Green Parent Chicago

New Bikes Exhibit at The Nature Museum Details Chicago's Bike Culture

 

A new self-produced exhibition Bikes! The Green Revolution debuts Friday at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum.

The exhibit runs March 30 through September 9, 2012 and, according to exhibit organizers, chronicles the roots of "America’s most democratic and sustainable form of transportation" and the future of people powered transportation in our changing urban landscapes.

"Bikes! The Green Revolution" is included in Nature Museum general admission.

For more information visit www.naturemuseum.org.

-photo credit: Whateverland.com/Lorena Cupcake, flickr

Spring is in the air, time to get your ride on at the Chicago Bike Swap

Today is sunny and warm and we just can't help but have spring fever. What better way to enjoy the coming warmth than to support planet friendly transportation in the city while trading your old bike for a new one at the Chicago Bike Swap.

This Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the Chicago Bike Swap will take place at the Pulaski Park Fieldhouse. Event organizers promise "more than 50 bike shops, merchants, nonprofits and individuals offering deals on bikes, parts, events and gear."

Here is a sampling of what you'll find at the event: demos and presentations on topics such as family biking and winter bike commuting, bike-themed games and activities, discounted registration for upcoming bike events and food and beverages available for purchase.

Admission to the Chicago Bike Swap is $5 for Active Transportation Alliance members and $10 for nonmembers. Kids 12 and under enter for free. To sell or swap a bike, attendees pay admission plus $5 per bike (limit three bikes).

Proceeds from the Chicago Bike Swap will benefit the Active Transportation Alliance, Chicago Bike Winter and the Chainlink.

 

August Chicago Kidical Mass "Garden Ride"

This month saw the August edition of a Chicago Kidical Mass ride take off. This month’s ride was a “Garden Ride”.  We rode our way around the greater Logan Square neighborhood and made stops at two community gardens to meet the gardeners, wander through the greenery, sample kale and other fresh garden goodies, and enjoy the flowers and the beautiful day.

As always, we all met up in Palmer Square, and kicked things off by riding two loops around the square.

I"m getting ready to ride around Palmer Square (photo courtesy of Chicago Kidical Mass)

Then we  headed off towards our first stop, the Whipple-Dickens Community Garden.

The garden was lovely – all sorts of vegetables, herbs, flowers, you-name-it, was growing in this neighborhood plot.   It was fun to just walk around and discover all that was growing.

Eventually we loaded everyone back up on the bikes.

You can bring your friends along on a Kidical Mass ride

And we headed off to our next stop the Altgeld – Sawyer Corner Farm.

Wandering through Altgeld-Sawyer Corner Farm

As always with a Kidical Mass ride, there were a wide variety of kids bikes, cargo bikes, bike trailers, trail-a-bikes, and so forth for folks to ride around the city sans car with their kids.

Box bikes, bucket bikes, baskets and baby seats

And some folks wanted to take our Yuba Mundo out for some test rides. We happily obliged.

Eventually we tore ourselves away from the farm and rode off to our final stop, Unity Park.

Once at the park we parked our bikes again and set the kids free to run, scream, climb, play, and have a good time.  The adults managed to have some fun too.

A big kid in a bucket bike

 

Our family pile O' bikes

The Chicago Kidical Mass group rides the second Saturday of the month for most of the year. You can find us here on Facebook  or on our group page on the chainlink.   Come out and ride with us!

-Samantha
This article originally appeared on Samantha's family biking blog Ding Ding Let's Ride where she writes about everyday biking in the city, family biking, and adaptive biking for special needs children.

The June Chicago Kidical Mass Bike Ride & Cupcakes!

We have a great Kidical Mass ride almost every month of the year in Chicago, on the 2nd Saturday of the month. Generally the ride departs from Palmer Square to a location not too far away, usually one that ends at a park or playground.  This month’s ride had a bonus stop scheduled so everyone had two playgrounds to check out.  Our household was a little late getting out the door though, so we headed off to a playground on the west side of Humbolt Park that was to be the final destination, to meet up with the rest of the ride.

Riding around the lagoons in Humbolt Park, towing a bike with our Yuba Mundo

It also happened to be my birthday weekend, so Andrew surprised me with a couple of dozen (!!) delicious cupcakes from Bleeding Heart Bakery to share with everyone at the ride!  I put the cupcakes in this awesome picnic basket that we own,  to transport them to the park.  I must have subconsciously bought this basket years ago in anticipation of owning this bike because they looked so lovely together.

 

After we had arrived and unloaded, the parade of bikes started to arrive!

 

We Have a New Bike! Welcome the Yuba Mundo!

We weren’t really planning on buying another bike, but we have been trying to figure out how we were going to continue to ride everywhere we want as a family.  With Little Ding riding his own bike instead of being towed in the bike trailer, we’ve been enjoying family rides in which we all ride together, but have been frustrated because now we can’t ride as far- he is not able to put in the same miles that we can.  We loved riding to the zoo for example, but that’s too far for him.

We had already considered a variety of  family cargo bikes but we’ve been limited by price as well as by storage. We live on the 2nd floor and do not have garage space.   No bakfiets, Madsens, Christianias, or other sorts of box-style cargo bikes would be suitable for us.  At a couple of the Kidical Mass rides we watched as one parent pulled up on an Xtracycle with her’s child’s toddler bike tucked into one of the side pockets. Brilliant!  But Little Ding’s bike is larger than a toddler bike, and has the two extra fat-tire ‘training’ wheels, and we weren’t sold on the Xtracycle for various reasons.

The Big Dummy wasn’t too bad, but a little pricey and not as upright a bike as Mr. Ding wanted – his wrists are having a harder and harder time with his hybrid.    Overall we wanted something solid that could haul a heavy rider as well as lots of cargo,  allow a disabled rider to ride in the back, tow a kid’s bike, and not be too expensive. Then someone reminded us that J.C. Lind Bike Company here in Chicago was now carrying Yuba Mundos! Ding Ding!

The blue Yuba after Mr. Ding's rainy test ride

 

We stopped by the bike store on Wells street on a rainy Saturday afternoon and checked out some of the bikes in the store and Mr. Ding headed out for an initial test ride.

Mr. Ding takes a Yuba Mundo out for a test ride while the Van Moof bike looks on

 

The Yuba is 6ft 9 inches long – not your standard-length bike.  A steel bike made to haul 440 lbs of cargo plus a rider, it is the strongest in terms of the load it can carry,  of all the longtail cargo bikes.  The rear rack can hold 2 child seats, along with grocery bags on each side.   Here’s one in the store configured with two different kinds of child seats for riders of different ages.

 

The Green Stork Recommends: Travels with Toddles

Sadly, I have just returned from bright, sunny Florida with my Vitamin D fortified toddler to gray Chicago. But the important thing is that I now know, after a week ALONE with a toddler – that travel CAN BE EASY!!!

As you may know, I travelled with one 10 pound stroller, one diaper bag and one overhead carry on. That was all. Not only did we have enough clothes and toys, I had enough room to bring back presents for the wee one in my belly. 6 outfits, to be exact.

What I learned:

1) I took too much (heavy) food. A few fruits would of sufficed. 1 avocado, 1 kiwi and 1 banana would of been more than enough with no more than 3 organic packaged meals.

2) I didn’t take any laundry soap and was forced to use shampoo to wash out clothes.

3) Linen dries 3x quicker than cotton. Bring linen shirts, rather than thicker cotton ones, when visiting warm climes.

4) A carry on duffel is all very fine and well, but I am going to buy an equally small one with rollers. A 5 month pregnant woman can only manage a diaper bag.

5) No need to go to Whole Foods at your destination, the local grocery store will have enough organic produce choices.

6) Don’t wear a skirt or maxi dress. The bathrooms on planes are too, too vile.

7) Bring little diaper bags to throw away those nappys. It seems that there is some sort of regulation against throwing away dirty nappys on the plane.

8 For mums that don’t allow videos/technology – bring a new book that is long enough – or several new books – for the hours you’ll be on the plane. Also, crayons that you can easily wipe off the seat, tray, person sitting next to you.

9) Book as far to the front as you can. We were in the second seat that allowed us to get off the plane quickly.

10) Don’t fly pregnant, so that you can drink.

Basically, it was painless. Alden loved all of the new sights and sounds of the airport (though I was annoyed at all the bloody televisions that were blaring from every corner) – and fell asleep for an hour before each flight. Everyone was so lovely at the hotel and terribly accommodating. And there were always car services that already had car seats, so I had no reason to have sent one ahead.

Most hotels now have organic choices on their menus, so inventing little meals was easy. However, I supplemented with my own stash.

Traveling with children does not have to be the nightmare that so many mums make it. I’m actually looking forward to our next trip, as being away with my son was actually the most relaxing and enjoyable time I’ve had in years. The nights were early, but at my age, they should be. That’s what good books are for.

Hopefully a Europe trip is in the cards for next year. Seven hours on a plane may cure me….

Bon Voyage!

-"The Green Stork" Claire Douglass is a first time Chicago mom, concerned with ever increasing data connecting childhood health issues from asthma to autism to exposure to common household toxins, chemicals and air quality – seeks to detoxify her nest, and create as green a nursery and playroom as possible.Without driving herself, or her husband, crazy. The former is going far better than the latter.

-photo credit:USCPSC

A Family Bike Ride Along the Fox River

This past weekend some friends of ours invited us to bring our bikes out to their place near Aurora Illinois. They live near the Fox River and wanted to take us on a bike ride along the river trail and check out the local Wine on the Foxfestival.  Biking, prairie paths, good friends, and wine? How could we say no? We were considering taking the train out their way, but the logistics didn’t quite work out, so we loaded up our bikes  on the bike carrier– including Oma! — and drove west.  After some lunch we headed down to the Fox River Trail near their house and were on our way.

 

The first part of the trail wove it's way between the trees in the woods along the river. Right away we had to cross over the Fox River on this impressive bike bridge.  It was a challenge for Little Ding to ride up and across it but he persevered.

 

Pedestrian and bike bridge over the Fox River

 After we turned off the bridge, we rode through the park, and spotted a few families of geese.

The trail wasn’t very crowded even with the festival going on, so we were able to ride at our own pace and circle back around the younger riders when needed.

We rode about 1.5 miles to the park in downtown Oswego where they were hosting the wine fest.  I have to say it’s a pretty nice festival.  The park is nicely situated along the river, with a really great playground in the center.  They placed the wine tents around the playground on two sides so the kids could play and we could sip wine.  It worked out well. They also had a few bands that played, sold some food, and had a water give-away tent for designated drivers.

Wine on the Fox at Hudson Crossing Park

We actually rested Little Ding's bike cross-wise over our bikes and locked all three bikes together with my ABUS chain lock. It's a heavy beast of a lock, but it sure comes in handy sometimes.

By the way, all the lights in the parking lot were these cool solar/wind-powered lights.

Eventually we had to turn around and head back, while the kids still had enough energy left to ride.  There were a couple of inclines that we tackled that were big ‘hills’ for Little Ding so he got in some good practice going up and going down hills.  It’s not as easy for him to stand up on the pedals as with other kids so we’re thinking his next bike will probably need to have some gears.

Heading back down the trail

At the end of the ride we had to cross back over that bridge, and it actually has quite an incline.  Little Ding made a valiant effort, but he was pretty worn out riding hard and playing hard while lugging around those leg braces, so he asked for a few “Turbo Pushes” to help him get over the bridge.  I happily obliged.  And yes, that is a girl in a prom dress you see in the background. Apparently it was Oswego’s prom that night, as we rode by a few picture-taking sessions as well as an enormous Hummer limo on the brief section of the trail that overlaps a residential street.

Turbo pushes for LD. (and a girl in a prom dress in the background)

All in all, it was a banner weekend! The rain stayed away and we had a great time with some great friends.  If you ever have a chance to check out any part of the Illinois Prairie path system, I highly recommend it.  Mr. Ding and I have ridden the section from Oak Park to Lombard and it was equally as lovely.  And you now have proof that at least on the Fox River Trail, you  can ride it on a Dutch bike!

-Samantha This article originally appeared on Samantha's family biking blog Ding Ding Let's Ride where she writes about everyday biking in the city, family biking, and adaptive biking for special needs children.

 

Don't Miss Earth Day Family Fun at The Green Metropolis Fair

The Green Metropolis Fair, an all-day fair for conscious living and eco-curious minded families will take place Saturday at The Irish American Heritage Center in Chicago from 10 a.m to 4 p.m.

The event is sponsored by Mindful Live!, the Mindful Metropolis magazine community event series and Green Parents Network, the online network "where green families meet" based in Chicago.

Workshops and presentations on eco living will be offered as well as hands-on family activities. Local, sustainable food and drinks will be available for purchase. A green marketplace will highlight the latest in eco living products and services available throughout Chicagoland and the Midwest. 

Admission to the fair is free, a non-perishable food donation is requested. All ages are welcome.

 

Keeping Hopes and Dreams Alive: Blackstone Bicycle Works

Our congratulations to Blackstone Bicycle Works for becoming the first ever Seattle's Best Brew-lanthropy award recipient. The program based out of Experimental Station on the city's southside, allows neighborhood kids and teens to learn bike repair, safety, and business and life skills while saving old bikes from being tossed away in landfills.

As evident from this beautifully shot video highlighting BBW, its staff and its young participants, there's a lot you can learn about yourself and your world when you know you're accomplishing something meaningful.

via www.youtube.com

-Christine

EarthTalk: Update on Tax Incentives for Energy Efficiency

Dear EarthTalk: A number of federal energy efficiency related tax incentives expired at the end of 2010. Will any such programs remain in force and if not, are there other ways to save money on green upgrades?-- Jen Franklin, Chicago, IL

It is true that some federal tax credits for energy efficiency upgrades expired at the end of 2010, but there is legislative effort afoot to extend some of those credits—and there are plenty of other ways to defray the costs of turning over a new green leaf or two this year and beyond.

One of the best known green federal tax incentives, the Residential Energy Efficiency Tax Credit—which kicked in 30 percent of the cost of household efficiency upgrades up to $1,500 on items including water heaters, furnaces, heat pumps, central air conditioning systems, insulation, windows, doors and roofs—is no longer available as of January 1, 2011. However, some lawmakers are looking to extend the credit. U.S. Senators Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Jeff Bingaman (D-New Mexico) have drafted legislation calling for keeping the program going, in a slightly revised form, for another two years.

“Residential energy efficiency has been identified as the most effective strategy to enhance our energy security and save money on energy bills,” says Snowe. “The residential energy efficiency tax credits…have been key catalysts in improving the energy efficiency of homes throughout the country [and] have driven companies to produce the most advanced products current technology allows…”

And if you were thinking you would save thousands of dollars on the price of a Toyota Prius thanks to federal incentives, think again. Federal tax credits also expired at the end of 2010 on the purchase of hybrid gas-electric cars and trucks. However, if you want to roll away in one of the sporty new all-electric cars, such as the Nissan Leaf or Chevy Volt, you can now qualify for up to a $7,500 (depending on battery capacity) federal tax credit. The federal government now also offers a tax credit for 10 percent (up to $4,000) of the cost of a kit to convert an existing hybrid vehicle into a plug-in hybrid.

All of these programs expire themselves at the end of 2011. Whether or not new federal alternative fuel vehicle incentives crop up for 2012—when many new ultra-efficient plug-in hybrids from the likes of Toyota, Honda, Volvo and others are slated for release—remains to be seen.

Regardless, many states have their own programs to encourage energy efficiency. The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) regularly updates its free online State Energy Efficiency Policy Database, which makes accessing information on your state’s energy efficiency programs, standards and “reward structures” as easy as clicking on a map. Likewise, the Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency (DSIRE) is another free online resource that lists state and federal incentives for buying an alternative fuel car, greening up your home or otherwise embracing energy efficiency. And the Energy Star website details special offers and rebates from cities, towns, counties and utilities on the purchase of appliances and equipment that meet federal standards for energy efficiency.

CONTACTS: Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency (DSIRE), www.dsireusa.org; ACEEE’s State Energy Efficiency Policy Database, www.aceee.org/sector/state-policy; Energy Star Special Offers and Rebates, www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=rebate.rebate_locator.

SEND YOUR ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTIONS TO: EarthTalk®, c/o E – The Environmental Magazine, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881; earthtalk@emagazine.com. E is a nonprofit publication. Subscribe: www.emagazine.com/subscribe; Request a Free Trial Issue: www.emagazine.com/trial.

-Photo courtesy Nissan