Learn how to serve the greener good at free Buffalo Grove environmental fair
Families can attend a free environmental event Sunday, Sept. 21 in Buffalo Grove.
The Buffalo Grove Environmental Action Team is hosting the Buffalo Grove Park District Green Fair from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Mike Rylko Community Park, 951 McHenry Road, next to the Farmers Market.
Visitors can learn about small steps at home, work and in their communities to improve the environment.
“It's educational, because we have different agencies practicing environmental policies,” said Martha Weiss, who co-founded the environmental action team with her husband Jeff.
A village representative will be on hand discussing recycling and composting. The team is collaborating with the village on revitalizing its bicycle plan. In its history, it has helped promote the electrical aggregation program that brought renewable energy to Buffalo Grove and northwest suburbs, Jeff Weiss said.
The Green Fair also features exhibits on solar energy, information about monarch butterflies, water conservation, native/pollinator plants, energy savings and proper recycling.
The event provides opportunities for people to bring items for reuse and recycling. The 2024 Green Fair set collection records despite rescheduling due to rain. The haul included 937 pounds of clothing and textiles, 254 pounds of shoes, 106 pounds of plush animals, more than 700 books, approximately 70 vases, more than 1,000 pill bottles, thousands of bread tags and 36 bikes for the Working Bikes Cooperative.
Formed in 2009 as part of the Buffalo Grove Park District, the team focuses on outreach, education, recycling, green energy, road cleanup, habitat restoration and clean water.
The Green Fair represents one facet of the team’s year-round activities. Volunteers collect seeds from native plants in Buffalo Grove's prairies, woodlands and wetlands during late summer and fall.
“Last year, we collected nearly 100 species and processed more than 100 pounds of seeds,” Jeff Weiss said. “Those seeds, if purchased from seed nurseries, would have cost probably $10,000 to $15,000.” Seeds are converted to prairie, woodland and wetland mixes and donated to the village and the park district for habitat restoration.
Other initiatives include twice-yearly road cleanups on Deerfield Parkway, an environmental speaker series and textile collection for the Solid Waste Agency of Lake County.
For more information on the Buffalo Grove Environmental Action Team, visit https://www.bgparks.org/information/environmental-action-team/.