Green Earth Institute, a non-profit committed to environmental and nutritional health, hosted our Premier service project. Founder, Steve Tiwald, spoke with students and staff about the farm’s operations before setting us to work on weeds. Steve challenged students to identify the 40 varieties of vegetables and herbs being grown for the CSA (community supported agriculture) shareholders. While extolling the virtues of organic farming on plants and people, Steve also let Premier students try some of the food produced here.

North Central’s mission of producing informed and involved citizens, and the college’s commitment to sustainability were perfectly blended in this experience.

For more information about Premier Scholars, please contact director of the program, Viviana Kabbabe, at vkabbabe@noctrl.edu.

In particular, Herrick Lake Forest Preserve, three miles (about a 15-minute bike ride [Google Map]) north of campus, is a local bike hub of sorts that you can travel onward from to get almost anywhere to the north, east, and west:

• Map of Herrick Lake Forest Preserve (PDF, 200KB) and its many trails — a nice destination in its own right. Danada Forest Preserve, also great, is to its east.

• Herrick is right next to the Illinois Prairie Path (IPP) network, which you can take all over west suburban Chicagoland, including Wheaton, St. Charles, Batavia, Aurora, Elgin, Glen Ellyn, Lombard, and Elmhurst. To get on the Prairie Path, leave Herrick Lake out of its northwest corner (intersection of Herrick/Butterfield/Wiesbrook Rds) and bike half a mile north along Wiesbrook Road until you reach Durfee Road (Google map). Wiesbrook Rd meets the Prairie Path just north of Durfee. From there, just follow the Prairie Path signs to get to your destination. You can even bike the Prairie Path as far as Forest Park, where you can get on the ‘L’ and go into Chicago.
• The Prairie Path isn’t the only bike path around, it intersects many other Chicagoland trails, including the Grand Western Trail and several local Forest Preserve trails. DuPage County publishes a detailed Bikeways Map (PDF, 2.3MB) with more information on these.

For a bike map of Chicagoland beyond DuPage County: Chicagoland Bicycle Federation publishes the Chicagoland Bicycle Map ($6.95; free to members), which rates local roads for their suitability to biking.

With so many great places to bike and so many easy ways to find out about them, check out local biking today!

Would you stop keeping a car on campus if you could rent a car by the hour for the intermittent times that you need one? Zipcar, a nationwide service available as of this week here at North Central, lets you do just that.

You’ll find the College’s first Zipcar vehicle, a red Toyota Prius, in its marked parking spot in the NW corner of the parking deck on Highland Avenue. After signing up via Zipcar’s website ($35), you can rent this car for $7/hour, including gas and insurance. Your $35 fee will even get applied towards $35 in free driving during your first month.

Relying on Zipcar means avoiding the many, often-hidden costs of having and bringing a car to campus:

• parking permits that cost most students $200-$350 per year
• depreciation: $100/mo. for a cheap used car, $200-$500/mo. for a new car
• gas at $3.70/gal. and rising
• insurance, plates, city stickers
• oil changes, tune-ups, repairs

At $7/hour, Zipcar makes sense for infrequent drivers, and even drivers spending several dozen hours a month on the road!

More info:

• How does Zipcar work?
• Frequently-Asked Questions
• Apply now!: students, faculty/staff

“Reduce, Reuse, Recycle”: a popular phrase. And, as a soon-to-be homeowner, I’m learning the mantra is applicable to remodeling. Inspired by a North Central College Break Away trip to Lynchburg, Virginia, my wife and I are pursuing “green” home improvement.

If you’re remodeling, I recommend a trip to ReStore in Elgin. “But, it is so far away!”, you exclaim. “True”, I reply. “Yet, the drive is worth the distance”.

ReStore Elgin is a 20,000 sq. ft. building materials reuse center benefiting the northern Fox Valley Habitat for Humanity. ReStore accepts donated new and gently used goods from retailers, manufacturers, distributors, contractors and homeowners. Building supplies are then sold, at greatly reduced prices, to the general public. The store’s operation generates funds to support the local community while reducing the amount of material that would otherwise go to overflowing landfills.

Soon-to-be North Central College graduates may need furniture, tools, and other household items. For them, the ReStore is a perfect choice. In fact, Robyn Gautschy, a writer for The Chronicle volunteered at a ReStore in Washington and is already considering what Elgin has to offer post-graduation.

• North Central College Green Scene members will be volunteering

See a wide variety of hybrid and alternative-fuel vehicles, learn about eco-friendly products and services available in Naperville, bid on a cordless, electric lawn mower or tickets to the Solheim Cup (and many other exciting items) in the silent auction, listen to experts on clean air and respiratory health, with fun activities for children, including a bounce house. Heartland Blood Bank will be on site from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. To sign up to give blood or to volunteer the day of the event, visit Cool Ride-Clean Choice’s website.

Community Energy, our local provider of alternative energy through the Naperville Renewable Energy Program, will provide CO2 offsets for this event with clean renewable energy generated here in Illinois, and will be present to allow attendees to sign up for the Renewable Energy Program.

Expert speakers throughout the day will include John Walton, manager of the alternative vehicle fleet at Forest Preserve District of DuPage County, as well as Brian Urbazewski from Respiratory Health Alliance and Brooke Emmerich of Edward Hospital to address the health effects of vehicle emissions. Other eco-friendly speakers, businesses and organizations will provide information on conventional car care, building energy audits, natural landscaping, solar composting, and home cleaning and personal care products.

Happy Earth Day Everyone!!!

Today is a great opportunity to show respect for our planet by going above and beyond in our efforts of green living. Here are some ideas of how you can have a happy and eco-friendly Earth Day:

• Bike or walk to school/work, if this is not possible look into public transportation or carpool with a friend or two
• Unplug your TV, computers, lights, etc. (energy is used even when items are not running if they are still plugged into an outlet!)
• Turn off your A/C and open your windows
• Take a shorter shower and reduce your hot water use
• Plant a tree
• Recycle!
• Use a reusable bag at the store
• Eat a meal of locally grown fruits and vegetables

There are so many simple ways that our actions today and everyday can begin making a difference. Use this holiday as a way to spread a message of sustainability and conservation to friends, family, and anyone you come in contact with today. And remember, even when today is over, you can continue to celebrate our Earth everyday!

For more information on what you can do to help the environment, check out these websites:

• “An Inconvenient Truth”: Take Action
• Environmental Defense Fund: What You Can Do About Global Warming
• Treehugger: How to Go Green