Save the planet with pedals, plants and solar power

You can reduce your output of greenhouse gases and help save the planet by riding an electric bicycle instead of driving a car or using solar energy to heat water for your shower or even to bake a cake.

Composting non-animal food waste enriches your garden while saving the energy needed to carry garbage to the landfill.

And growing your own food - say Melrose peppers, a delicacy that Italian immigrants brought to the Chicago area generations ago - helps remove carbon from the atmosphere and offset damage from the energy you do use.

These were some of the messages at the Knowledge and Action Marketplace, part of the celebration at the Chicago Botanic Garden of World Environment Day, a project of the United Nations Environment Programme.

Hop a bike

Glenn Hunter of Oak Park is selling electric bicycles that he says will travel 20 miles on a charge if you don't pedal, 40 miles if you help it along.

While you're pedalling at the rate of 6 miles per hour, the bike will travel three times that fast, he said.

The lithium-ion battery will last three years, but the bike he showed at the garden weighs 65 pounds, almost three times a regular bicycle. The price is $1,550 delivered. This summer he plans to start selling solar panels for recharging the bikes. His web site is ecopro.biz.

Grow your own

All plants absorb carbon, said Kristie Webber, director of interpretive programs at the garden, as she gave away Melrose pepper plants.

And if you grow your own peppers for traditional pepper and egg sandwiches, that's food that won't be shipped in from a long distance. And it's fun, she said.

Making people aware of the benefits of buying locally or regionally grown food was another of her goals. The Botanic Garden hosts a farmers market the first Sunday of each month.

Use the sun

Solar energy was well represented. Solar Ovens of Elburn sells home versions for $279. With collapsible reflectors, it can be used for camping trips. The Sun Oven is important in countries where deforestation is an issue, and large village-size units are available.

ComEd used a theater-size popcorn popper with energy captured by solar collectors to draw people into conversation. The idea is to let people see and touch collectors and to get them talking and thinking about ways they can save energy, such as installing new windows, said Timothy G. Melloch, who is called Commonwealth's energy doctor.

Jeffrey A., Ruhl of Solargenix Energy Corp. of Chicago sells solar systems to heat hot water for showers and laundry or radiant heat. He said with government rebates a system can pay for itself in less than a decade. And we know what you're thinking. Ruhl claims Chicago has 70 percent of the solar radiation annually available in Miami.

Repurpose waste

It's a low-tech way to save energy and money, but composting kitchen and yard waste does require some effort and know how. The Chicago Botanic Garden set up a demonstration to show what can go in your pile and what should not.

'Green' web sites

"Kick the Habit, a UN Guide to Climate Neutrality" is available for $20 from www.earthprint.com. It can also be downloaded free from www.unep.org.

The book:

Compares several emission calculators so individuals and organizations can measure their carbon footprints, including www.bie.berkeley.edu/calculator.swf.

Rates Web sites for organizations that sell carbon offsets are rated. One the authors recommend is www.myclimate.org.