Category Archives: Environmental Tips
Documentary Film: The Family Farm
Greening at the office, continued
In many ways “going green,” or being sensitive to the use of our natural resources, is about efficiency. Being conscious about behaviors and having monitoring efforts in place help to hold us accountable.
Here are a few tips to put those ideas into action:
Update mailing lists to avoid sending out unnecessary letters, thus saving the paper, printing, and postage.
Monitor the use of supplies.
Keeping tabs on how much is being spent and used can make us more careful about what’s being wasted.
Set a company policy that disallows the use of screen savers, and set monitors to power off after a time.
It’s that easy.
Greening at the Office
Did you know that the average U.S. office worker goes through about 10,000 sheets of paper a year?
Reduce that number by getting into the habit of printing on both sides of the paper. Also, use the back side of old documents for faxes, scrap paper, or drafts. Avoid color printing and print in draft mode whenever feasible.
Make it a policy to buy chlorine-free paper with a higher percentage of post-consumer recycled content. Also consider switching to a lighter stock of paper or alternatives made from bamboo, hemp, organic cotton, or kenaf.
Recycle toner and ink cartridges and buy remanufactured ones. According to Office Depot, each remanufactured toner cartridge “keeps approximately 2.5 pounds of metal and plastic out of landfills and conserves about a half gallon of oil.”
February Green Drinks with Visit McHenry County!
Green Drinks is held at Duke’s Alehouse & Kitchen from 5 pm until 7 pm, 110 N Main Street in Crystal Lake. First Wednesday of each month.
Our Green Drinks guest for February 1st is Visit McHenry County. Visit McHenry County was started in August of 2005 as the McHenry County Convention and Visitors Bureau. In 2014 the DBA Visit McHenry County was adopted. The Purpose of Visit McHenry County is to encourage, enhance and promote tourism related business and special events in McHenry County; to further the promotion of tourism and publicity for the area; to promote McHenry County as a tourist destination throughout the state, regionally, nationally and internationally; and to protect and preserve the quality of life valued by its citizens. The mission states that Visit McHenry County will strive to create economic growth for McHenry County through effective marketing of its tourism product and supporting the development of new physical tourism products.
Visit McHenry County staff will be sharing information about how they promote ecotourism in McHenry County.
Jaki Berggren is the Executive Director. She was first hired in 2009 as the Sales Manager and was promoted to Executive Director in 2012. Jaki has been a resident of Huntley for nine years.
Kristine Austin is the Sales & Marketing Manager. She was hired in November of 2016. Kristine is a resident of Lake in the Hills and grew up in Johnsburg.
Surround yourself with the beauty of the winter night sky!
In the United States, December has more hours of darkness than any other month, and it’s also the most overcast time of year in many places, which means we may not see much of the sun. With the winter solstice on December 21, long nights will rule. So let’s embrace the darkness and take the opportunity to appreciate the night sky.
Protect this view by learning about light pollution, which is a side affect of industrial civilization and can have serious environmental consequences. Value the dark sky, considering that if we don’t, there may one day be children who will never see the Milky Way.
DEFENDERS TO COLLECT POLITICAL SIGNS
The Environmental Defenders of McHenry County is again collecting political signs.
If you do not plan to re-use your signs following the election, signs can be brought to the Defenders’ warehouse, care of Chicago Logistic Service, 501 Davis Road, Elgin, Illinois. There will be a bin at the back of the building, available any time. You can also bring them to the Defenders Recycling Drive in Woodstock on December 10, from 9am to noon, at the Soil and Water Conservation District building, 2222 S Dean Street. (southeast corner of Route 14 and Dean Street.)
EDMC Informs about Health Hazards of Coal Tar Sealants
Woodstock, IL – October 21, 2016– On October 18th, The Environmental Defenders of McHenry County sent information regarding the dangers of coal tar sealants to over 250 establishments throughout McHenry County. Recipients included city/village leaders, Park, Road and School Districts, hospitals, libraries, daycare centers and theaters. Included in the information was a six-page factsheet from the United States Geological Survey, which concludes that coal tar sealants contain extremely high levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon compounds (PAHs), “which have been known to cause cancer, mutations, birth defects or death in fish and other aquatic organisms.” Coal tar is a known human carcinogen and asphalt sealant, therefore, is recommended for sealing paved surfaces.
The Environmental Defenders strongly encourages that our communities cease the use of coal tar sealants on pavement and reports that eight municipal and township members of the Barrington Area Council of Governments (BACOG) adopted a resolution in January 2016 committing to not purchase or apply coal tar or other high PAH sealants.
Founded in 1970, The Environmental Defenders of McHenry County is a non-profit, membership organization dedicated to the preservation and improvement of the environment in McHenry County.
Contact:
The Environmental Defenders of McHenry County
Email: envirodefmc@gmail.com
110 S. Johnson Street, Suite 106
Woodstock, IL 60098.
Ph: 815-338-0393
www.mcdef.org. Like us on Facebook! Twitter
Have a Green Hallowe’en!
Vote!
One of the most important things you can do if you want a healthy natural world is to get out and vote for candidates that have strong environmental values and who will act on those values.
To accomplish the large goals of affecting change when it comes to industrial pollution, preservation of open space, keeping our waterways clear and clean, reducing the impact of fossil fuels, promoting clean energy, and so forth, it can’t be done without political will and strength.
To get help on who to vote for, seek out organizations such as the Sierra Club that endorse candidates with strong environmental records and values. For candidates in local races, have discussions with individuals and friends who are involved in local politics, research voting records and even simply ask the candidates about their positions.
Finally, share your opinion to support the issues and each other, and most certainly cast an informed vote in every election.