Glenview Groups Receive Environmental Sustainability Awards

GLENVIEW, IL — For a third year, the Village of Glenview has recognized organizations in Glenview that are taking the lead with environmental stewardship, innovative best practices and community outreach. The awards were presented by the Village Board of Trustees Tuesday for the Village’s Natural Resources Commission’s Environmental Sustainability Awards program, according to a release.

Nominations were sought from Jan 1-Oct. 15, 2020 from any organization — including businesses, schools, houses of worship and volunteer groups — that serve the Glenview community.

Nominees were considered in three categories: Innovation, Leadership and Education and Outreach, with the possibility of gold, silver and bronze placement.

This year’s winners are:

Innovation – Gold – Blue Star Recyclers
Founded in 2009, the nonprofit social enterprise’s mission of recycling electronics also creates jobs for people with disabilities. Recognizing that the COVID-19 pandemic would curtail traditional ways to source materials, the firm worked with the Glenview Sunrise Rotary Club’s Suzanne Lyhus to launch a new electronics recycling program with at-home pickup service using a smaller, fuel-efficient van. Since spring, six Rotary clubs in the northwest suburbs have participated, with each promoting and managing the drives in their respective communities. In this way, residents are able to recycle e waste as soon as they are ready.

Innovation – Silver – Wiseacre Farm
Glenview’s first hydroponic farm was founded by longtime resident Aviad Sheinfeld. The farm is a repurposed shipping container fitted with specialized equipment where greens are grown vertically with no soil. They instead receive a nutrient solution, water and LED lighting. Instead of coming from across the country, fresh, sustainably-grown greens are delivered locally to community members, neighbors and – given the COVID 19 pandemic – those in need. This method shortens the food supply chain, drastically cuts carbon emissions, and uses 98 percent less water than traditional agriculture.

Innovation – Bronze – Glenshore Condominiums
Water retention swales west of the two 15-year-old condominium buildings at 2300 and 2350 Chestnut Avenue are next to Gallery Park’s environmentally significant area. Working with the Village’s Natural Resources Manager, the condo residents installed a variety of plant species native to Cook County in one of the swales and took stewardship by controlling invasive species, weeding by hand and doing controlled mowing/burning to establish prairie plants. Inspired by their success, the residents also increased recycling pickups and cleaned out the building’s bike room to make it more convenient to use surrounding bike paths.

Leadership – Gold – Trés Mimi
The Glenview-based women’s apparel retailer is committed to state-of-the-art manufacturing techniques and a streamlined supply chain focused on sustainable and organic fabrics. Innovations employed include: adhering to stricter standards for cottons, fabrics and dyes; combing fabrics and dyes to avoid separate dye bath; using recycled plastics for buttons; and using 100-percent biodegradable, tight-fitting shipping bags.

Education and Outreach – Gold – New to You
The motto for the more than 75-year-old charitable resale shop, located in the lower level of Glenview Community Church, is “Rethink, Repurpose, Restore.” By selling gently-used items – some designer brands – the shop helps prevent the excess use of energy and materials it takes to create brand new things. Yarn, buttons, fabric scraps, dishes, jewelry and linens find new homes instead of ending up in the landfill. The shop also takes its message to high school and college students, such as setting up a booth at the Glenbrook South High School Holiday Bazaar; expands its reach on online garage sale boards and neighborhood blogs; and maintains a weekly email list of 900.

The Village of Glenview encourages adopting practices to help prevent pollution, reduce waste, conserve energy, reduce emissions to air and water, and boost recycling. Meeting these sustainable energy challenges starts at home, in the workplace and in our schools. The Village wants to highlight the success stories of organizations within the community so that, if replicated, others can be spurred to collaborate and share strategies, policies, procedures and best practices and awareness of environmentally sustainable practices can be increased.

The presentation of the awards at the January 5 Village Board of Trustees meeting can be viewed here: https://glenview.granicus.com/...