Feel Good Green News
Need a boost of feel-good dopamine? This week marked a couple of exciting green firsts!
On Sunday, we saw massive crowds at our 7th SportSwap, raising a record $1500 for Park District scholarships and Go Green projects, not to mention our main goal of keeping hundreds of pounds of sports gear in play and out of the landfill!
On Tuesday, Go Green GE awarded the first ever Green Business of the Year at the GE Chamber of Commerce Community Awards to... a' la main! We were also up for Non-Profit of the Year together with some amazing nominees. We didn't win, but were excited to be nominated! Kudos to the winner, the American Legion Post #3 who brought the very moving Vietnam War Wall memorial to Glen Ellyn.
It's not too late to join us in Springfield on Thursday, March 20. We expect the bills we have been working on for the last two years will be read and discussed in a Senate Committee hearing that day - the first step towards becoming law!
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Glen Ellyn 💚's SportSwap!
Our 7th SportSwap was a towering success! (a tower of water bottles that is!) We had an enormous crowd that starting lining up 45 minutes before the official opening. The line was so long they had to relocate it to one of Ackerman's gyms!
We are so thrilled that the SportSwap has grown to become one of Go Green Glen Ellyn's signature events. It represents the perfect combo -- sustainable practicality!
We could not pull this off without our partners at the GE Park District, especially Laurie Bellmar, in charge of environmental outreach as well as the Ackerman front desk staff who manage the intake process. And a big shout out to the 20+ volunteers who lifted, sorted, priced, guided, and smiled through the entirety! THANK YOU!
We also welcomed volunteers from Cool Cities Palatine and Naperville who wanted to learn about our SportSwap to develop swaps in their communities. This truly showcases that local efforts to be greener can have an impact beyond our village limits!
Our next swap is July 13th -- save the date!
Congratulations a' la main for winning the inaugural Green Business of the Year award! Co Founders Jillian Dietzler Olenski and Emily Harazin pose with Go Green GE's Jac and Angela at their store on Crescent. The two hinted at a move to a larger location, so stay tuned!
à la main named the first-ever Green Business of the Year Award!
The Chamber of Commerce Community Awards proved to be an exciting evening for Go Green! Not only did we award the Green Business of the Year award, we also were nominated for Non-Profit of the Year!
We helped shape the Green Business of the Year award by developing criteria based on sustainable practices such as waste reduction, energy, green cleaning, community impact, and other areas. Based on the criteria for the award and the input from the 15 community business nominations, three finalists were named: à la main apothecary & refillery, Re-New and Drip Yoga. We celebrate the green choices that all of the nominees have made for their businesses. Please vote with your wallet to help support those choices!
While we wish we could give all of these businesses an award, there was one that really stood out -- à la main. Not only do they reduce waste in their own operations but they help keep it from being created in the first place. They educate consumers on sustainable living through their extensive knowledge and product offerings. They received an overwhelming amount of community support, and we are so happy to have them in Glen Ellyn! Congratulations on being Glen Ellyn's Green Business of the Year!
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Your to-dos this week!
Shop our Green businesses! Head to the Green Business of the Year nominees to shop or stretch. By spending with places that prioritize sustainability, we are encouraging those practices!
Want to reduce single-use plastic in Illinois? Sign up to go to Lobby Day for an energizing day meeting with our legislators, joined by advocates from all over the state! It's on Thursday, March 20. A very generous donor has offered to support transportation for our group, and we still have two open slots!
Break out your bicycles and hit Bike Glen Ellyn's first Slow Roll ride of the year -- March 21 at 6 pm.
Take the EBDRT survey to advocate for a greenway trail!
Go Green Glen Ellyn is working with The Coalition for Plastic Reduction (CPR) campaign to ban polystyrene foam foodware containers and sinle-use plastic checkout bags in Illinois. We also support the reduction of microfibers in our water, so we hope you will do all three Action Alerts and share these alerts with your family and friends. This is so important to helping move these critical plastic reduction bills forward! Our legislators need to hear our voice!
Action Alerts
Farewell to Foam and Bye Bye Bags
Farewell to Foam only
Environment Illinois - Tell Illinois legislators: Say Farewell to Foam
Foam, Bags and Microfibers
Alliance for the Great Lakes - Tell Illinois: Keep Plastic Out of Lake Michigan & Our Drinking Water