Why Chicago: Urban Botanical Gems

Remembering Chicago’s natural gems during the winter can be difficult with dormant beaches and parks settling for a four month stay.  However, a quick visit to either the Garfield or Lincoln Park Conservatories reminds residents of the beautiful spring, summer and fall seasons in Chicago.  A video capturing the exotic species and open spaces of the conservatories would provide a glimpse into the experience enjoyed during the traditional Olympic and Paralympic month of August.

When visiting Garfield Park Conservatory, be certain to spend time observing the lush ferns near the lagoon - some of which are nearly 300 years old.   Also of interest is the Sweet House - home to plants producing chocolate, sugar cane, chewing gum, vanilla and bananas.  The Lincoln Park Conservatory - completed slightly before Garfield Park in 1895 - was designed to create a “tropical paradise” escape from the effects of industrialization.   Entering a room filled with liberal shade from different Palm species definitely provides a paradise in the heart of Chicago.

Learn more about submitting videos on the “Why Chicago” Competition page.

A Carbon Negative Getaway

A main attraction for the Chicago 2016 Olympic & Paralympic Games Bid is the compactness of venues, athlete living quarters and downtown tourist destinations. However, the influx of visitors to Chicago would also have access to relaxed pastoral getaways such as Monroe, Wisconsin’s Inn Serendipity during their stay.

Ecopreneurs Lisa Kivirist and John Ivanko left corporate positions in Chicago to build a Bed & Breakfast incubator (never thought I would type that phrase) for land-stewardship and sustainable living. The couple has created a retreat completely powered by renewable energy including a Straw Bale Greenhouse heated by passive solar. As a result of their efforts, Inn Serendipity is officially a “carbon negative” business, capturing more carbon than emitted through yearly operations.

Features of Inn Serendipity include:

• 680-watt photovoltaic system
• A labyrinth with 3000 years of history
• Solar heated water for bathrooms
• 10kW wind turbine system

Chicago’s skyscrapers and dense neighborhoods may intimidate some visitors, but a slower lifestyle is available in the surrounding areas. Don’t forget Wisconsin and Indiana are less than an hour away!

Olympic Cleaning

by Andy Angelos

Cleaning is one of the most popular and exciting themes connected to the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Media outlets from across the globe suffer through crowded press conferences to discover insight from the world’s most prolific cleaning crews.

So cleaning is obviously not the most intriguing element of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, but maintaining sanitary conditions is essential to creating a welcoming environment for visitors. Alexander Schless from Hako-Asia - the company contracted to supply cleaning equipment for the 2004 Athens Games - describes the logistical hurdles connected to the immaculate presentation of Olympic windows, swimming pools, stadiums, and public spaces: “During the games, only at night is there time to clean - and you certainly have to make sure that, whatever the conditions, all jobs get done.”

At the center of sanitation is the environment and the many concoctions used by janitorial staffs containing potentially hazardous chemicals. Luckily, Chicago based company PortionPac provides a balanced solution ensuring both maximum cleanliness and environmental caution.  PortionPac is not currently affiliated with Chicago2016, but the company’s existence demonstrates the eco-friendly solutions available in our backyard.

PortionPac Chemical Corporation started manufacturing concentrated cleaning solutions in 1964. The company examines the entire product life-cycle from production to storage to distribution and disposal. Some of the benefits devised in PortionPac’s 40+ years of operation include:

• Offering multi-purpose cleaning solutions capable of completing 80% of customers cleaning needs
• Customers reuse bottles and fill with concentrate from larger containers
• Replace harsh chemical with safer formulations
• Portioning is controlled to ensure proper product mixtures

Despite the recent “greenwashing” employed by many corporations, PortionPac has not emphasized the environmental aspects of their own washing solutions. COO Burt Klein explains the different customer-centric approach of the Chicago company, “Our response is education and longevity. With education the consumer is better able to make a good decision and with longevity we will outlast them because I don’t believe that Greenwashing is a sustainable way of doing business.”

PortionPac is a founding member of the Chicago Sustainable Business Alliance.

A Healthy Environment for Appetite

by Andy Angelos

Human health and environmental issues are intrinsically linked.   Both human health and the environment are also connected to food - a familiar topic to Chicagoans.  As Theresa highlights through the Enjoy section, culinary treasures are abundant in Chicago’s many ethnic neighborhoods and upscale cultural districts.  In addition to restaurants, however, Chicago also boasts a number of food distributors dedicated to locally-grown, small-scale, organic farms.

Chicago based Goodness Greeness is the Midwest’s leading provider of fresh organic produce.  Since 1991, the Scaman brothers have supplied regional supermarkets and independent retailers with healthy ingredients to satiate Chicago’s refined palate.   Goodness Greeness is also in the business of education, with Rodney Scaman recently speaking at a local health rally about Food Deserts.  A Food Desert is a neighborhood disconnected from supermarkets but within close range of fast-food and liquor stores.   Not surprisingly, residents of Food Deserts suffer from a disproportionate amount of diet related illnesses.  Connecting with people in Food Deserts allows the Goodness Greeness team to distribute both knowledge and produce for happier and healthier Chicagoans.

Irv & Shelly’s Fresh Picks is another regional company dedicated to healthy lifestyle and sustainable food production.  Rather than supply retailers with produce like Goodness Greeness, Irv & Shelly’s Fresh Picks delivers organic and local food to Chicagoans year round.   The company also offers a variety of natural meats, poultry, and dairy products to complement their fresh produce.

Next time you are struggling to choose from one of Chicago’s mind-boggling number of restaurants, add the possibility of cooking a locally grown healthy meal to the list of options.  Eating is so complicated in this city!