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Quick help

VOF members have plenty of talent and energy to offer, but many can't commit to long-term projects. "Quick Help" is a place where they can contribute by filling short-term needs.

Current needs:

A member with computer graphics skills to design a one-page handout and/or mailers to accompany VOF Smart Growth presentations.

Members to  make phone calls to line up audiences for the VOF's Smart Growth and  Global Warming presentations.

 The  donation of a laptop computer to help the Building Healthy Communities Committee give presentations. 

Contact: Craig Zabel.


Our next regular monthly meeting will be Monday, May 12, at 7 p.m. at the Batavia Public Library. Bird photographer Leo Modica will present a program on our feathered friends through the lens.  As always, members and non-members are invited. Directions to the Batavia Library ...



Make every day Earth Day!

How do you do that? The Sierra Club has come up with two information sheets: Five ways individuals and companies can fight global warming, and five ways cities and states can to it too. Both are about a megabyte in size and are in PDF format. You'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the sheets. Most PCs already have this valuable and free program; try clicking on a link to one of the sheets to see. If you don't have it, click here to download a copy.  

Click here to see the sheet for individuals and companies.
Click here to see the sheet for cities and states.

Clean Sweep of the Fox River planned for April 19

The VOF's annual Clean Sweep of the Fox River will be held Saturday, April 19, in Aurora. This is our annual effort to clean up trash and other debris from the banks of the area's most crucial natural resource. Help us get the Fox ready for Earth Day (April 22)! We'll meet at 8 45 a.m. at 80 N. Broadway, behind the Aurora Township Building. Work will continue until noon. Bags, gloves, water and snacks will be provided. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has donated $500 to help defray the costs of the effort. To sign up, contact Fran Caffee at fran.caffee@sierraclub.org.

How's your local creek doing?

Ever wonder if your local creek is polluted, and, if so, how? The VOF has released the April results of its testing program for creeks in the Fox Valley. The group is testing 25 sites at seven creeks. This batch of tests was made April 5. To see the results, click the appropriate link below:

Bonus! VOF member Sherry Wolff has put together a photo tour called "Life of a Sample" so you can see exactly what happens when VOF members collect creek samples. Click here to see it.

Click here to read the online version of the VOF's newsletter, 21st Century FoxNow available on line:
The VOF's newsletter, 21st Century Fox

Did you misplace your printed copy of the VOF's newsletter? Now you can read it online. Click here for the most recent issue. If you'd like to receive the 21st Century Fox via e-mail--and save a few trees in the process--send your name, membership number (the eight-digit number on the address label of your Sierra magazine) and your e-mail address to: editor@illinois.sierraclub.org. For back issues, click here.

Sierra Club adds smart energy use to traditional concerns

Smart Energy Use will join two traditional concerns, America’s Wild Legacy and Safe and Healthy Communities, as the Sierra Club's national board of directors' long-term conservation initiatives. The Club has not historically made broad energy policy a national priority campaign, but the times demand that we meet the challenge to move beyond a fossil fuel world and that the Club lead society through one of the largest transformational moments in American history. Details ...

VOF testing gives high marks to creeks
on Fox River, but development poses threat

The Sierra Club has released the results of three years of tests on eleven creeks which empty into the Fox River stretching from Elgin to Yorkville. Based on their findings, Sierra Club is calling for measures to protect the streams from pollution in the face of rapid suburban development. “Here in the Fox River Valley, we are blessed with some of the highest quality creeks in Illinois”, said Fran Caffee, chair of the Valley of the Fox Group. “But if future generations are to also see them as clean, clear waters, we will all have to do our part to protect them as rapid development changes the landscape around us.”
Details ...

Don't dump it--recycle it!

A
ccording to Kane County officials, residents and businesses are recycling 42% of their waste, a vast improvement over the 8% that was recycled in 1986. Some stats from the county's recycling web site:

  • The average Kane County home recycles about 60 pounds of material each month.
  • Last year, we recycled about 65,000,000 aluminum cans in Kane County (or 168 for each person), but we still threw away 30 million cans (or 86 cans per person).
  • Kane County residents recycled 30 million pieces of junk mail (85 pieces per person). 44% of the junk mail was never opened.
  • We recycled 94 million pounds of paper, saving the equivalent of 796,000 trees. Each day, 2 million trees are cut down in the United States.

Click on a category to find out where and when you can recycle the following items:

  • Municipal trash pickups: (Weekly pickups) What will my local trash hauler accept for curbside recycling?
  • Electronics and books: (Monthly dropoffs) Computers and Peripherals: Personal Computers, Monitors, Printers, Scanners, Modems, Tape, Disk, CD Drives, Cables, Keyboards, Mice, Plotters.
    Entertainment Equipment: Televisions, Camcorders, Cameras, Stereo Equipment (no speakers), Game Players, Joysticks.
    Office Equipment: Telephones, Cell Phones, Pagers, Answering Machines, Typewriters, Calculators, Adding Machines, Fax Machines, Shredders, Copiers, Postage Meters.
    Electronic Media: Floppy Disks, Compact Discs (and cases), Videotapes (no audio cassettes).
  • Household hazardous waste: (Weekly dropoffs) aerosol products, antifreeze, batteries (auto and household), blacktop sealer, cleaning products, fluorescent bulbs, gasoline, hobby and photographic chemicals, lawn chemicals, mercury, motor oil, oil-based paints, pesticides, pool chemicals, propane tanks and solvents. Not accepted: ammunition, explosives, fireworks, biological or medical wastes, farm machinery oil, fire extinguishers, latex paint, smoke detectors.
  • Used motor oil.
  • Used tires.
  • Printer cartridges

Don't live in Kane County? No problem! Just go to www.Earth911.com and type in your ZIP Code at the top of the page to get a list of recycling sites.

Other recycling services

  • If you're doing any work around the house, you can find materials at Habitat for Humanity's ReStore, an Elgin-based store that sells at bargain prices donated items from contractors, remodelers, manufacturers, distributors and homeowners – much of which would otherwise be destined for the landfill. Proceeds support the building of Habitat homes in Kane County. The store is located at 860 North State Street in Elgin. Details and map to store ...
     
  • Homeowners and small businesses in Batavia now can recycle electronic equipment, office equipment and books Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Batavia Public Works Department, 200 North Raddant Road. When you arrive at the Public Works facility, please enter the main entrance on Raddant Road and advise the receptionist you have equipment to drop off.

    Items accepted for recycling:

    • Computers and Peripherals: personal computers; monitors; printers; scanners; modems; tape, disk and CD drives; cables, keyboards, mice; and plotters. There is a limit of 25 pieces on PC towers/CPU's and monitors.
    • Entertainment Equipment: Televisions; camcorders; cameras; stereo equipment (no speakers); game players; and joysticks.
    • Office Equipment: Telephones; cell phones; pagers; answering machines; typewriters; calculators; adding machines; fax machines; shredders; copiers; and postage meters.
    • Software: Floppy discs; compact discs (and cases); videotapes; and audio cassettes. Please remove all paper and recycle it with your mixed paper at home.
    • Books: Hardbound and paperback books.
    • Please DO NOT bring manuals, packing material, air conditioners, other appliances or household hazardous waste.

    For additional information contact the Public Works Facility 630-879-1424 ext 310

Check out our new cartoon!
R
ustle the Leaf is a weekly cartoon with an environmental theme. Here's this week's installment: 

 

Who represents me?

Here's an easy way to find out who your state and local officials are. Click the link below, and you'll be taken to the Project Vote Smart site. On the left side of the page is a spot where you can enter your ZIP Code and get a list of all your state and federal elected officials, along with bios and contact information.

Click here to go to Project Vote Smart 

Where and how do I register to vote?

Click here to find out all the facts  

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Last updated April 16, 2008. Questions, comments on this web site? Contact the VOF's webmaster. Site designed by Mike Hanlon.