Funds Available to Start or Improve your Garden March 29th, 2010
Last October, SWAN received a grant of $1000 from the YMCA Activate Elgin Program and a grant from the America the Beautiful Fund to provide free vegetable and flower seeds. The YMCA grant will be used to provide $50 to 20 homes in SWAN. The money must be spent on gardening materials or equipment. To obtain this grant you must complete an application. Recipients will be determined and notified by April 18th. If you receive the grant, you must purchase your garden materials or equipment and submit the receipt to SWAN for reimbursement.
Anybody that is interested in obtaining free seeds may do so by requesting them on the application or by contacting Mike Curtin. There are plenty of seeds for everyone. Please take advantage of this unique opportunity.
If you are looking for cost-effective garden ideas to enhance the look of your property, consider the various packages offered by the Kane-Dupage Soil & Water Conservation District. This organization offers a butterfly package, a humming bird package, and a rain garden package for only $62 per package. The last day to order these packages is April 30th. If you are fortunate enough to receive a YMCA grant, then the cost of these packages to the homeowner is only $12.
We also need volunteers to help plant trees on Saturday April 17th. We will be planting between 1500-2000 trees in Burnidge Woods and need 20-30 volunteers. Again, contact Mike Curtin at michaelcurtin31@gmail.com if you’re interested.
Tonight: Retrofitting Your Home to Save Green, Be Green March 16th, 2010
Attend tonight’s Elgin Alive Workshop sponsored by Elgin Community Network. Retrofitting Your Home: Save Green, Be Green will teach you how to improve energy efficiency through cost-effective updates, including tax credits, ComEd incentives and other city programs.
The program will take place tonight, Tuesday March 16 from 6:30 – 8:30 PM at Gail Borden. Refreshments will be available, and all attendees will receive a CFL bulb.
Green development approved near Hampshire November 15th, 2009
A housing development planned near the border of Hampshire and Burlington in unincorporated Kane County will take the concept of green living beyond energy efficient light bulbs and rain barrels.
Kane County may allow backyard wind turbines October 23rd, 2009
By James Fuller | Daily Herald Staff
Kane County is looking at extending the “Windy City” moniker a bit farther west with the creation of a new set of regulations that will both permit and oversee the use of small wind turbines to power homes and businesses.
Elgin spruce-up part of international climate event October 18th, 2009
You’ve probably seen bumper stickers that urge folks to “Think globally, act locally.”
Volunteers clear another 200 pounds of garbage from Fox River October 18th, 2009
Elgin firefighters and area residents continued their quest Saturday to clean a stretch of the Fox River in downtown Elgin, removing some 200 pounds of garbage from its banks.
The Friends of the Fox River and Elgin Firefighters Local 439 hope the cleanup becomes an annual fall event.
Jenni Kempf, program coordinator for Friends of the Fox River, said most of the trash was cans and bottles but did include a box spring mattress.
She said the effort is the first step to ensure the river is preserved for future generations.
“As an environmental measure, removing trash and debris is more about stewardship,” said Kempf. “If you care about how an area looks, you’ll take other measures to protect it.”
Friends of the Fox River has hosted cleanup events in a plethora of Fox River communities this year, including Aurora, Algonquin, Carpentersville, Elgin, Montgomery, Oswego and St. Charles.
For more information, call (815) 356-6605 or visit friendsofthefoxriver.org.
Elgin Fire Department Lt. Robert Bedard estimated the team removed about 200 pounds of trash from both sides of the river, south of the Chicago Street bridge to the National Street overpass.
Saturday’s efforts were not as extensive as an effort on Sept. 11, 2008, when fire department divers lugged large pieces of trash from the riverbed.
Bedard said so much was accomplished last year that little was left to clean on the east bank and volunteers this year could focus on the west bank.
“We removed a tremendous amount of garbage from that stretch,” he said. “Every year, it gets a little better.”
A solar-powered, $4,000, fully automated … garbage can? October 8th, 2009
Explore how to live sustainably September 21st, 2009
Daily Herald Report
Prairie Fest, a free community conference, will be from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26, at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Elgin to explore the many aspects of living sustainably. The daylong conversation focuses on energy, food, and water. The theme is “Ethical Choices for Sustainable Living.”
Find out more September 19th, 2009
Come to the SWAN meeting on September 21 at Zion Lutheran Church to learn more about this exciting opportunity.