The Circular Economy: Part 2

The Circular Economy: Part 2

Q: And you’d like to see this [circular economic] model applied on both a local and a global level?

A: Yes. Rheaply’s vision is to make the world’s resources visible, easily transferable, and more valuable in our global economy. Closer to home, the Circular Chicago Coalition is bringing together 16 partners, including Rheaply and Plant Chicago, with the intention of seeding a circular city on the south and west sides, asking communities of color what they want rather than prescribing solutions. So we are looking at the city of Chicago and asking how we can eliminate waste within an urban environment, how we can transform the city into an efficient resource-sharing hub. For example, how do we connect nonprofits to larger companies, thereby creating loops for assets?

'Soul Food Junkies' Screens Saturday, June 26, at 3 p.m. CDT

'Soul Food Junkies' Screens Saturday, June 26, at 3 p.m. CDT

Award-winning filmmaker Byron Hurt created a documentary film journey to learn more about the African American cuisine known as soul food. Here’s a sample menu: fried chicken, black-eyed peas, candied yams, and banana pudding for dessert. What’s not to love? The flavors are an enticing blend of West African and Deep American Southern cuisines.

Hurt’s resulting work, “Soul Food Junkies,” is a rich exploration of history, humor, and stories about this cuisine’s soul-warming and cultural benefits as well as possible health consequences.

The Circular Economy: Part 1

The Circular Economy: Part 1

Q: How has the past year—the pandemic year—affected your work and the work of those you partner with?

A: Growers and food companies that had been selling to restaurants had to go more to a retail model or not exist. After the lockdown began and Illinois was put under a shelter-in-place order, Plant Chicago helped farmers pivot toward online sales. And, despite the challenges, we re-launched the farmers market in Davis Square Park, opened our year-round marketplace, offered subsidized local food boxes, piloted a shared-use indoor victory garden, and began accepting food scraps for composting from neighbors. We store the food scraps on site for Urban Canopy to haul away. We’re just now transitioning back into working in person, and we interact with the public a lot, so we’re still masking and probably will be for a while.

Join the Circular Economy: COMPOST

Join the Circular Economy: COMPOST

Keeping food waste out of landfills via composting is a perfect example of how the circular economy can work. Following is a list of Chicagoland composting resources recommended by Jonathan Pereira of Plant Chicago. For those outside of Illinois, search for similar resources in your area to get involved.

Filmmaker Q&A with Pamela Tanner Boll of 'To Which We Belong'

Filmmaker Q&A with Pamela Tanner Boll of 'To Which We Belong'

Q: Tell me about the film’s title.

A: It comes from a quote by Aldo Leopold (1887-1948)—a revered environmentalist of the past century. He said, "We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect." In other words, land is something we can’t live without. Humans don’t live in a vacuum. We depend as much on the health of the ants and the bees and the dung beetles and the soil as we do on the larger flora and fauna.

Meet Isaac Vergun and Alexia Henderson

Meet Isaac Vergun and Alexia Henderson

Spend a little more time with two of our guests from our March film festival screening of “YOUTH v GOV.” Please meet these dynamic young people who are speaking up about climate change and urging federal, state and local governments to do better in protecting their future, as well as the future of all people.

A freshman at Howard University, Isaac Vergun is a litigant in the Juliana v United States of America lawsuit, which was featured in the film, “YOUTH v GOV.” Brandon Pineda, our intern from Urban Alliance, interviewed him about why he got involved in the lawsuit, how climate change has already affected his health, and more. Check out the video or read the interview.