Finding Community at the DG Farmer’s Market

Feeling anxious about ecological concerns can be very isolating when you’re feeling it on your own, because how can the actions of one person really make a difference? Greener Grove brings like-minded people together to take collective and effective action towards a more sustainable future, starting at home, in our town.

Community outreach is a big part of our mission, and so we began to look into ways to educate and talk with more residents of Downers Grove. The DG Farmers Market (Downtown Garden Market) operates every Saturday morning, from the end of May through the middle of October. It’s well attended by the community and many market-goers don’t mind stopping for a chat, if you’ve got the right enticements.  

Greener Grove Farmers Market Booth: Market-goers test their knowledge of native trees by identifying a variety of leaves.

     Vendors reserve and pay a fee for their spot at the market, but non-profits are allowed three free booth “appearances” per season.  Greener Grove was able to take advantage of having five free booths over the past two seasons, and according to our Communications Committee, the Market has been a main provider of new members for our organization: 95 people subscribed to receive our emails through our market efforts. It is of the utmost importance for us to gain subscribers because our emails often contain important and time-sensitive action items for residents to promote sustainability initiatives within the village. 

     Preparing the booth entails obtaining a tent  (which SCARCE generously loans us) tables, plus several chairs. The materials we bring include information about Greener Grove, with QR codes for quick access to our website and email signup.

Other materials are mentioned below.

Our strategies for drawing folks in are:

1.  Having a craft ready for kids, so that, while they are busy with the art activity,  booth staffers can engage with parents, persuading them to look at our website

 and sign up to receive our emails.  The craft has been administered by teen

 Greener Grovers, and in the spirit of Zero Waste, they have used the artwork to decorate the tent.  

Craft taught kids about decomposers like mushrooms and worms which help improve our soil. We used their drawings to decorate our booth.

2.  Having a display focusing on one of our Focus Issues (composting, chem-free lawn care, tree planting & protection, etc.). To create interest in the particular issue, we’ve

   used a model compost bin (Thanks again, SCARCE), a quiz (tree identification), and assorted materials along with websites & other resources.

For this market booth, we focused on composting with a hands-on demonstration.

     We are always looking for new strategies for the booth, hoping to get ideas from the general membership of how we can best connect with and reach more people in our community.  Have ideas or want to take a turn at staffing the booth…proudly being “the face of Greener Grove”  at the DG Market? Reach out to Carol at: info@greenergrove.org.

September Meeting Recap: How to Clean Naturally & Reduce In-Home Chemical Use

Conversations around green DIY household cleaners often start with questions like “Why should I make my own household cleaners?”, “Are DIY cleaners any good? I like things really clean.” and “Don’t you have to use special ingredients?” 

Greener Grove member Julie Ruffolo addressed these questions and others at our September meeting. We concluded the night with mixing up a natural scouring scrub to use on sinks and tubs using easy-to-find (and often on hand) ingredients. 

Why Make Your Own Natural Cleaners

Many of the store-bought cleaners have ingredients that go above and beyond what is needed for tackling everyday cleaning projects at home. And, given their ingredient list, have an impact on…  

• Health - The individual chemicals used in cleaning products often have health risks. For example, many come with warnings to only use the product in well-ventilated spaces. Or, include detailed safety measures to follow if, for example, the product splashes on unprotected skin. Long term, we are all exposed to chemicals from an array of sources. Scientists are even finding that chemicals are with us from the beginning: According to an article in The Guardian, toxic PFAS chemicals are found in umbilical cord blood samples which can lead to health challenges throughout life. Converting to DIY cleaning products is one way to reduce in-home chemical use. 

• Environment - Many cleaning products eventually make it down the drain or into the soil - for example, when we empty a bucket of soapy water used to wash the kitchen floor. Using natural ingredients like lemons, baking soda, and white vinegar to clean is much kinder to the environment. To learn more about wastewater treatment in Downers Grove, visit the Downers Grove Sanitary District website or attend one of their open houses.  

• Indoor Air Quality - Artificial scents used to make our home “smell” clean and mask chemical smells can lower indoor air quality - and be harmful to people with asthma and allergies. 

• Cost - Cleaning supplies are expensive compared to the DIY alternative. 

Check the environmental score of the cleaning products in your utility closet on the Environmental Working Group (EWG) website. 

Common Ingredients in DIY Household Cleaners

Many of the key ingredients used in DIY household cleaning recipes come straight from your pantry or fruit bowl; others can be found online or at most grocery stores…

• Fresh lemon juice

• Baking soda

• White vinegar

• Club soda

• Borax - like 20 Mule Team Borax

• Liquid soap - like Dr. Bronner’s Unscented Pure Castile Soap

• Washing soda - like Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda

Here’s how these ingredients work on different stains (see recipes further down in this post):

Other cleaning products/supplies to have on hand include:

• Spray bottles for holding your DIY liquid cleaners

• Wide mouth jars with tight-fitting lids for holding DIY cleaning powders

• Cotton rags

• Cellulose sponges

• Squeegee (great for wiping down shower walls after each shower)

  
  

DIY Recipes

Here are several common recipes for everyday cleaning projects to try in your own home:  

Acid Cleaners Lemon Juice Club Soda Vinegar	Use on Rust Soap Scum Water Spots
Basic Cleaners Soap Baking Soda Borax Washing Soda	Use on Body Oil Food Stains General Dirt & Grime

Cleaning Projects that Call for Something Stronger

Many of the DIY recipes work best on everyday cleaning tasks. Staying on top of cleaning projects before they become big ones helps to minimize the need for stronger solutions. When that is unavoidable or the stain/issue is beyond what a DIY product can do, spend a few minutes researching more green options. For example, check out these sites: 

• Blueland 

• Environmental Protection Agency’s Safer Choice website - Helps consumers find products that are more safe for human health and the environment. 

• Environmental Working Group - Search for products that have the EWG Verified mark

• Meliora Cleaning Products

Follow us on Facebook, too, to learn about member experiences with different products - and share your own. 

We’ve shared some great links in this article. Here are a couple of others to check out - Toxic Free Future and Allergy Buyers Club.

Take Action - Clean Up Your Utility Closet

So, to green up your household cleaning chores, give some of these DIY recipes a go. Take it a step further by surveying all the cleaning products you use, including laundry and dishwasher detergents. Look at the ingredient list and the packaging - even those pods and laundry sheets contain plastics. Can you replace the cleaning products you currently use with more environmentally-kind, human-friendly solutions?

Join us at our next meeting on October 22nd:

August Meeting Recap: Understanding Recycling

One of the easiest ways to have a positive impact on our environment is to recycle everyday items like food packaging, boxes, and plastic bags. Key to the success of any community recycling program is making sure what goes into a recycling bin belongs there - and that is where it can get complex.  

At our August meeting, Greener Grove member and Senior ESG Portfolio Manager Amy Glawe shared her expertise about how the recycling process works, what industry is doing to improve recycling (especially in the area of plastics), and specifics about recycling here in Downers Grove. 

The Recycling Process and Industry Changes

The recycling process begins with collecting items at curbside or recycling drop-off locations, then processors sort the items by material, manufacturers reprocess materials into new items/inputs which are then delivered to end markets. 

We’ll dig into curbside sorting guidelines below but keep in mind that the choices we make as to what to put into the bin has a big impact when those items are processed: For example, if plastic grocery bags or plastic wraps make it onto the recycling conveyor belt and get entangled in the equipment, it can shut a line down for hours and cost thousands of dollars as they work to clean it out. 

Innovation is happening along the way, especially as manufacturers set goals aimed at using more recycled content in their products and making their products easier to recycle or reuse. One example Amy shared is how toothpaste tubes used to contain a layer of foil, which made the tubes difficult to recycle. Colgate developed a new tube that eliminates the foil layer. Rather than keeping this to themselves, they shared this innovation with other toothpaste manufacturers so that they could adopt this in their own processes. Check your own toothpaste tubes - as long as they don’t have foil, you can toss used ones into the recycling bin. 

Partnerships between the public and private sectors are forming to help identify opportunities for reducing and eliminating waste and educating the public. For example, Circular Great Lakes is bringing many voices to the table to find solutions aimed at eliminating plastics in the Great Lakes.  Find out more on the Circular Great Lakes website.

Recycling Guidelines

Below are general guidelines about recycling specific materials. Always consider, too, if you can reuse an item. For example, use an empty jar as a flower vase… if you are composting, add cardboard to your compost pile. (See our composting post from last month’s meeting here.)

Material	Recycling Benefits	Recycling Guidelines
Plastics	Can be recycled up to about 5 times Reduced fossil fuel consumption CO2 emission reduction Can be used to produce new plastic bottles, decking, outdoor furniture, etc.	Recycle items that are larger than a 2” cube Leave caps on bottles  Rinse bottle out first Number 1- PET - water, Gatorade, soda bottles Number 2- HDPE - milk jugs, detergent bottles Number 5 - PP - containers, cups NO plastic bags, plastic wrappers from food or packaging; bubble wrap; packing peanuts, styrofoam
Cardboard	Can be recycled approx 5 to 7 times Preserves natural resources Reduces water usages Goes into new products Reduces energy/GHG emissions	Flatten boxes Recycle pizza boxes after removing food residue Remove any plastic liners or bags first NO wet or soiled cardboard or used paper plates
Paper	Can be recycled approx 5 to 7 times Helps preserve trees	Make sure paper pieces are LARGER than a credit card Remove staples and paper clips NO tissue paper, paper towels, napkins, or (most) wrapping paper
Glass	Conserves our natural resources 80% of recycled glass ends up as new glass containers, tiles and flooring, and other products	Not all communities allow glass recycling. Downers Grove currently accepts glass - clear, brown, and green

Source: Amy Glawe, Presentation to Greener Grove.

Take Action - Recycling in Downers Grove

A big takeaway from our August meeting: We can all up our game when it comes to recycling, sharing what we learned with others in our community. 

Recycling guidelines change over time, check the Village’s recycling page from time to time. Currently, the Village of Downers Grove website lists the following items that are accepted for recycling by Republic Services: 

A caveat about wrapping paper. Many types are not recyclable includes:

• Foil: Foil wrapping paper should be thrown away.

• Metallic: Metallic wrapping paper should be thrown away.

• Heavily laminated: Heavily laminated wrapping paper should be thrown away.

• Glitter: Wrapping paper with glitter should be thrown away.

• Plastics: Wrapping paper with plastics should be thrown away. 

Before recycling wrapping paper, it's best to remove any bows, ribbons, or sticky tape. When in doubt, throw it out!

As mentioned above, but is worth repeating, flexible plastic wrap and plastic bags including plastic shopping bags and ziplock bags CAN NOT GO INTO RECYCLING BINS. Here in the Downers Grove area, Jewel, Fresh Thyme, and Mariano’s all accept these items - much of which is used by NexTrex to make decking and outdoor furniture. You can learn more here - https://nextrex.com/ and https://nextrex.com/view/educate.