Summertime: The Planting’s Easy!

CNT continues to bring communities together with the planting of rain gardens at three new sites in June. The plantings are demonstrating both the beauty of natural landscapes and the ecological benefits of rain gardens to reduce and filter stormwater runoff. Ultimately, these projects aim to raise awareness of green infrastructure and build community momentum towards implementing sustainable stormwater management practices on a grander scale. Here are our latest steps along the path to sustainable stormwater management in greater Chicago.
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It’s Planting Season!

CNT’s Green Infrastructure research and demonstration projects are moving into their final planting and monitoring season. Read about our current activities and the state of last year’s work.
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March 22 is the 15th Annual Celebration of World Water Day

Established in 1992 by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, World Water Day aims to raise awareness of the importance of clean water to public health. According to the UN, an estimated 85 percent of global diseases can be attributed to unclean or unsafe water supplies; this disproportionately affects children in developing countries, 5,000 of whom die every day from such causes as parasites and diarrheal diseases that could be prevented by access to safe water.
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Green Blessings: From Pavement to Green Open Space

CNT continues to create natural open space in urban environments and raise awareness about the potential for community greening. The latest project is at the Saint Margaret Mary Church and School in Rogers Park, on Chicago’s north side. On October 18th, students and parishioners worked with Green Corps to plant almost 500 native Illinois prairie plants in the main parking lot of the church and school. The ‘green infrastructure’ was blessed and officially dedicated by St Margaret Mary’s priest, Father Jim Barrett, on October 28th.
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Bridging the Gap Between Chicago and Nairobi

Last Saturday afternoon, at an intimate gathering at the Al Raby School for Community and Environment, Dr. Wangari Maathai presided over the dedication of a native garden planted in her name. Students, teachers and community members listened as Dr. Maathai spoke of the essential role gardens like the Wangari Maathai Natural Garden play in promoting urban renewal, social and environmental activism and raising awareness-from the Al Raby School on Chicago’s West Side to the Green Belt Movement in Nairobi, Kenya.
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Nobel Peace Prize Laureate to Attend Garden Dedication

On Saturday, September 22 at the Al Raby School for Community and Environment, Dr. Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, will join students, teachers, and community members to preside over the dedication of the Wangari Maathai Natural Garden. The garden was designed and created as a collaborative process between the Al Raby High School students, school staff, community members, CNT, and the City of Chicago. Speaking will be Dr. Maathai, Steve Perkins, Janice Jackson-Principal of Al Raby High School, and a student representative. For more information on the event, you can download the invitation.
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Mitigating Flooding on the South Side of Chicago

After the rain, Before the Swale: With help from CNT, this parking lot will soon regain its natural drainage and reduce flooding in a neighborhood church.
Over one hundred years ago, the Calumet area on Chicago’s south side was a wetland teeming with wildlife, but with an environment inhospitable to humans. Developers transformed the landscape by dumping molten slag (a waste product of smelting iron ore into steel) into the wetlands. While this created much solid area to build upon in South Chicago, the slag blocked natural drainage patterns. Subsequent construction of impermeable surfaces such as paved roads and parking lots contributed to the problem. Today developed areas of the Calumet suffer significant flooding during periods of high rainfall.

Our Lady Gate of Heaven, a church in Calumet’s neighborhood of Jeffrey Manor, suffers from the kind of flooding seen all over the area: its parking has flooded with three to four feet of water after heavy rain. Not only was this an inconvenience to the church, Our Lady Gate of Heaven rented out space to a Banner School. When CNT approached the church and offered to help, the offer was gladly accepted.

Very soon, Our Lady Gate of Heaven’s drainage problems will be greatly eased. CNT is constructing a vegetated swale that will allow rain water again to naturally drain the ground. Additionally, A beautiful garden will stand where asphalt and rainwater used to burden students and parishioners.

Green Infrastructure approaches can restore the natural drainage functions in heavily developed areas, protecting water quality through natural filtration, recharging ground and lake water supplies, and reconnecting communities with healthy green space. CNT will monitor the volume of water the swale can absorb at Our Lady Gate of Heaven to quantify its performance. This project is one of several monitored demonstrations where CNT is documenting the effectiveness of Green Infrastructure practices in greater Chicagoland’s climatic, soil, and hydrological conditions. For more information, please see our Natural Resources Program.

Green Infrastructure Saves Money and Improves Greater Chicago’s Water Quality

On July 12, CNT was at the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) presenting recommendations for green best practices in stormwater management.
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Start Thinking About Your Own Rain Garden

Sure, it’s 20 degrees in Chicago and from this vantage, spring is a mere fleck on the map, but what better time could there be to start dreaming about your future outdoor activities?! CNT has some new tools to assist with your green thumb fantasies!

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Natural Resources Portfolio News

CNT’s Natural Resources work gains a new tool and a new face this week. We introduced our Green Solutions pocket guide, “Water: From Trouble to Treasure”, yesterday at the Illinois River Coordinating Council meeting. Visit our website later in the week to learn more about this guide to affordable and accomplishable “green infrastructure” solutions.

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