Archive for June, 2009
June 30th, 2009
At this month’s Women In Business Expo, I briefly met Kristan McNames, funeral director at Grace Funeral and Cremation Services.
It’s a new business at 1340 S. Alpine Road in Rockford (815-395-0559) that carries Ecoffins, caskets made with environmentally sustainable plants like bamboo and willow. This is from the company’s press release:
A popular choice for woodland burials, Ecoffins will biodegrade naturally along with the body, leaving nothing behind but human remains within six months to one year from the time of burial. Also appropriate for cremation, an added benefit is the lack of toxins released into the environment during the cremation process.
McNames also said she’s exploring the possibility of using environmentally friendly embalming products, since traditional ones employ formaldehyde, a carcinogen. In fact, she’s placing the order any minute.
And to stay with the green theme, she and her husband chose existing construction (at Heartland Church; it feels “more like a coffee shop,” to be more comfortable).
In addition to these green aspects, Grace offers traditional funeral services/products and technological enhancements, including Webcasting of services (live or recorded for later; password-protected, of course) and video tributes.
The business opened within the last month; its grand opening is July 30.
June 29th, 2009
I’ve been meaning to write this since October, when someone passed along a PDF about a “green” line sold by Granite Transformations. I’ve since lost the article.
So here’s the deal: If you want to put in a new countertop or tile, instead of ripping apart your house and dumping things into the landfill, you can top existing materials with a tough, thin product line. Some of the products use recycled or cast-off materials, too. And because they are lighter, they need less gas to transport (for example, 1 square foot weighs 2 pounds versus slab granite, which can weigh 18 to 20).
Our local franchise of Granite Transformations has been at 9934 N. Alpine Road in Machesney Park since February 2008. Owned by Linda Young and her brother, Mike Hayes, it employs five people and caters mostly to residential customers (they have a showroom you can visit; call 815-633-6200).
Granite Transformations carries and installs Trend Stone (95 percent granite mixed with a polymer), Trend Glass (clear glass mixed with a colored resin) and Trend Q (recycled glass) product lines.
They are all 1/4-inch thick, resistant to heat/scratches/stains, seal-free, covered by a lifetime warranty and green because they can be installed over existing surfaces like laminate countertops, ceramic tile and brick. There also is a Trend Mosaics line, which has all the same qualities except the resistance (they are glass tiles mostly for backsplashes).
“We hear quite a bit that (customers) like that they don’t have to tear out their kitchens,” Young said, adding that they also enjoy not worrying about maintenance or the right kind of cleaning products.
Trend Stone is additionally green because it uses pieces of granite that fall off to the side when a slab is being pulled out of the ground.
Each project varies, but an average kitchen job costs $2,000 to $5,000. Installation is a one-day process. In case you were wondering, the products can be used in new construction, too.
Coming soon: Cabinet resurfacing. And possibly more mosaic tile offerings.
June 26th, 2009
I wrote about this a while back (geez, I’m doing a lot of updates this week), but you have a few more weeks to buy a raffle ticket to win a Smart Car. I was reminded by this when I saw Tuesday’s GO section.
A winner will be drawn July 4 for Blackhawk Learning Connection’s first raffle.
Blackhawk is a nonprofit licensed child-care facility that provides subsidized care for children 6 weeks to 10 years old. Since founding in Rockford in 1969, it has provided care for more than 2,500 children.
The Smart Fortwo features fuel economy of 33 mpg city/41 mpg highway, a five-speed automatic transmission, a panoramic roof, front and side airbags (among other safety features) and a flat-folding passenger seat. See photos at blackhawklearning.com and smartusa.com.
Raffle tickets at blackhawklearning.com or 815-962-8853 are $20 each, four for $60 or eight for $100. They are $20 each at Alpine Bank locations, Logli, Meg’s Daily Grind, Fox 39 and WZOK. Most ticket sales end July 3.
The winner will be drawn July 4 at the Rockford Speedway. Racing that night starts at 7:07 p.m. (gates open at 5), a 10,000-watt fireworks show is planned, and you can buy raffle tickets from 5 to 8 p.m., when the drawing takes place. Entry to the speedway is $10 to $12 for adults, $5 to $6 for ages 6 to 11, free for 5 and younger.
You also can see the car and buy tickets at the speedway Saturday and July 3.
Call 815-962-8853.
June 26th, 2009
If you missed the Openfields Dinner at the Celtic Thistle on Sunday night, you missed a lovely evening. It was filled with the most mouthwatering steaks I’ve seen in years, thanks to Tom Eickman of Eickman’s Processing in Seward. And the dessert was to die for, with strawberries picked lovingly from Harrison Market Garden by Jill and Bill Beyer. Succulent jewels ladled over a puff of meringue.
If you weren’t in attendance, don’t fret, as there will be more opportunities. The next Openfields dinner featuring local foods will be on July 18 at Pine Row Farm in Roscoe, with catering by Kiki B’s and A Movable Feast. Other local foods dinners will be held on July 23 at Octane and August 6 at Brio, plus more opportunities to finish out the summer and head into fall. All of these dinners are being planned to take advantage of the bounty of what is in season.
An Openfields dinner is as much about enjoying the company of kindred spirits as it is about the mouthwatering local food. It is an opportunity to meet new people, and exchange ideas and philosophies, as well as recipes. It is an ancient ritual repeated in a modern world. Bread and wine shared amongst a diverse and growing clan.
Now that we’ve considered the wine, on to the weather! Rain, rain, rain, and more rain. There are springs seeping upward through the earth in my fields. More springs than anyone can remember, and it is a good thing that hope springs eternal, as well. We keep planting, while some things grow and thrive and others rot in the rich dark soil that had been so productive in previous years. Ah, the life of a farmer!
The beauty of local food is that it is the tie that binds. It binds the farmer to the community, and it binds the community back to the earth. Those ties have been severed for decades and we have the ability to respond…responsibility… to recreate those frayed threads. To create anew a system that will sustain and nourish not just our bodies, but, our minds and our souls.
Raise your glass to a new paradigm, and join us as we celebrate a new understanding. To make reservations to join us at future Openfields dinners, visit web.extension.uiuc.edu/winnebago or phone the University of Illinois Extension Winnebago County office at (815) 986-4357. Andrea Hazzard is the Farmer at Hazzard Free Farm, partner in First Hand Harvest CSA and the Local Food Systems Coordinator for Winnebago County
June 25th, 2009
American TV & Appliance, which has a Rockford location at 6651 E. State St., has started an electronics recycling initiative.
You can drop off:
– Smaller electronic items such as cameras, camcorders, mobile or cordless phones and MP3 players in an “e-cycle” drop box inside the front entrance.
– Other electronics can also be dropped off for free, including TVs smaller than 27 inches, desktop computers, printers, stereo receivers, tape players/recorders, VCRs and DVD players.
– Larger TVs, laptop computers and computer monitors can be recycled for $10, but customers will receive a $10 rewards card toward a future purchase.
– Customers who have a TV delivered can have their old one hauled away and recycled as well.
If you need inspiration, watch this “Frontline” piece about the toxics results of e-waste “markets” in Ghana and China.
June 24th, 2009
– The 1,000 dead fish in the Rock River could be related to the ethanol spilled in Friday’s train derailment.
– Madison County in Illinois, near St. Louis, is one place at greater risk for cancer because of what’s in the air, according to the EPA. And this is only based on 2002 tests. Could it be worse or better now?
June 24th, 2009
In April, I wrote about Choices Natural Market and the Rockford Rescue Mission hoping to work on a community garden near Mulford Road and Riverside Boulevard in Rockford.
I got an email from Karen King last week: The mission is the same, but the location is different. It was too difficult to transport the 60 or so folks, so the garden will be next to the mission on West State Street.
“This way they can work ont he garden daily instead of only a couple hours per week. This will also beautify the West State Street corridor… and ultimately help us better accomplish our mission: teaching these people and helping the mission become self-sufficient,” she wrote.
The building and planting of the garden beds will start at 9 a.m. Saturday. The effort has drawn support from John Logli of First Hand Harvest, William Charles, Home Depot, Schmeling Lumber, Stetson Building Products, Wind Ridge Herb Farm and dozens of volunteers.
If you can help, call Karen at 815-282-1861 or karen@choicesnaturalmarket.com.
June 23rd, 2009
Susan Schumacher at Machesney Park Elementary saw my May post on Capri Sun’s program for recycling juice pouches and e-mailed to let me know the Machesney Pilots 4-H Club participates, collecting about 100 per week.
That’s awesome! Anyone else?
June 19th, 2009
Keep Northern Illinois Beautiful updated via Facebook to let me know that attendance to its second medication drive increased by 50 percent.
More than 750 households brought unused/unwanted/expired prescription and over-the-counter medications, estimated at more than 1,400 pounds.
Reminder: The next clothing drive will be 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. July 11 at Hilander stores and Forest Hills Lodge. Donate worthy clothes and accessories in plastic garbage bags. Or call 815-637-1343 to volunteer.
June 18th, 2009
On Monday, the American Institute of Architects - Northern Illinois is sponsoring a lunch and lecture featuring the design team for the new federal courthouse, which is pushing for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification.
The event is at downtown Rockford’s Brio, in the basement.
11:45 a.m. to 12:30: lunch
12:30 to 12:40 p.m.: Robert Theel: Introduction of GSA’s Design Excellence Program/Fred Koetter
12:40-1:00 p.m.: Fred Koetter: Behind the Design
1 to 1:15 p.m.: All presenters: Q&A
Cost is $15 for members, $20 for nonmembers. They’d like RSVPs by today; it’s pay at the door.
E-mail Jennifer@AndersonMcInnis.com or call 815-489-6192.
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