From the St. Charles Mental Health Board The importance of honoring our elders, those who have paved the way and paid a price for our opportunities to run hard after our dreams, serves as a constant reminder that I will always be stepping on the building blocks laid by their hard work and sacrifice. Simple,… Read More Elderday Center Enriches Older Adult Lives
by Natural Resources Commissioner Laura Miller Hill Spring is just around the corner and a great time to replace your gasoline-powered landscaping machinery with more efficient battery-powered equipment. Wonder why you should go to the expense of replacing your old machines with battery-powered equipment? Let’s talk about noise. Gasoline-powered lawn and garden equipment (GPLGE) is… Read More A Cleaner, Greener Garden
by Natural Resources Commissioner Lee Haggas The negative effects of human-caused climate change can no longer be denied or ignored. Chicago-area winters have been gradually getting milder with less snow and higher average temperatures compared to 20 years ago. In the summer, more frequent use of air conditioning is needed to maintain comfort. Numerous scientific… Read More One Thing You Can Do to Help Climate Change
by Michael Stroud, Natural Resources Commissioner St. Charles, with its accessible riverfront and magnificent open spaces is a beautiful place to call home, and we have a responsibility to take care of and enhance the gift given to us by nature. One way to do this is through the creation of food forest gardens. The first and most well-known, successful food forest garden is Carver Edible Park in Asheville, North Carolina, established in 1997. It hosts over 40 varieties of fruit and nut trees and berry bushes. A huge vegetable garden is planted annually,… Read More Food Forest Gardens
by Natural Resources Commissioner Heather Goudreau The fall decor is all put away and we’re onto a new holiday season. It’s a season of friends, family gift giving, cookie exchanges and celebrations. There are many ways to make your holiday gift wrapping a bit greener. Avoid shiny/foil looking wrapping paper, it is mixed material which… Read More Green Holiday Tips
Just as many employers are struggling to find employees right now, the City has also seen a sharp decline in applicants for open positions. The number of applicants for sworn fire and police positions has declined by half from what it was just six years ago. While we’ve seen some businesses adjust their hours as… Read More Consider a Career in Local Government
Idling: Bad for you, bad for your car, bad for the planet Let’s take a nostalgia trip, especially for you kids of the ‘80s and before. Imagine your wintry school days, especially those days when you didn’t have to walk uphill both ways in a snowstorm. Maybe your parents, an older sibling, or one of… Read More Busting Idling Myths
Earlier this spring, Natural Resources Commissioner Angela Churchill posted information regarding the negative effects of volcano mulching on the NRC’s Facebook page. The topic generated a huge amount of interest. In fact, the post was read by 265,000 people in the United States and many other countries, including as far as Ghana, Africa! In case… Read More St. Charles Natural Resources Commission Goes Viral and Global!
By Commissioner Suzi Myers One of my all-time favorite paintings is Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” which he painted in St. Remy, France, in 1889. Sadly, the Milky Way and many of the stars that inspired him can no longer be seen at this location. Why? Light pollution has taken away our night skies. What is… Read More What is Light Pollution?
Submitted by Commissioner Suzi Myers Are you looking for something to do this fall? Have a cell phone? How about looking for a Witness Tree and verifying its existence? A Witness Tree a historic tree that has remained in place for decades or even centuries after noteworthy events as well as ordinary events have unfolded around it. During the 1800s when Europeans… Read More Witness Trees of Illinois