Waste Management is a proud environmental partner of the Buffalo Grove Park District.
Environmental Action Team Year 2024 in Review
January 5 – We had our annual pot-luck dinner and planning session
April 1 – The new Village composting program began that we support
April 22 Earth Day – We participated in this event with exhibits, recycling quiz games, 4C STEM Club poster display and donation, woods walk, and composting at the Nature Classroom area in Mike Rylko Community Park
Adopt a Highway – We did cleanups of a section of Deerfield Parkway in both April and October
May 30 – We had a Reiner Park Arboretum planting event with the Rotary Club of Buffalo Grove
Launched new groups
• BG Land and Water Advocates – Sponsored meetings with Village of Buffalo Grove sustainability program leaders in May and December, “3 Waters” meetings in October, and facility tours in November
• BG Community Waste Warriors – Sponsored recycling education meeting with Waste Management and SWALCO on June 17
July 29 – Jeff Weiss gave a Lost Prairie talk at the Indian Trails Library that was well attended
August 6 – We had a booth at National Night Out with information about our team and the recycling game
August 12 – We were honored by the Park District Board of Commissioners for 15 years of service to the community
September 14 – We assisted in traffic control at the document destruction event that the Village and SWANCC hosted at the Buffalo Grove train station
September 29 – We held our annual Green Fair and collected the following:
• 937 lbs of clothing and textiles
• 254 lbs of shoes
• 106 lbs of plush animals
• Over 700 books
• Over 1,000 pill bottles
• 36 bikes to Working Bikes
• Carload for Greener Good packed with used arts, crafts and school supplies
• Lots of other items such as clothes hangers, bread tags, CDs, DVDs, games, even a flute for SCARCE
• 298 pounds of usable goods for the SHOP at Greener Good
• Exhibitors included the 4C STEM Club, BG Garden Club, Rotary, Lions, and many other community groups
October 1 – We participated in a planting event at Reiner Park sponsored by Discover
We did seed collecting events from August to November
December 8 – We hosted a seed processing event with 48 volunteers where we processed 109 pounds of 93 species of seeds that were donated to the Village and Park District
December 10 – We held a meeting with a Village employee who updated us about the Village sustainability plan
Excellent partnerships with 4C STEM Club, BG Park District, Village of BG, Rotary Club of BG, and SWALCO, SWANCC, Waste Management, and other groups
2025 events
Document Destruction
September 13
Green Fair
September 21
Arboretum Event – TBD
Road Cleanups – April and October dates TBD
Land and Waters programs – TBD
Waste Warriors Programs – TBD
Planting Events, Seed Collecting and Processing – TBD
Join us and share your pet environmental project. We can help you make it part of our mission!
The Environmental Action Team Celebrates 15 Years
The Buffalo Grove Environmental Action Team has been actively working to improve the local environment through a wide range of activities.
- Healthy Habitats – We sponsor planting events to establish native trees and plants to restore prairies, woods and wetlands in our parks. We collect native seeds, and process and distribute them to be planted in our local natural areas.
- Green Fair – Our Green Fair at Mike Rylko Community Park has been running annually, except during the pandemic, since 2012. It features educational booths and opportunities to recycle a wide variety of household items.
- Reiner Park Arboretum – Members designed, secured funding for, and led volunteer events to establish a certified arboretum at Reiner Park.
- Recycling – We brought recycling to BG Days, and organized the first electronics recycling event in 2009. Now, we volunteer at the annual recycling event in conjunction with the Village and SWANCC.
- Clean Water – Our members founded the Buffalo Creek Clean Water Partnership, and conduct water quality assessments and projects called “best management practices” in the Buffalo Creek watershed, as well as other watersheds (Indian, Aptakisic, and McDonald Creeks) that drain parts of Buffalo Grove.
- Clean Roadways and Parks – We formed an Adopt-A-Highway team to pick up litter along Deerfield Parkway twice a year. We do 2 annual stream cleanups along Farrington Ditch.
- Monarch Butterflies – Our members enrolled Buffalo Grove in the Mayor’s Monarch Pledge, and pass out milkweed seeds at the Buffalo Grove Farmers Market and other local events.
- Sustainability – Members collaborate with the Village on their Environmental Plan and Sustainability Report.
Join us and share your pet environmental project. We can help you make it part of our mission!
Buffalo Grove is in the center of Chicago Wilderness, an area surprisingly rich in diversity and native species. Would you like to improve our local environment and meet other people with similar interests?
If so, join the Buffalo Grove Park District Environmental Action Team. As our name implies, we are an action team, and we are looking for new ideas to improve the environment in Buffalo Grove.
If you have questions, please contact Jeff Weiss at environmental@bgparks.org or 847.224.0965.
Environmental Articles
Where does the water go – storm water?
Article by Jeff Weiss
