.
Close your blinds at night to keep the drafts and cold air from infiltrating the interior of the house. On the flip side, open the blinds during the day to take advantage of the warm sunshine.
Go without an electric blanket. The CUB Energy Saver estimates that using one 10 hours a week during the winter months adds $13 to a typical electric bill.
Cut down on your shower time. It saves on your utility bill–and your skin.
Lower your water heater temperature. Putting a water heater blanket on helps even more.
Replace your old, incandescent holiday lights with LEDs can save up to $16 a year.
Replace CFL bulbs in just two of your most used sockets and save up to $20 a year!

A NICE WAY TO RECYCLE AND REUSE BUILDING MATERIALS

jrozek — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 07:00:17 +0000

If you’ve recently remodeled a part of your house or are contemplating some construction, you might want to consider an innovative program of the Evanston Rebuilding Warehouse. They are a non-profit organization that promotes reduction of waste in landfills through sustainable deconstruction and reuse practices.

In other words, you can visit their site in Evanston to donate some of your reusable building materials or you can use them as a place to shop for unique salvageable items to include in your remodeling effort. Either way, they are there to take it easy on the landfills.

Their details follow:

Evanston ReBuilding Warehouse
1818 Dempster St
Evanston, IL 60202
Thursday and Friday: 3 – 7 pm
Saturday and Sunday: 12 – 4 pm
(847) 864-9246
evanstonrebuildingwarehouse.org

ENERGY IMPACT LOANS FOR RESIDENTS OF ILLINOIS

jrozek — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 07:00:39 +0000

Are you interested in controlling the energy costs in your house but don’t necessarily have the money to do it? Look into obtaining an Energy Impact Low Interest Loan to eliminate the upfront cost and allow you to pay for the improvements over a longer period.

Loans can be used on the following types of efficiency upgrades:

Boiler or Furnace With Additional Items - Water heaters, programmable thermostats, central AC or any other Energy Star appliance or equipment are eligible if done in conjunction with a boiler or furnace
Whole Home Improvements – Anything recommended by a certified energy assessor that results in a comprehensive savings of 15% or more

Check out this website for a list of the lenders and the contractors so you can get started now on bringing your house up to its maximum energy efficiency! http://energyimpactillinois.org/residential/energy_impact_loan/

RECYCLING YOUR CAMERA

jrozek — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 07:00:55 +0000

If you’re like me, you have mulitple old film cameras sitting around the house collecting dust. Maybe it’s time to think about recycling them–or at least one or two. And it really couldn’t be easier.

Wolf Camera & Image at 500 W. Golf Road in Schaumburg has a dropoff bin for you to quickly and painlessly recycle your out of date cameras. Their hours are:
10:00 to 8:00 Monday thru Friday
10:00 to 6:00 Saturday
11:00 to 5:00 Sunday

There’s no need to wait for an electronics recycling event. Take advantage now!

HOLIDAY LIGHT RECYCLING

jrozek — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 07:00:24 +0000

How many times have you strung up your lights for the holiday season only to discover one or more strands aren’t working?

If that happens to you this year–and you live in the SWANCC communities of Hoffman Estates or Elk Grove Village–you can safely recycle those strands and their extension cords. Here’s where…

Elk Grove Village Health and Community Services
901 Wellington Avenue
Monday – Friday: 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
847-439-3900

Village of Hoffman Estates (In Village Hall lobby)
1990 Hassell Road
Monday – Friday: 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
December 1 to January 31
847-882-9100