Join us on September 29^th for a day of discovering the thriving, resilient, sustainable community we have in Oak Park and River Forest!!  The tour will consist of 25 sites in four different categories: Energy, Waste, Water, and Food.  Learn more about the Water track below, or download the the full schedule now.

Wild About Water Conservation

807 Forest Ave, River Forest Site #14 on map Tour at 9:30 am Kid Friendly River Forest Home Showcases a Dozen Water-Saving Features River Forest residents Sue and Bill will take you on a tour of their garden and home, which showcases 13 water conservation features -- including various types of permeable pavers, loads of native plantings, a drip irrigation system for their edible garden, and large-scale rainwater capture with a 1000-gallon cistern in their basement.

Simple Techniques for Saving Water on Your Garden and Grounds

818 Forest Ave, River Forest Site #15 on map Demo at 10:45 am KID FRIENDLY

Jeff Swano, owner of organic lawn care and sustainable gardening company, Dig Right In, will take us through a live demonstration (at the Burke Home in River Forest) of 2 water conservation features. He'll show us how to convert a downspout and install a rain barrel. He'll then share how to obtain the supplies to do it at all at your own home!

Grey Matters

165 N. Taylor Ave., Oak Park Site #16 on map Tour at 1:00 pm Kid Friendly Installing Oak Park's First Residential Grey Water Recycling System is a No-Brainer Ana and Jim's 100+ year old home is under construction with some green upgrades, but you'll be able to sneak on-site to view their residential grey water system (the first in Oak Park and the 3rd in the State of IL), which reuses water from tubs and showers in flushing toilets. With this, they hope to save 27% of their indoor water use.

Nifty Natives: Landscaping is Built for Water Conservation

1047 Highland Ave, Oak Park Site #17 on map Tour & Demo at 2:15 pm Kid Friendly This Family's Landscaping is Built for Water Conservation. Homeowners Michelle and Doug will share their "smart and stingy" use of water in their garden and landscape with a bioswale, rain garden, permeable pavers and more. Doug, a landscaping professional will show his impressive native plantings and give a demo on why and how planting native vegetation conserves water.

This South Oak Park Home is Water-Smart!

1122 S. Clinton, Oak Park Site #18 on map Tour at 3:30 pm Kid Friendly