I tend to be a bit of a purist when I think of native plants. There are many varietals of native species that you would find in the wild, but I consider these ornamentals. If you truly want native plants in your garden, go for species that you can find locally and that are wild type. What is a native plant? Any plant that has existed in an area long enough to be become an integral part of an ecosystem. What does a wild type mean? How a plant looks, acts, and behaves in its wild state, genetically similar to those wild plants found locally. So now that is out of the way, why would anyone want …

We have all heard the obvious: cycling, walking or running to work helps reduce your carbon footprint. We all know these methods of green exercise and they are great when we can fit them into our routines. However, there are other ways to work off those extra calories while staying green.There are many volunteer work groups in the Palos-area that work in the great outdoors. They include the Palos Restoration Project, Orland Grassland, the Cook County Forest Preserves and even our very own Lake Katherine Nature Center. These all provide opportunities for volunteers to work hard to remove …

What does environmentally friendly mean? This could be a lengthy topic, but simply put it means trying to reduce your negative ecological impact on the world. Some of the solutions I have suggested below are easy, should not cost much and may even help reduce your overall household costs. They can be broken down into three areas: energy reduction, water reduction, and chemical reduction. This is by no means a definitive list, but I hope it will give you some pointers or reminders. Energy Reduction Reducing energy consumption can be where you make the most savings in your home, and it will …

There are many things a person can do to affect change in the world. One of them is to buy sustainably. But in a world where “green washing” is the norm, what on earth does sustainability even mean? True sustainability through purchasing power can be complicated to define.  More often than not it is as simple as looking at the label of the item that you are purchasing. For instance, one of the most sustainable things you can do is buy American. Look for products completely constructed in the U.S. This hits a number of things, it reduces shipping costs (a major factor in reducing carbon …