Get Your One Earth Zoom Background for Our 10th Anniversary Launch Party
How Community Solar Saves Us Money While Helping the Planet
Like many other Oak Parkers, our family tries to live in an environmentally responsible way. We compost food waste, eat meat-free and organic, and drive electric cars. When we lived in a single-family house, we imagined installing solar panels on the roof, but it wasn't practical or, at the time, affordable. When we downsized into a condo, we faced the challenge of getting buy-in from our fellow owners to add a rooftop solar array, and the available space would have been too small to make much of a dent in our building’s electricity consumption.
A Big Dose of Climate Reality in Oak Park
On November 20 and 21, three of Climate Reality Project’s 1600 worldwide events were held in Oak Park. The Climate Reality Project, a global non-profit organization founded by Al Gore, is tasked with explaining the science of climate change and the already-existing solutions to the current crisis to people all over the world.
The first of three “24 Hours of Reality: Truth to Action” presentations in Oak Park was held at Oak Park River Forest High School. Sponsored by the school’s Environmental Club and young leaders of It’s Our Future, the after-school talk was given by Lisa Albrecht, an experienced climate change educator and owner of the local business All Bright Solar.
Oak Park Recognized for Sustainable Fleet Achievements
The Village of Oak Park won a green leadership award at the Chicago Area Clean Cities (CACC) coalition annual meeting on Thursday, Dec. 5. The awards are given each year to local organizations and individuals that take actions to reduce petroleum consumption and improve air quality, such as by using cleaner-burning alternative-fuel vehicles, electric vehicles (EVs) or other advanced technologies.
The Village of Oak Park received the “Best Performing Municipality” award for the many steps it is taking to lower the carbon footprint and emissions of its vehicle fleet.
Reduce Your Carbon Footprint During the Holidays
Visiting friends or family via airplane this holiday season? Don’t forget to bring Mother Earth a present by offsetting the carbon emissions from your flight.
Carbon offsetting involves financially supporting Earth-friendly projects, such as planting trees or building wind farms, which reduce the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide that your flight generated. Burning jet fuel produces carbon dioxide, one of the harmful greenhouse gases that is causing climate change.