Waukegan Public Library - Richard

Being Green at the Grocery Store

Rose C — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 16:16:59 +0000

When we do grocery shopping, about the time we are at the checkout with the clerk asking, “Paper or plastic,” is when I remember the reusable grocery bags we purchased sitting in the trunk. So how do you remember to take them in and actually use them and stop using bags that require trees being cut down or plastic bags that sit in our landfills for tens of thousands of years? Every time I do remember them, I feel good about saving the environment plus they are nice, sturdy bags. Sometimes I tell my wife to go through the line while I run out to the car in the parking lot and get the bags. I guess it’s just a matter of putting them on the seat next to you when you head to the grocery store or attach your grocery list to them so you have to take them in when you enter the store. Anybody else have any ideas?

Recycling Pets

Rose C — Fri, 11 May 2012 14:42:44 +0000

When you think about recycling you usually think first about aluminum soda cans, newspapers, glass bottles; that kind of stuff. But then I got to thinking, hey, maybe this could be extended even farther. Let me give you an example. This past winter, we had to put down one of our dogs. She was around 12 years old, a Rottweiler mix named Molly. The most gentlest dog you could ever find. Molly had a mass growing in her stomach and hip dysplasia. One day she fell and couldn’t get up any more. Long story short, Molly is no longer with us. When it came time to think about getting another dog, we did a lot of research and found a breed that we thought would be compatible to our needs and with the dog still part of the family, and then went to a rescue place in Joliet. We found a great dog that was rescued from a pound in Alabama. So now Gracie the Australian Cattle Dog (who is somewhere between 2 and 3 years old) is now a new member of our household. Isn’t that recycling too?

Reminding Family to Recycle

Rose C — Wed, 02 May 2012 15:05:26 +0000

My son, who lives in Los Angeles, visited us for Easter. Now I foolishly assumed that everyone from California was really into recycling and I’m sure many are. I found myself periodically going into our trash and pulling out the plastic, glass and aluminum bottles he routinely threw into it with nary a thought about recycling. When we visit him in California, he is pretty good about separating his trash from his recycling but when he travels (which is often) he also apparently goes on a recycle holiday. I guess it’s time for one of those father son talks, no, not that talk, we had that one many years ago. This one needs to be about all of us doing our recycle part, every day, seven days a week, wherever we are. And if he doesn’t get it, he may be 35 years old but he’s not too old to be taken over my knee and spanked!

Green Library

Sara T — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 21:32:57 +0000

Check out the latest information on the library’s green improvements from Richard, the Executive Director:

As our new chillers are being craned down the back stairs of the library, I sat down with the contractor and our construction management team and we talked about water treatment of the cooling tower water that will be pumped through those new chillers. We could go with a conventional chemical system that will eliminate the organic and biological impurities that find their way into system or we could look to alternative methods. The decision was finally made to explore a new system that doesn’t rely on environmentally harsh chemicals, it works by establishing a electric field to neutralize suspended particles like bacteria and other mineral and/or bio-threatening impurities. The library saves in the long run on not having to purchase harmful chemicals and mother earth wins from not having to be subjected to them.