Conscious Choice: The Chicago Park District’s Green Initatives

May 2008 | From the Commish

The Chicago Park District’s Green Initatives

Last year, Green Festival was held in Chicago and nearly 32,000 attendees helped set a new mark for a first time host. We hope to see you all at Navy Pier this May 17-18 learning and sharing what we can all do to help make a difference. Events such as Green Festival help the City of Chicago in its efforts to be the greenest city in the nation. Our progress is achieved through partnerships between various City Departments and sister agencies. Superintendent Timothy Mitchell of the Chicago Park District has been a staunch supporter and partner in Chicago’s green movement and he will share with us what he and his staff are doing that contribute to making Chicago a great place to live and play.

As the owner and manager of over 7500 acres of parkland, the Chicago Park District (CPD) has always been “green.” However, as “green” becomes a more complex adjective to apply to a municipal agency we further examine the qualifications and definition of the term “green” as it applies to the CPD.

Landscaping is the “green” anchor at the Park District; the natural areas, gardens, trees and grass provide numerous habitats and open spaces within the city. To keep this anchor secured, the landscape maintenance practices must be environmentally friendly. The Park District has implemented an internal composting program for herbaceous weeds and leaves, practices “grass cycling” for athletic turf maintenance and utilizes propane powered clean burning lawnmowers, while over 10 percent of the CPD passenger vehicle fleet runs on alternative fuel. New trash cans were introduced with solar powered compactors, installing 25 along the Lakefront last year.

Over 500 acres of the CPD natural areas includes 16 lagoons, 10 river edge parks, 5 prairies, 4 bird sanctuaries, 3 dune habitats, 4 savannahs and woodlands, 3 wetlands and 7 nature and wildflower gardens. The CPD maintains these areas using ecological and sustainable practices that will attract the greatest variety of wildlife by providing habitat, including food and shelter, throughout the entire year. Many park patrons wonder why the natural areas do not contain as many colorful flowers as more traditional annual or perennial gardens. Most traditional gardens are planted with a combination of nonnative plants and cultivars. Although these gardens provide a colorful aesthetic throughout the growing season, they are not ecologically beneficial and are not designed to attract the greatest variety of wildlife. Nature areas are planted to provide the highest level of ecosystem services, which are especially beneficial for migrating birds.

A large proportion of the nature areas include native prairie plants, which have very deep root systems and sequester carbon long-term in their below-ground plant structures. Carbon sequestration is the process of capturing and securing carbon that would otherwise remain in the atmosphere. Carbon sequestration is one of the most promising ways for reducing the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. In addition, the Park District manages our nature areas with native vegetation to increase plant biodiversity, which further facilitates below-ground and above-ground sequestration of carbon out of the atmosphere.

The Park District has planted 4,500 trees in the past two years and will plant 3,000 more this year. In 2007, the Park District partnered with the Chicago Department of Environment and Bureau of Forestry to complete a survey of Chicago’s urban forest using the USDA’s Urban Forest Effects Model last summer. This standardized survey collects information such as species composition, diameter distribution, tree health, species diversity and exotic versus native species distribution.

With more information regarding the current state of our urban forest, the Park District can focus tree planting efforts. The tree planting program helps reduce Chicago’s urban heat island effect by shading the dark paved surfaces that retain heat and increase the overall temperature in the city. Furthermore, the trees and shrubs reduce the heat island effect by utilizing carbon dioxide out of the air to sequester carbon in below-ground and above-ground plant structures, such as roots, stems and leaves.

With close to 250 buildings managed by the Park District, these buildings serve as community centers in neighborhoods across Chicago. Field houses vary in age and size as well as in their energy use. In 2007, the Park District contracted to purchase 30 percent of total electrical use from alternative energy sources, began replacing iridescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs and enlisted all Park District employees to help decrease the Park District’s energy usage by turning off lights and shutting doors and windows.

The Park District is enlisting support from our dedicated park patrons by providing options for everyone to get involved. Patrons can place garbage in a trash or recycling receptacle, protect trees by dumping hot coals in the red hot coal cans respecting the “no smoking ban” at beaches and play lots passed by the CPD Board.

The CPD is dedicated to our role as environmental stewards of the abundant natural resources that we manage within the city of Chicago. In the next year, we look forward to implementing the new technologies, materials, equipment and innovative operating systems that will aide us in becoming a greener agency and embracing all of the positive inferences that this adjective now implies.

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