The Green Community Connections/One Earth Board welcomed three new members at its November board meeting. They will join the other four sitting directors. We are grateful and excited to have them join the board. Their unique talents, expertise and perspectives will help us further our mission to support the growth of environmental awareness and inspire the adoption of solution-oriented actions through inclusive educational events and programs.
The art show “Third Coast Disrupted: Artists + Scientists on Climate” was scheduled to close on Friday, Oct. 30, but will reopen Monday, Jan. 11, and continue through Friday, Feb. 19, at Columbia College Chicago’s Glass Curtain Gallery, 1104 S. Wabash.
After seeing the show recently, one of its artworks continues to haunt me.
Begin with this: Today, nearly 65,000 Native Americans, representing more than 100 tribal nations, live in Chicagoland—making this one of the largest urban Native American populations in the country.
Move on to this: I have lived in Chicagoland for over 30 years, and I only recently learned what I’ve just told you. For this new awareness, I credit the Forest Preserve Foundation’s October symposium, called “Racial Equity and Access to Nature.”
Late last week, after downing half a bottle of wine on a Zoom call with friends, I checked email and found a surprise message from a publicist: Damon Gameau, the director of “2040: The Regeneration,” could talk to me in the next hour. It was 9 p.m. on a Thursday night; as he lives in Australia, it was 1 p.m. his time. I hesitated for only a moment before rebooting Zoom. And I have to say that I was so glad I talked to this dynamic, passionate thinker, who infused my evening with hope for the future . . . and no, it wasn't just the wine talking. You need to see this film.
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.
