Introduction to 'Keeping it REEL'

As creator of the One Earth Film Festival, Green Community Connections believes in the power of film to inform, inspire and transform. Our new Keeping It Reel feature will curate short videos and feature-length film trailers that focus on a variety of sustainability and environmental issues that affect us all. You will find in this feature not only a variety of topics but also a variety of approaches to the topic, including factual, inspirational, light and humorous, personal stories and public advocacy. In the righthand column are two videos to start off our new series. Enjoy!

Please give us your feedback and participate by submitting your "nominations" for a future feature. Contact Sally Stovall: sally@greencommunityconnections.org.

Connect to Action: Attend GreenTown Chicago May 21-22

Twenty-four break-out sessions on topics from biking to fighting childhood obesity to Illinois' home-grown renewable energy industry. Eighty-three brilliant, sustainability speakers and panelists. One Swedish ambassador. Oh, and a tasty, post-event, micro-brew reception. Add them up and what do you get? The GreenTown Chicago conference, held May 21-22, where today's best and brightest ideas will inspire tomorrow's sustainable solutions to fight climate change, improve people's health and spur regional resilience. Green Community Connections members and other sustainability activists will find much to discover and learn at the conference, held at UIC Student Center East at 750 S. Halsted in Chicago. The location is easily accessible by bike, blue line, Metra or carpool.

Designed to be an intense, focused networking opportunity for government, business and community members interested in pushing the Chicago region toward a more sustainable future, GreenTown Chicago is organized by Oak Park-based Seven Generations Ahead and a5, a strategy and design firm in Chicago.

The main conference activities occur on Thursday, May 22. Attendees will learn about sustainable initiatives in the City of Chicago, understand what's going on in the surrounding metropolitan region and gain an international perspective from Sweden, one of the world's most forward-thinking countries in the sustainability arena. Some highlights include:

• Discover how the region is undergoing a paradigm shift from “waste management” to “materials recovery."
• The trees we live among are under threat, but also give us enormous ecological benefits. Edith Makra, Director of Environmental Initiatives, Metropolitan Mayors Caucus will give a tour of Chicago's urban forest.
• Panelists will discuss how the Institute of Cultural Affair’s (ICA) Accelerate 77 project is engaging leaders from across Chicago’s neighborhoods in learning about and acting on sustainability.
• Find out how Sweden's cities are becoming more energy efficient, healthy and resilient.
• Learn how the Climate Adaptation Guidebook for Municipalities in the Chicago Region can help communities interested in adapting their planning and investment decisions to a changing climate.

The conference's first day, Wednesday, May 21, will hold two high-level sessions on food scrap composting in Illinois and the role of colleges and universities in leading the push toward sustainability.

Click here to view the full GreenTown Chicago agenda as well as registration and parking information. GreenTown is sponsored by the city of Chicago, the Institute of Cultural Affairs, and Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning.

Green Living: 10 ways to green your holidays

With the Winter Solstice, Christmas and New Year's approaching, here are some no cost and low cost ways to end 2013 with an eco-friendly bang.

Heartfelt Gifts

1. Give your time. In our "More and More" world, it's easy to forget that the gift of time is most precious. Consider giving “gift certificates” for a skill that you can teach, such as music lessons or knitting, or a service, like pet-sitting or house cleaning. No cost. 2. Give an experience. Find a local guided tour, class on a shared interest, massage at a spa or tickets to a sporting event, museum, concert or play. 3. Bake an incredible gift. Use your skill in the kitchen to bake breads, cookies, preserves, dried fruits, nut mixes or herbed vinegars...all presented in reusable containers, of course! Low cost. 4. Buy locally made gifts whenever possible. Cloth napkins and kitchen towels make especially green gifts. Discover the many craft fairs around town, as well as the Oak Park Women's Exchange at 839 S Oak Park Ave in Oak Park (opwe.org). 5. Give the gift of a greener world by giving things such as a refurbished computer, backyard composter, rain barrel, refillable thermos bottle, and recycled-content stationery. If you're giving a battery-operated toy, include rechargeable batteries and a battery charger.

Dreamy Decor

6. Eat meals by candlelight. Turning off the lights is romantic for adults and fun for kids! No cost. 7. Upgrade to energy saving LED holiday lights that are up to 90 percent more efficient than conventional incandescent holiday bulbs (recycle the old ones - see #10). Low cost. 8. Put lights on timers to save energy while you're traveling. Low cost. 9. Make wreaths and centerpieces from your yard. Bonus: If you combine annual winter pruning -- trees and shrubs are dormant in December-- your plants and your home will look fabulous! It's so easy to assemble wreaths and centerpieces using arborvitae, juniper, pine and spruce. Dried seed pods, pinecones, and grasses add a nice touch. Read this Chicago Tribune article or search "natural winter decorations" on pinterest.com. (Remember: boughs quickly lose needles in the dry air of a home, so hang homemade wreaths outside and make centerpieces the day before the party.) No cost. 10. Recycle your Christmas tree and other greenery. Many towns have tree recycling programs. And some recycle holiday lights. Look for details from the villages in January. No cost. Find more tips on reducing, reusing and recycling at www.greencommunityconnections.org/resources/waste-reduce-reuse-recycle/

Fractured: A Public Discussion on Fracking and the Environment

On Saturday, Oct. 12, 2013, 12:00pm - 1:30pm, an afternoon discussion of fracking and its environmental impacts will kick-off a year-long series of events on Global Energies.Field Museum James Simpson Theater 1400 S Lake Shore Drive Chicago IL, 60605

Hydraulic Fracturing or "fracking" has transformed America's energy landscape. This newly developed extraction technique allows companies to access oil and gas trapped in shale rock and other unconventional geologic formations. However, fracking's impact on water safety, the environment, and the climate have raised grave concerns about its sustainability.

Join us for an afternoon discussion of fracking and its environmental impacts.

Featured presenters include Terry Evans, photographer of "Fractured: North Dakota's Oil Boom" (currently on exhibit at the Field), Margaret MacDonell from the Argonne National Laboratory , Rob Jackson from Duke University, Alaka Wali from the Field Museum, and Mike Ziri from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. The event will be moderated by Mark Lycett, Director of the University of Chicago Program on the Global Environment and Interim Director of the Center for International Studies.

NOTE: Please enter the Simpson Theater through the West Door of the Field Museum — entrance is free for the lecture only, and does not include admission to the museum galleries. All other access to the museum requires regular paid admission. A free shuttle bus (first come, first served) will leave from the University of Chicago campus in front of Pick Hall at 11:15am and return to that location after the event.

Cosponsored by the Center for International Studies, the Program on the Global Environment, and the Field Museum.

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