Sustainability

Dream it.

Any and all food scraps can now be composted. Place them in the small bin located in the kitchen marked "compost," or place a compostable bag in a large pot to collect food scraps from community meals. When the bag is full, place it in the large, gray trash can outside in the alley marked "compost." Replace the bag in the small container. Bags for composting are out in the kitchen near the sinks.

 All the items below can be composted; just place any boxes, newspapers, food packaging directly into the gray bin outside:

- Food scraps, including meat, bread, vegetables, table scraps, dairy, coffee grounds and pasta

- Unsoiled or food-soiled paper products, such as paper towels, paper bags, pizza boxes, napkins, paper cups, newspaper and food packaging

- Compostable plates, cups, utensils and plastic bags

Yard waste such as grass clippings, garden vegetation, leaves and brush are are acceptable too.  You can also bring your food waste from home, as long as it’s either in a compostable plastic or paper bag.

Let’s fill up the compost bin instead of the landfill!

PlanItGreen

PlanItGreen is offering an exciting opportunity to plan a more sustainable future for the communities of Oak Park and River Forest.  PlanItGreen, part of the OPRF Community Foundation's Communityworks initiative, is designed to engage community residents and stakeholder organizations in creating and realizing a vision for an environmentally sustainable Oak Park and River Forest.  Community participation is a fundamental part of the process and your completion of the survey will provide us with the community's priorities and ideas for a Green Oak Park and River Forest.  Seven Generations Ahead (SGA), one of the lead consultants for PlanItGreen, receives funding annually from Good Shepherd.  GSLC members Gary Cuneen, Mark Ledogar and Warren King are all on the SGA Board of Directors.

The survey is designed to take as little as 5 minutes to complete Section 1 and Section 2, if you wish only communicate your broad green community priorities -- or continue on to complete Section 3 if you wish to weigh in on specific strategies and add more narrative comment.  All survey results will be tabulated and incorporated into the final OPRF Sustainability Vision Plan document.  Specific strategies will be incorporated based on the frequency of their inclusion in the surveys and will be weighed along with input from institutional stakeholders and technical experts.

Create a Prairie Garden to Feed God’s Creatures

At the synod's Green Event on Earth Day many congregations wanted to know how we created our Prairie Garden. The following are the directions.

HOW TO REPLACE LAWN WITH PRAIRIE GARDEN
Choose a space of sun-filled lawn that measures 3 X 5 feet. Remove the sod. Purchase/request donations of the following prairie plants: Crimson Butterfly Weed; Blue Globe Thistle; Little Blue Stem Grass; Wild Petunia.

All are available online at WWW.PRAIRIENURSERY.COM. Plant in threes to create a natural effect. The plants listed grow to three feet. The wild petunia is smaller (18 inches) and is good for the border. Enjoy the butterflies and birds that visit. Each year add more native plants……. Make more prairie spaces…….. Educate the church and the neighborhood by example! Once you get started, it becomes easier and easier every year to maintain your property/grounds -- less mowing and watering; more wildlife and soil improvement.