Lake County rallies around green initiatives

From a renewable energy program at Baxter International in Deerfield that saves hundreds of thousands of dollars annually to plans for a butterfly garden at Grayslake North High School, large and small environmental successes were shared earlier this week at College of Lake County’s fifth annual green conference.

Held Wednesday at CLC’s Grayslake campus, the conference brought together local businesses, educators and the public to celebrate the county’s environmental achievements as well as to gain ideas and inspiration on promoting sustainability.

Libertyville resident Dave Wilms, an energy and sustainability consultant and former high school science teacher, defined sustainability as, “Enough for all, forever.”

The phrase inspired conference attendees including registered nurse Elsa Jenels, who serves as the green liaison for the Lake County Health Department’s North Chicago medical building.

“It just keeps getting put on the back burner,” she said of creating a sustainability plan where she works.

“There is so much waste in the medical field and there are so many avenues we can look at to use things more efficiently,” Jenels explained. “I feel we all have a responsibility as a citizen of the planet to lessen our footprint. It all ties together — health and the environment.”

Jenels said she learned at the conference “it’s possible to have a waste-free event. I’d like to see if that’s cost-effective where I work.” Plates and cups were made of biodegradable products that were recycled at the event, plus lunch included locally-grown greens.

At the conference, Ronald Meissen, senior director of sustainability at Baxter, showed how the company has saved $41 million due to its environmental efforts. One of the company’s priorities among 16 other goals is to reduce its carbon footprint, he said. Carbon emissions are linked to global climate change, and come from sources such energy-production plants and vehicle emissions.

Baxter is working to decrease its fossil fuel usage by 22 percent this year, he said. The company has switched to low carbon fuels in Ireland and other places in the world where it has plants, he added. In addition, in India, instead of using oil for energy production, it uses bio mass, which saves $350,000 a year, he said.

Baxter is a company network member of Boston-based Ceres, a nonprofit that helps investors and businesses build a sustainable global economy.

Ceres’ senior manager John Weiss, who was the green conference’s keynote speaker, said committing to a sustainable business model requires sacrifice, but has become part of the culture of many major corporations.

Businesses understand they need to make changes to stall global climate change, which could negatively affect their bottom line as well as people’s health, he said.

CLC President Jerry Weber told the audience that nearly three-quarters of people surveyed say they believe global warming is happening and it can be slowed, but aren’t sure people are willing to make the sacrifice to do what it takes.

“And that was from an oil and gas industry survey,” he said.

CLC has created a major sustainability plan, which includes adding solar energy, building a geothermal field that will provide much of the heating and cooling needs of the Grayslake campus, designing buildings that are certified as being made with sustainable products, among many others.

“We have an ongoing commitment to decrease our energy consumption. We look at the campus as a living laboratory,” Weber said.

Conference participant Erika Koesling, an environmental science teacher at Lake Forest High School, said she was excited to learn that ComEd will provide jobs for her students when they enter the work force.

“I like knowing ComEd needs more power engineers. It’s eye-opening. I can tell the kids about it and it gives them a purpose while learning in the classroom,” she said.

Nicole Riggs of North Chicago-based AbbVie, Inc., which also presented its environmental initiatives at the event, talked to ComEd about its free program to help customers reduce energy consumption and costs.

“We have an annual event at AbbVie to educate people about environmental impact, and I’d like to have ComEd come to it,” Riggs said.

ComEd is working on what’s called a smart grid, which allows customers to program when to reduce energy consumption, said Joseph E. Svachula, vice president of smart grid and technology at ComEd.

“We used to encourage customers for more usage. But now, it’s less usage. We’ve got to earn the public’s trust,” he said.

Tracey Landry, a curriculum director at Grayslake High School District 127, who also spoke at the event, said the district is taking baby steps, from using new carpets made of recycled materials, having an energy audit, and using nontoxic paints.

“We also have ‘turn it off’ days in our school to remind kids to turn off the lights when not needed, refillable water stations, so kids won’t buy plastic bottles of water. We’ve planted trees and are planning a community garden,” Landry said.

A recent $5,000 grant allowed students to create an outdoor classroom, which includes a butterfly garden, she said.

Weiss encouraged attendees to “keep the conversation going,” and that small steps are as important as big ones.

DeVore is a freelancer

Copyright © 2015, Lake County News-Sun

Lake County rallies around green initiatives