Students take time out to care for the Earth By JENN WIANT

The Earth seemed to appreciate the extra attention it received Wednesday: For the first time in days, it was sunny and nearly 60 degrees as groups around the county worked outdoors in celebration of Earth Day.

A block down the street from Woodstock High School at a city-owned wooded area called the Albert property, about 30 students removed buckthorn, honeysuckle and dead trees from the trails that wind around a wetland area.

The students were participating in Senior Service Day, a school tradition that takes place while freshmen, sophomore and juniors take standardized state tests. This year, it happened to fall on Earth Day...

...Other Woodstock High School students were cleaning up in Emricson Park, clearing invasive species with the McHenry County Environmental Defenders at Dean Street and Route 14, and cleaning up Silver Creek near Bates Park, among other projects.

“We’re just helping out the community, giving back, while we wouldn’t otherwise have anything to do today,” said Frank Bochette, 17, who was pulling up invasive plants at Ryders Woods Park off Kimball Street in Woodstock.

“It may not be in our lifetime that problems may occur, but there are problems currently that we can do what we can to help out, and not enough people are helping,” Bochette said.

Brittany Dittmer, 18, said working in Ryders Woods helped her realize how much work went into maintaining public parks and trails.

“When you’re just hiking, you don’t realize it. You think some random conservation people come out and clear out the trees, but it’s neat to go out and realize that you’re the one who did it,” she said.

“For all the people that wouldn’t usually do anything on a daily basis to be green, [Earth Day] kind of makes people think about it and get out and do something,” she said. “Once you’ve done it once, it makes it easier later to live a greener lifestyle.”

read the full article here...

Protecting our Planet By JENN WIANT

WOODSTOCK – Seniors at Woodstock High School are excused from classes today. But it’s not Senior Skip Day.

In honor of Earth Day, they will work at several outdoor community sites in Woodstock and Wonder Lake, building trails, planting native species, and removing invasive plants.

The students are among several groups planning Earth Day events. But taking care of the Earth doesn’t just happen on Earth Day anymore. Throughout the past year, McHenry County has made strides toward becoming more Earth-friendly, said Pat Dieckhoff of McHenry County College’s Lou Marchi Total Recycling Institute.

But we can do more, she said.

“I would say we’re average,” Dieckhoff said. “There are some [communities] that are much more forward-thinking than we are in McHenry County. ... This economy is a difficult time to do that, but over the long run, it’s going to save money.”

...Other groups have year-round programs for making the community greener, including the McHenry County Environmental Defenders, a nonprofit environmental action group. They recently formed a Global Climate Change Committee and now are offering to do free environmental audits for homes and businesses.

Defender Cindy Skrukrud talks to kids about Water Conservation
photo from the NW Herald

The Green Business Task Force, affiliated with the Crystal Lake Chamber of Commerce, also offers free assessments for businesses and nonprofit organizations, Task Force co-Chairman George Sezemsky said. Representatives from Crystal Lake businesses that sell environmentally friendly products make up the task force. They have assessed about a dozen businesses in the past year on recycling and reusing, energy conservation, air pollution, purchasing choices, and policies for promoting earth-friendly practices.

“The idea is to save money, too. It’s not just to be earth-friendly,” Sezemsky said. After six months or a year, the task force members reassess the business to see what improvements were made. For a free green assessment, call Sezemsky at 630-874-5074...

Read the full story here.

Little things add up in conservation
by Joan Oliver, community editor for the Northwest Herald

Consider the ant.

It’s not very big, and it’s not much of a force. Sure, it can move a crumb larger than itself, but don’t expect monumental results.

Put millions of ants together, and then you can, almost literally, move mountains.

That’s the idea behind events such as Earth Hour, which was marked Saturday. Participants turned off their lights to raise awareness of global warming. The event began in 2007 in Sydney, when 2.2 million homes and businesses went dark. This year, the goal was 1 billion participants in more than 74 countries.

Granted, this was just a symbolic gesture. And maybe you don’t buy into climate change.

But think about the power of collective action, which can translate beyond tree-hugging.

Let’s put it on a local level. How much energy, water, landfill space, and money could we save if we all did just a little?

From small things, big things one day come, or so the song goes.

Take saving water, for example. These tips come from the Environmental Defenders of McHenry County.

Note the number of gallons that could be saved by each small action.

• Run your washing machine and dishwasher only when they are full, and you could save 1,000 gallons of water a month.

• Install a low-flow shower head and save 500 gallons of water a week.

• Use a nozzle on your hose and turn off the water while you wash your car and save more than 100 gallons of water each time.

• Keep a pitcher of water to refill in the refrigerator instead of running the faucet for cold drinks and save 200 to 300 gallons of water a month.

A weekly water conservation tip runs on our Local&Region section front. You’ll find one there today.

Think your contribution is too small to matter?

Then multiply those gallons by the thousands of people in McHenry County who could do it, too. It really adds up.

Parts of McHenry County are projected to be facing water shortages by 2030, according to a 2005 study commissioned by the McHenry County Board. Water demand is expected to exceed supply. Townships targeted in that report were Algonquin and Grafton, with Burton, Dorr and Nunda townships not far behind. More recent data indicate that it’s happening even faster than predicted.

Doing what we can isn’t a matter of feel-good propaganda; it’s self-interest.

At the very least, conservation efforts can save us some cash. Every little bit helps there, too.

What have we got to lose?

Quite a bit, by the looks of it. But together we can make a difference.

After all, it’s our county, our planet.

Why not try?

click here to go to story...

In the NW Herald, March 28th, 2009

Recycler to slash services

MARENGO – About 4,000 households in unincorporated areas of McHenry County will have the number of recycling pickups reduced by half, although the price will remain the same.

MDC Environmental Services will pick up recyclable materials twice a month instead of weekly beginning the first week of April. Company officials said service with fewer pickups was becoming an industry trend...

...Alice Howenstine, chairwoman of the Environmental Defenders of McHenry County’s waste reduction committee, said the reduction in pickup was a challenge that could be overcome.

“I think it’s possible to manage once every two weeks if you work at it and compact your recycling,” she said. For example, when recycling a milk jug, she suggested removing the cap and flattening it. “Don’t throw away air, so to speak,” she said. “A landfill has never been closed because it’s too heavy.”

But the fact that there is a reduction in service but no reduction in price is a negative, Howenstine said. “It would be really nice if they could make even a slight reduction in the amount people pay because that gives them a bit of an incentive to try these other things,” she said.

read the entire article here...

Going dark to save energy
By Amber Krosel

Tonight, it’s lights out for Mother Earth.

Several McHenry County residents will join the rest of the world as they celebrate Earth Hour’s message about energy conservation and global climate change. More than 2,800 municipalities in 84 countries plan to mark the second worldwide Earth Hour time zone by time zone beginning at 8:30 p.m.

Alice Howenstine, a member of the Environmental Defenders of McHenry County, voiced her support of the event.

“It would give us a reason for realizing how the vast majority of the world lives,” Howenstine said.

read the rest of the article...

March 24, 2009

Founder of McHenry County Conservation District selected for land conservation award 

Rockford, Ill. William Howenstine of McHenry, Illinois,  was selected by the Natural Land Institute to receive this year’s George and Barbara Fell Award for his distinguished achievements in land conservation.  Award winners significantly advance natural area preservation, management and restoration in northern Illinois in the tradition of the founders of the Natural Land Institute.

Howenstine was professor of geography and environmental studies at Northeastern Illinois University for 35 years.  He helped form The Land Conservancy of McHenry County and the Illinois Association of Conservation Districts. 

He was one of the original founders of the McHenry County Conservation District in 1971, serving on its board from 1971 to 1979 and again 1996 to 2001.  The district has preserved more than 24,000 acres of open space in McHenry and Lake Counties.

“During the early years of the McHenry County Conservation District, Bill Howenstine’s efforts saved important geological features in the Glacial Park Conservation Area from a highway expansion project,” said Judith Barnard, president of the Natural Land Institute.  “As a result of Bill’s testimony,” she said, “all highway public works projects must now go through the environmental assessment process.” 

Howenstine also worked with Attorney Richard Babcock of Woodstock in the 1970s to create the language for conservation agreements which restrict future use of properties to protect natural land or farmland that has wildlife, agricultural, historic or scenic resources. The first such agreement in Illinois was given by Richard Babcock to the Natural Land Institute.

 “In addition to the thousands of acres protected through these agreements by individual landowners throughout Illinois, the Howenstine family has protected 102 acres of his own land, including a donation of 20 acres of fen wetlands to the McHenry County Conservation District,” Barnard said.

NW Herald, December 25, 2008

Keep holidays green by recycling

WOODSTOCK – John Hackman keeps his Christmas tree until January each year. Then he chops it into pieces and burns them in a wood-burning stove to warm his Woodstock home.

Alice Howenstine of McHenry stands her Christmas tree up outside and covers it in birdseed, popcorn and cranberries, or peanut butter to attract birds. “It makes a wonderful show into the spring,” she said. The birds eat the birdseed and take shelter from the snow under the tree’s branches, she said.

The winter holidays tend to produce a lot of waste, from Christmas trees to wrapping paper to holiday cards. But with a little creativity, much of what would be waste can be reused or recycled.

Howenstine, an active member of the Environmental Defenders of McHenry County and owner of Pioneer Tree Farm, offered several ideas for recycling Christmas trees, wrapping paper, holiday cards, and Styrofoam packing peanuts.

There are two easy options for Christmas trees: Leave them for the birds or have them chipped into mulch. Howenstine recommends setting the tree up outside and sprinkling birdseed in and around it, stringing it with popcorn and cranberries, or spreading peanut butter on the pine cones and rolling them in birdseed to attract birds.

When you’re done using the tree as a decoration or a bird haven, the McHenry County Conservation District will chip it for free. Drop off the tree between today and Jan. 18 at Glacial Park at 6512 Harts Road in Ringwood, Rush Creek Conservation Area at 20501 McGuire Road in Harvard, or the Algonquin Township headquarters at 3702 Route 14 in Crystal Lake. All tinsel and decorations must be removed, and commercial drop-offs are not allowed. The chipped wood will be available as free mulch in the spring.

Lisa Haderlein, executive director of The Land Conservancy of McHenry County in Woodstock, suggested that landowners with ponds on their property put their Christmas trees in the ponds to provide a habitat for fish.

Haderlein said she did what she could to eliminate waste over the holidays. “I unwrap my presents carefully and fold the paper up and keep it and reuse it the next year,” she said. “With kids, they’re not looking at the wrapping and how perfect and beautiful it is, they’re just trying to get the wrapping off as quickly as possible.”

Howenstine uses an iron to remove the wrinkles from used wrapping paper. The hot iron also helps peel the scotch tape off the paper, she said. Paper waste from Christmas cards and wrapping paper can be recycled with other scrap paper and junk mail as long as it’s not glittery or made of foil, Howenstine said. But she chooses to reuse some of the cards by turning them into postcards.

The back side of the picture on the front of the card usually is blank, Howenstine said. She cuts the card to a maximum postcard size of 6 inches long and 4.25 inches tall and then draws a line down the middle on the back side to leave space for the address. Write a note on the left and send it off for only 27 cents, she said.

The Styrofoam peanuts that protect gifts in their boxes also can be recycled. Have children string them up in chains as decorations, drop them off at a UPS store to be reused, or bring them to the McHenry County recycling drives, which take place the second Saturday of each month from 9 a.m. to noon. The next drive will be from 9 a.m. to noon Jan. 10 in the Metra parking lot at 4005 Main St. in McHenry.

http://www.nwherald.com/articles/2008/12/25/06612932/index.xml

On the record: Bill Donato

Bill Donato, 49, grew up in Morton Grove, is a fan of the Chicago Cubs, and teaches science at Woodstock High School.

When you see Donato at a public meeting – wearing his hat as the president of the McHenry County Defenders, espousing the virtues of conservation and preserving the environment – you’ll sometimes see some of his students in the audience who are there earning extra credit.

His hobbies are reading, being with his family, and working on environmental restoration projects. His favorite wilderness preserve is Glacier Park, Mont. His favorite state is Illinois. His favorite place to visit is Andros Island, Bahamas. He said he was not sure where he would settle after he retires from teaching.

Donato recently took some time to answer questions provided to him by Northwest Herald reporter Tim Kane.


Kane: What is your earliest childhood memory?
Donato: The JFK assassination.

Kane: What did you like better, high school or college?
Donato: I had a good time in high school, but college was definitely more fun and allowed me to explore my passion for the environment.

Kane: How did you become interested in teaching?
Donato: At college as a T.A. for a lab ecology course.

Kane: How long have you been a teacher?
Donato: 26 years.

Kane: What is your professional goal?
Donato: To provide an opportunity for students and teachers to learn about themselves while working with the environment so they can relay this to others.

Kane: You are a vegan, I am told. What is the difference between a vegan and vegetarian?
Donato: I’ve been [a vegan since] about a year-and-a-half ago. I am not an expert, but the difference between a vegetarian and a vegan is a vegan avoids the use of animals in food, clothing and any other purpose, whereas a vegetarian avoids eating meat which includes poultry, game and slaughtered animals and fish.

Kane: Do you miss meat?
Donato: No, except certain shellfish.

Kane: How often do you use your reflector oven to cook?
Donato: When it is sunny and there is time to plan.

Kane: What’s your favorite meal cooked in a reflector oven?
Donato: Veggie burgers.

Kane: What environmental gadgets do you foresee being in use in 10 years?  In 20 years?
Donato: Solar power will be much more evident in the future. Cars will be hybrids with natural gas and electric, gas and electric plug ins. More people will be growing their own food, some on their green roofs. Buildings will be sustainable. I recommend people read “Cradle to Cradle” for a combination of business and ecology.

Kane: Why are you interested in the environment?
Donato: We only have one earth, so we all need to realize that we are just part of a larger cycle. There should be another R in schools [aside from reading, writing and ‘rithmetic] called responsibility. It is hard for me to believe that a child is fully educated if this is not part of their education. Unfortunately, in these days of “no child left behind” standardized tests, remedial skills seem to be what is emphasized.

Schools need to be a model for green living so that students and parents see what is needed for a sustainable society.

The Defenders – through education – are attempting to model this through the creation of a green building [for a new headquarters in Woodstock] and various sustainable practices.
 

http://www.nwherald.com/articles/2008/12/13/78779396/index.xml

NW Herald, November 12, 2008

Some dream of green Christmas

http://www.nwherald.com/articles/2008/11/12/news/local/doc491abbd7d0832672702406.txt

Northwest Herald, October 23, 2008

Forum keys on climate

CRYSTAL LAKE – Next spring you’ll be able to summon a home inspector – a volunteer trained by the Environmental Defenders of McHenry County – who will show you how to make your home more energy efficient.

“Thinking globally and acting locally” was the theme Wednesday night at the Climate Change Forum at the McHenry County College Conference Center.

Bill Donato, president of the Environmental Defenders of McHenry County, said an “environmental audit” of a home could be rendered for a donation of about $25.

The inspector doing the audit would check to see whether you have enough insulation in your walls and “draft stoppers” under your doors. The inspector also would advise against using incandescent bulbs and to instead use florescent bulbs, which last longer and use less power.

Donato also announced his group’s plans to build a “green” headquarters that would house the Defenders’ organization.

He said $80,000 that had been raised would go toward the construction of a $300,000 building on Dean Street in Woodstock. The building will have solar panels on the roof to cut down on the electricity usage. Another feature would be compost toilets that will turn human waste into fertilizer.

Steve Fuller said thinking about his family’s future turned his thoughts green about a decade ago. That’s when he became an environmental activist.

“I lost sleep over the environment,” said Fuller, with Crystal Lake’s Cool Cities Initiative. “I worry about my three daughters and the world we are going to leave them.”

Fuller said one measure he supported was the “Anti-idling Campaign” that urges drivers – especially those waiting at commuter train stations and parents waiting to pick up their kids from school – to shut off their engines while they wait to save gas and to put less carbon into the atmosphere.
 

http://www.nwherald.com/articles/2008/10/23/news/local/doc49002e9d76983644545894.txt

Cary-Grove Countryside, September 18, 2008

It's Our River Day coming to Cornish Park

Kayak demonstrations and rock music will accompany an effort to clean up trash from the bank of the Fox River at Algonquin's Cornish Park Saturday for the "It's Our River Day" event.

Event organizers expect 40 to 100 people to attend.

The event, sponsored by the village of Algonquin and the Environmental Defenders of McHenry County, lasts from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the park at the intersection of Harrison Street and Algonquin Road.

The event will start with several speakers, including village Trustee Brian Dianis and village Community Development Senior Planner Katie Parkhurst. Parkhurst and Dianis will address the crowd on the village's efforts to help the environment, including using biodiesel in the village's vehicles and replacing facility light bulbs with more efficient fluorescent bulbs.

"We are a conservation community," Dianis said. "The river is a great natural asset, so we want to make sure we maintain it."

At 1:45 p.m., participants will be invited to clean up the Fox River bank and Crystal Creek, aided by gloves and bags donated by the Illinois chapter of the Sierra Club.

"It's important for us to get the trash and recyclables in the right place, period," Environmental Defenders board member Cynthia Kanner said. "People drive by (on Algonquin Road) and dispose things in the wrong way."

The Mack Hotterson band will perform classic and alternative rock music during the event. The event will end at 3 p.m. with the Prairie Coast Paddlers and the St. Charles Canoe Club demonstrating to shorebound attendees how to paddle a canoe upstream, and perhaps how to roll a kayak completely over in the river, if the water is deep enough.

"The message of the day is how important it is to keep our rivers, and our watershed in general, clean," Kanner said, "The health of a waterway can report back to us on the health of our whole community. Pesticides and other things end up in our water; it identifies things in our communities that aren't healthy."

http://www.pioneerlocal.com/carygrove/news/1170012,al-ourriver-091808-s1.article

Parkhurst Watches Over Future

If today’s time is the down payment we make toward the future of our environment, Katie Parkhurst is heavily invested.

Her calendar reflects that investment, including the hours she spends on Project Quercus (Latin for oak tree) and Oak Keepers, both projects dedicated to preserving area oak trees instituted by the Land Conservancy of McHenry County. Parkhurst cares about the environmental future of the county in areas such as natural resource protection, pollution-free drinking water, and open-space preservation.

As a member of the Environmental Defenders of McHenry County, a citizen organization dedicated to the improvement and preservation of the environment, she helps support its educational projects, programs devoted to pollution prevention, sustainable land use, and energy and natural resource conservation.

“These things matter so much,” Parkhurst said.

As chairwoman of the Woodstock Plan Commission, she considers her time well spent.

“I feel I can give back to the community I live in by offering professional knowledge and experience on how to review the land developments,” she said.

As acting planning director for the village of Algonquin, among her many duties and responsibilities is the village’s annual Conservation Community Day, which she helps to coordinate every year.  

“It’s a mini-Earth day that’s free and open to the public,” she said. “We designed it to inform and educate people on ways to preserve our environment – ways where they can make a difference.”

Parkhurst attributes her interest and participation in community service to the role model that her parents, Ted and Judy Thornton, provided.

“They were, and are, very active in so many causes,” she said. “I respect that and have learned so much from their example. In fact, what they did, and how it was received was something I wanted very much to emulate in my own community work.”

Parkhurst’s goal is to preserve our natural resources.

“I grew up in McHenry County, and I’ve seen many changes over the last 20 years,” she said. “I want to make sure its uniqueness is preserved.”

– Phyllis Shearer

http://www.biz-journal.com/articles/2008/08/05/local/doc48991d0589edb752346518.txt

University of Minnesota, May 6, 2008

GREG LINDSEY NAMED ASSOCIATE DEAN OF THE HUMPHREY INSTITUTE

The Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs has named Greg Lindsey associate dean of the college. He will serve as both chief academic officer and chief research officer of the Institute. He will begin August 1, 2008.

“The Humphrey Institute has enjoyed positive growth and renewed academic focus over the last few years, and we have begun a vigorous examination of the roles and responsibilities of a public affairs school in the 21st century,” said Dean J. Brian Atwood. “Greg Lindsey has the experience, respect, and vision to help the Humphrey Institute move these efforts forward and respond to the changing world facing public affairs students and researchers.”

read more

In the Northwest Herald, July 17th, 2008

Seneca Township estate-home proposal fails

WOODSTOCK – Environmental concerns killed a proposal to build a dozen estate homes on 98 acres in Seneca Township.

The proposal failed to get enough votes Tuesday among McHenry County Board members to gain approval. Petitioner Arthur Schueler Jr. asked to get the land northeast of Kunde and North Union roads rezoned from agriculture to estate.

The proposition came from the Zoning Board of Appeals without a recommendation in part because of the environmentally sensitive nature of the property, which contains numerous wetlands and several branches of the Kishwaukee River.

Supporters, such as Barbara Wheeler, R-Crystal Lake, and Anna May Miller, R-Algonquin, said the owners pledged to preserve the wetlands and that 70 percent of the property would be preserved as open space.

“I don’t see a better opportunity for true conservation design than this,” Miller said.

But a majority of the board disagreed, siding with objections raised by the Seneca Township Board and The Environmental Defenders of McHenry County. The McHenry County Soil and Water Conservation District also raised concerns about the potential for contaminating the river and groundwater supplies.

http://www.nwherald.com/articles/2008/07/17/news/local/doc487edadbc4d53881206487.txt
 

In the Daily Herald, July 14, 2008

Digging out in Harvard: Score one for the environmentalists.

A state appeals court ruled last week that Harvard officials improperly approved plans for a gravel mine on 792 acres near the city's northwest border because they did not first consult with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

The unanimous ruling, which upheld a 2007 decision by a McHenry County judge, is a victory for the McHenry County Defenders, a local conservation group hoping to put a halt to mining operations until more study of its environmental impact can be done.

The Defenders sued Harvard trying to block the city's deal to allow mining by Meyer Material Co. the suit claimed, among other things, that the city did not adhere to a state requirement that it consult with the DNR before allowing mining operations.

In particular, the group cited concerns about the mining's impact on the Blanding's turtle and slippershell mussel, two threatened species found on the site. Questions also surfaced over how the work would affect the nearby Becks Woods and Piscasaw Creek nature areas.

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=220500&src=4

Algonquin showcases its conservation community
By DAVID FITZGERALD

ALGONQUIN – The big purple butterfly painted across Jackie O’Connor’s face wrinkled as the 10-year-old poured a milky, blue liquid onto some potted grass. The liquid filtered through the dirt and rocks, and then it dripped into the bottom half of a 2-liter bottle much clearer and less blue than it started.

“Dirt is a natural filter,” said Cynthia Kanner of the McHenry County Defenders.

The Defenders’ booth was set up to let children see firsthand how an aquifer works, and, more basically, to tell them that their water actually comes from under their feet.

The Defenders were just one of nearly 20 booths set up along the Woods Creek bike trail at Algonquin’s sixth annual Conservation Community Day.

“Each year we try to make it more and more interactive,” Assistant Village Manager Jeff Mihelich said.

This year, participants at the free event could take home energy-efficient light bulbs and rain gauges along with ideas for conserving resources and being friendlier to the environment.

“We do this event because we believe that the natural areas here are very important to the community and help make Algonquin what it is,” said Andrew Bogda, who works in the village’s community development office and helped organize the event.

Friends Sydney Nemtuda, 9, and Kendall Douglas, 8, both of Algonquin, said they learned about native plants, what items they can recycle, and how water comes from the ground to their faucet. The duo agreed that it was a great way to start summer vacation.

“This gives residents an opportunity to learn about our natural environment and be able to see what village officials and organizations are doing to help protect it,” Bogda said.
 

http://www.nwherald.com/articles/2008/06/20/news/local/doc485c5e97a5363557444647.txt

County groups celebrate early Earth Day fun

http://www.nwherald.com/articles/2008/04/20/news/local/doc480b18682fc86075924357.txt

Go green while saving green
By ELIZABETH HARMON

Anyone who thinks going green means spending big bucks on a host of
expensive eco-friendly products should talk with Alice Howenstine.
Howenstine, co-owner of the Pioneer Tree Farm in northern McHenry County, has lived green her entire life. She learned to do it the hard way, growing up during the Great Depression. “We were living green back then but that wasn’t what anyone called it. We didn’t think of it as a chore, but a challenge,” she said.

For years, she’s carried in her own grocery bags, recycled, planted her own
organic vegetable garden — nourished with homemade compost — and whenever possible, prefers to repair items instead of replacing them. Her environmentally-friendly lifestyle is defined more by what she doesn’t buy, rather than what she does. To Howenstine and her husband, Bill, it’s all about
creativity. “I like to look at a problem and look at a creative way to solve it by trying to reuse what we have,” she said.

Read the whole article HERE. Scroll down to page 6.


Use a washable coffee mug at work and keep one in the car.
Take 5-minute showers.
Buy recycled toilet paper.
Replace paper napkins with cloth napkins.
Use fans instead of air-conditioning.
Air-dry your laundry.
Reduce packaging by buying in bulk.
Reduce your meat consumption.
Before you buy, ask yourself if it is a necessary purchase.

Recharge groundwater
Minimizing water use at home will help

"If there’s a town or business in McHenry County looking to expand its wastewater treatment operations, chances are Cindy Skrukrud is keeping a watchful eye on their efforts.

As a clean water advocate for the Illinois chapter of the Sierra Club, Skrukrud monitors discharge permits issued by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and works with municipal officials to minimize the amount of pollution that is deposited into rivers and streams.

A Richmond area resident, Skrukrud, 53, has an undergraduate degree in agricultural science and a Ph.D. in biochemistry. She serves as chair of the McHenry County Defenders’ water resources protection committee and leads the Fox River Study Group, which studies water quality issues in the Fox River.

Skrukrud spoke with reporter Jocelyn Allison recently about why protecting groundwater is a top environmental concern in McHenry County."

Click HERE to read the full article.

February 9, 2008, Northwest Herald's "In Motion"

Alice Howenstine is interviewed at the Defenders' batteries and bulbs recycling drive in Woodstock. CLICK HERE for the video.