Study Food and Get Your Hands Dirty in the RU Community Garden in SUST 230 Food this June!

RUrbanPioneer gardeners and volunteers spread compost on the expanded garden on April 20th
(photo: L. Bryson)

In conjunction with the dramatic expansion of Roosevelt’s RUrbanPioneers Community Garden in Schaumburg this spring, the Sustainability Studies Program is offering an innovative hybrid section of its most popular course, SUST 230 Food, that will feature a first-ever opportunity to combine academic study with hands-in-the-dirt work in the garden.

Taught by popular SUST and PLS professor Maris Cooke, SUST 230 Food meets online plus on five Saturdays from 10am-4pm from June 1st through 29th, and combines traditional academic scholarship with experiential/service learning at the newly expanded RUrbanPioneers Community Garden at RU’s Schaumburg Campus. Produce from one of these garden plots will be donated to the nearby Hanover Township Food Pantry.

SUST 230 Food this summer is a tremendous opportunity to learn about food production, consumption, and policy in a hands-on way that will help expand Roosevelt’s urban farming momentum and make a positive difference in the NW suburban community. As this May 7th article in the Daily Herald recounts, RU’s expansion of its community garden in its 2nd year is an important contribution to linking sustainable development in the city and suburbs, and closing the loop between the food waste generated (in this case) by RU’s downtown Chicago dining center and the newly-cultivated soils of the Schaumburg Campus garden.

Register now to reserve your spot!

Decrying Food Waste in Today’s Culture

By Djuwanna Pearson-Frazier for SUST 210*

I have never understood our levels of food waste in America. As I think about watching over the years  how restaurants and high end hotels throw away perfectly good packaged and cooked food, it saddens my heart to think that such food could have gone to someone less fortunate. According to this April 2012 article in the Chicago Tribune, Jeremy Seifert a cook and lobbyist stated, “It’s such a shame how much food is thrown away at a retail level.” Seifert has lobbied big grocery store chains and has pleaded with these stores to donate more and throw away less. He goes on to say, “When I had encounters with store employees, they treated me like subhuman scum. But I think the shame should be the other way around. It should be on the people throwing it away.”

He’s exactly right: one hotel in downtown Chicago who shall remain nameless makes sure that their garbage disposal is at least 12 feet off the ground to ensure that homeless people or dumpster divers are unable to eat what was thrown away. I feel these acts are selfish. If more people were educated about what they could do differently, it would make a ton of difference in terms of the food waste we produce.

People don’t have to go dumpster diving, as that may be too extreme for some — but we can pay attention to how we cook and when and how we buy our groceries, compost our food scraps after a meal, and reuse what you have to make a meal. Some of these techniques and idea aren’t new; they’re what our mothers and grandparents did routinely. It’s time that we recycle those gumbo and soup recipes and make them our own. Tribune reporter Monica Eng states in the aforementioned article, “As we’ve seen with recycling, when people wrap their mind around a simple environmental behavior change, that change can make an impact.” The graph below shows that in 2010 alone, more than 34 million tons of food waste were generated in the United States.

Educational curriculum needs to start teaching children the importance of sustaining today’s environment for tomorrow. The tools are out there, from videos on “Dumpster Diving” to a book called Empty about a little girl trapped here on Earth after all the natural resources have been used up. It’s time we take a stand!

Submitted 19 Apr 2013

* Each week during the Spring 2013 semester, two to three students in the SUST 210 Sustainable Future online/Schaumburg class at Roosevelt University will contribute blog posts to the Schaumburg’s Sustainable Future website. Also see this discussion of food waste here in previous articles on this blog and in this section of the website.

Green Roofs in Chicago

By Marilyn Novy for SUST 210*

In the past decade, there has been a push to make our cities more sustainable.  A noticeable change that has been occurring is the addition of many green roofs throughout cities.  As of now, Chicago is one of the leading cities with green infrastructure.  Chicago currently has almost 500 green roofs totaling to 5.5 million square feet.  Chicago started its green roof programs in 2001; the previous Mayor of Chicago, Richard Daley, had a 20,000- square-foot green roof installed on City Hall, creating a high-profile example of the city’s commitment to energy conservation and green design.

Green roofs bring many benefits and have few disadvantages.  Green roofs are installed for many beneficial reasons: they diminish the heat island effect, provide insulation resulting in a reduced need for air conditioning, absorb rainwater, lower the amount of stormwater runoff, and create habitat for wildlife.  Naturally, everything has its drawbacks, but fortunately, the only true disadvantage a green roof has is the initial costs of the waterproofing system and root barriers which need to be installed.  These costs do, however, eventually pay themselves off because of the savings from reduced air conditioning use.

In an article “Growing Green Roofs, City by City,” author David Taylor discusses how Chicago officials have noticed that green roofs are not only helpful for moderating the blast of runoff from rainstorms, but are also beneficial for moderating the city’s “heat island effect.”  The reason for wanting to decrease the difference of temperature is because heat islands raise energy demands and air pollution levels, and they are causes of heat-related illnesses.  The city’s environmental commissioner at the time, Sadhu Johnston, explains in this article that green roofs can aid in averting heat wave-related deaths, noting that studies show green roofs have lower temperatures than traditional roofs and, in return, reduce the need for air-conditioning.

Chicago now requires all new city buildings to have at least a partial green roof in order to achieve a silver LEED certification.  Most of the green roofs have been installed under regulations and the city has required every developer who is receiving city assistance to include either a cool roof or vegetated roof.  With all of these green roofs being installed, Chicago has seen its cost of installation go down.

Submitted 19 Apr 2013

* Each week during the Spring 2013 semester, two to three students in the SUST 210 Sustainable Future online/Schaumburg class at Roosevelt University will contribute blog posts to the Schaumburg’s Sustainable Future website.

Going Green Limosine

By Amber Perez for SUST 210*

Chicago has an eco-friendly Limousine service that is called “Going Green Limousine,” which has been featured on ABC News back in August of 2010.  A local couple came up with this service because they lived a very healthy lifestyle and hit a turning point when the wife got cancer. Rebecca Schmuck was a vegetarian health nut who worked out all the time and didn’t understand how she got cancer. She felt like it must have come from somewhere . . . like the environment we live in. Her goal is to decrease the carbon footprint that her company has, while still providing the same service. They use hybrid and flex fuel limos that achieve about 38 mpg on the highway. There is also a filter in the vehicle that helps the engine burn fuel 12.5% more cleanly. Despite this emphasis on fuel efficiency, Going Green Limosine still provide the same limo services that every other company does.

As the owners state, “When we accommodate larger parties with stretch limos and party buses, we donate a percentage of our profits to environmental organizations to offset our carbon footprint.”  One such organization is Chicago Gateway Green, which plants along the highway and neighborhoods of Chicago.  Going Green Limosine’s stated mission is to provide first rate luxury limousine service at affordable prices for you while reducing our carbon footprint for the environment by utilizing mainly hybrid and flex-fuel vehicles for our airport transportation and charter services.

I think this is great service to have! Whenever people need a ride to the airport or have an event they would like to have, it is great to know that there is a green alternative in Chicago. While it is unfortunate that co-founder and -owner Rebecca Schmuck has had to deal with the challenge of cancer, she is making a big difference in reducing the carbon footprint of her limo customers. Luminaries such as Al Gore, Ron Howard, Bobby Kennedy Jr., and other loyal guests choose them because they have made the change to go green and use this environmentally-friendly service.

Submitted 12 Apr 2013

* Each week during the Spring 2013 semester, two to three students in the SUST 210 Sustainable Future online/Schaumburg class at Roosevelt University will contribute blog posts to the Schaumburg’s Sustainable Future website.

Today is Arbor Day: White Pine Planting Ceremony at RU in Schaumburg at Noon

RUrbanPioneers Community Garden, the Roosevelt University Sustainability Initiative, and Ghabit invite the community to join us today at noon to plant a 7-foot Eastern White Pine in honor of Arbor Day. We’ll be at the East side of the Building, North of Door #13.

The Eastern White Pine, Pinus Strobus, is known by the Iroquois Haudenosaunee Nation as “Tree of Peace.” Rather apt for Arbor Day in 2013.

Soil Service Day on Apr 20th a Big Success at RU in Schaumburg!

The RUrbanPioneers Community Garden celebrated Earth Week (not to mention the return of dry weather in Chicagoland) with its first New Deal Soil Service Day at the Schaumburg Campus.  Students, faculty, staff, and local citizens participated in hauling compost — made from raw materials generated from our Wabash Building and supplied by the University — over to the newly expanded garden plots on the far north side of campus and spreading the rich soil amendment over the newly-tilled ground.

Kicking off the proceedings at 9am on a chilly but sunny Saturday morning were Paul Matthews (pictured at left), Assoc VP of Planning and Operations at RU, who put the garden’s expansion in the context of RU’s environmental sustainability redevelopment efforts at the Schaumburg Campus; local IL State Rep Michelle Mussman (D-54th, Schaumburg), who praised RU’s efforts and encouraged the crowd to push forward in making the suburbs more sustainable and liveable; and “urban plantsman” John Eskandari (below, right), who about organic soil preparation and conservation and its relevance to backyard gardening.

Garden efforts this weekend and next will complete a circle of use set in motion when the University opened the Wabash Building in downtown Chicago last year and began generating food waste that is converted to compost by Ken Dunn’s Resource Center. The compost which will boost the nutrients in the soil and form the basis of the fruit of the gardener’s labor this year.

Ten plots were actively farmed in 2012, the Garden’s inaugural season. This year, 27 plots have been reserved, nearly tripling the size of the garden. All plots will be outfitted soon with drip irrigation for use during dry weather. Come join the RUrbanPioneers next Saturday, April 27th, in the growing local food movement here in the NW suburbs!

These photos were taken by SUST Prof Mike Bryson’s two daughters, Lily (age 11) and Esmé (5), who joined other faculty member’s kids as well as Rep. Mussman’s son in shoveling, hauling, and spreading compost. Good times for all! See more photos of our Soil Service Day in this online album by Lily and Esmé Bryson and this album by MaryBeth Radeck.

RU’s Schaumburg Campus Earns “Tree Campus USA” Designation

Roosevelt University’s Schaumburg Campus was recognized on April 2 by the National Arbor Foundation and the State of Illinois Department of Natural Resources as a Tree Campus USA. A plaque and flag will be unveiled at noon on Earth Day, Monday, April 22.

Tree Campus USA recognition has been given to only 11 Higher Education institutions in the state. Illinois ranks first in the nation for the largest number of colleges and universities accomplishing this rigorous certification.