Going Green Matters- Well Attended and Enjoyed

Going Green Matters is Wilmette’s annual environmental fair and it was held on March 9th, 2014. The weather cooperated. It didn’t snow. It wasn’t unbearably cold.  The sun came out and so did more than1,200 people - visitors, volunteers and exhibitors. Members of Go Green Wilmette worked cooperatively and creatively to plan and present the 8th Going Green Matters, the best so far. Visitors came from as far away as Blue Island and Lake Forest and many places between.

The fair offered people interested in living more sustainably a chance to learn more about saving energy at home, transportation choices, green landscaping, growing your own food, organic food and farming, connecting to nature, green home design and products, and water issues.

This was a great chance to find out how Wilmette Schools, the Park District, the Library, north shore congregations and the Village government are all working together with Go Green Wilmette to make Wilmette and the north shore a more sustainable place to live.

Go Green Wilmette’s president, Beth Drucker, was interviewed on the Mike Nowak Show on WCPT early on March 9th 2014, the day of the Fair.  Her interview was so positive that two women from Blue Island hopped in their car and drove to Wilmette so they could be part of Going Green Matters.  They were glad they came.  Visitors expressed surprise at how big the Fair was and how much they learned and how good the food was.  People asked to be contacted about the next Fair. 

Nan Hoff was in charge of the raffle that was downstairs.  The winner was from Wilmette and was volunteering along with her daughter and son in the Eco Zone—a really interactive part of the Fair.  The Metropolitan Water and Reclamation District raffled off another rain barrel, which they donated.  That one was won by a Chicago woman.  She was really excited.  “I can’t believe I won!” was her response.  She said that she and her husband used to have two rain barrels, and one of them had broken….

Saima Abbasi was in charge of a school project that involved collecting plastic caps.  She explained,  “There is always confusion around the bottle cap collection. The plastic bottles are made from plastic PET #1 and the bottle caps are made from another plastic type plastic #5. These two different types of plastics melt at different temperatures during the recycling process and therefore, need to be processed separately. Most of the time people leave the bottle caps on the bottles when throwing in a recycling bin. This leads to problems at the sorting facility. Most recycling facilities do not recycle plastic bottle caps. 

Through this kid's project we wanted to spread the awareness that plastic bottle caps are not easily recycled. We collected close to 30 pounds of bottle caps most of them came from the Wilmette Rec center. All Wilmette school, except for WJHS, participated in this collection. It was a great way to promote our event too. We used some bottle caps to make a mural that we are hoping can be displayed at the schools. Through this project we hope to address the importance of proper recycling, or better yet, think about the consequences it has on the environment before you buy a plastic bottle. Aveda at Eden's Plaza collects bottle caps. We are going to drop the collected bottle caps there.”

Margaret Heaton was in charge of the recycling collection and shared the results:

Results of GGM 2014 recycling collection:

March 12, 2014

Batteries    345 lbs.

Electronics    11,643 lbs.

Textiles&shoes   1,255 lbs.

Unwearable shoes    70 lbs. (approx.)

Styrofoam    4 1/2 Vanloads

There were 130 volunteers who helped out and visited the displays. This event is made possible by the support of the Village, the cooperation of the Wilmette Police Department, the generosity of the Woman's Club of Wilmette, the contributions of our volunteers, the donations of local businesses toward our complimentary Go Green Cafe and raffle, the commitment of our sponsors, the knowledge and dedication of all our exhibitors and finally, the enthusiasm and interest of our local community in environmental matters provided invaluable opportunities for informal problem solving and getting to know one’s community members.

You can find out about upcoming Go Green Wilmette and other area green events on the newly revised Go Green Wilmette website - www.gogreenwilmette.com. .  Check it out.  There is a lot of wonderful, useful information that you are sure to enjoy.