Villages prove it really is easy to be green

As a kid, I loved the color green.

Green sneakers, green ribbons in my hair. I even pleaded with my mother to make me green eggs and ham. She did, once, and I promptly puked.

More than 20 years later, though my fashion and epicurial tastes have evolved, Lake in the Hills and Algonquin have made me think green all over again.

Lake in the Hills will soon become the first McHenry County community to join the country in the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement.

Under the agreement, the village will strive to meet or beat climate disruption targets through anti-sprawl land-use policies and urban forest restoration projects and public information campaigns.

They will also urge state and federal governments to enact policies and programs that will enable greenhouse gases to be reduced by 7 percent from 1990 levels by 2012, and ask Congress to establish a national emission trading system.

"This is really a pledge that reinforces and supports the green things we're already doing," said Village Administrator Gerald Sagona, who introduced the agreement at last week's committee of the whole meeting.

"Just looking around, a substantial amount of our public works vehicles run on ethanol. Most of the lighting at village hall comes from compact florescent bulbs. We have timers on our heating and lights..." he said.

If there's a way to be environmentally friendly, Sagona said, "we're all about it."

Just down Randall Road, Algonquin is also living green.

Along with wetland conservation, free mulch dispersion and the use of biofuels for public works vehicles, the village biannually plants hundreds of unique trees.

Varieties include northern catalpas, yellow buckeyes, Kentucky coffee trees, triumph elms, ginkgos and dawn redwoods.

Like Lake in the Hills, Algonquin has also endorsed the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus Greenest Region Compact. The program encourages recycling, water and energy conservation in Algonquin and its surrounding communities.

Village Manager William Ganek said Algonquin is hoping to take the lead in the compact, and possibly use the public works facilities to store compact fluorescent bulbs, which would be a distribution site for communities in the area.

Maybe it is easy being green after all.