Several months ago my family attended a well-attended meeting at the Levy Center where Evanston’s traffic czar, Rajeev Dahal explained the multi-modal traffic plan as it affects our Ward. A big part of his presentation concerned adding an eastbound right turn lane at the intersection of Oakton and Dodge. During that meeting, residents raised several concerns which all seemed to have no impact on Mr. Dahal’s idea of what needed to be done in our neighborhood. An abbreviated list of those concerns is as follows:

• The Dawes Elementary School is located at the Oakton/Dodge intersection and the safety of the children was called into question by residents. During this meeting, Mr. Dahal told residents there was no safety concern with the right turn lane, but was quoted in the Evanston Roundtable several weeks later stating that the Traffic Division had decided to NOT put a right turn lane back on Central Street after recent construction due to the fact that they are extremely unsafe for pedestrians.
• Residents who live on the street complained of an inability to exit their driveways safely due to high levels of speeding traffic. These residents have no other access to/from their homes as there is no alley in much of this area. For pedestrian and motorist safety, many residents thought it a good idea to add a STOP sign and/or lower the speed limit to a mandatory 20 MPH around the three schools and James Park from 7:00 AM – 7:00 PM, much the same as is done around ETHS.
• “If you build it, they will come.” The street has too much traffic and residents feel that putting in a right turn lane at the intersection noted above would be inviting additional traffic. Residents were of the opinion that many of the drivers are transient drivers who are using Oakton Street to cut through on their way into Chicago because they would prefer to avoid the Jewel/Best Buy/Target shopping center on Howard Street and residents are not inclined to be burdened with this transient traffic. The preference is to make the street safer and more pedestrian friendly.
• Residents discussed their inability to safely cross the street at any area other than the major intersections due to the speeding and high-level of traffic. Residents who live east of the Dodge/Oakton intersection expressed a wish to have bump-outs and crosswalks added much like the bump-outs and crosswalks employed at James Park.

The meeting closed with the residents feeling that Mr. Dahal heard none of our neighborhood issues and planned to move ahead with the multi-modal traffic plan already in place with no modification. It was an instance where residents felt that the City Government was once again not listening to us or working on our behalf. An instance felt all too often by residents in recent years.

Oakton Street is different from many of the other streets in Evanston in that it is home to three schools and James Park - a major park that is used for many children’s sports. It is also the feeder street for Ridgeville Park District and St. Francis Hospital. Due to the high amounts of traffic, I and many of my neighbors are again asking to have the speed limit reduced during school hours and we strongly urge the Traffic Department to save the city money by NOT adding a right turn lane at the intersection of Oakton and Dodge because the majority of residents do not want this. The revenue could be much better spent making improvements that residents would actually like to see. How about those bump-outs and crosswalks?

We live in an urban environment, which increases the chances of crime and the need for emergency response, be it police, fire, or EMS calls.  I want our 9th Ward neighborhoods to be safe.  Specifically:

• I want to ensure that our children can walk down our streets without their parents worrying about their safety.
• I want our merchants and business owners not to be concerned about threats to their activities.
• I want responsive, courteous, pro-active public safety professionals.

I have a guilty secret to share. It has been over a year since I've offset the carbon from my air travel. Work takes me all over the country, though less frequently in the past year, and as you now know air travel also injects more CO2 per trip into the air than your typical drive into the country. There were several reasons for this lapse. Like most folks my pocketbook wears a lean and mean look after its sixth month on a fiscal diet. I'd hoped to convince management they should front the cost to do their part, but am reserving the sustainability self-righteousness for green product development. Lastly I'm still pissed off about iron dumping. You may have heard of this; to help offset carbon emissions some companies, in addition to planting forests, have taken to seeding oceans with ferrous oxides to stimulate phytoplankton growth. Yes, phytoplankton; the first step in that enormous aquatic food ladder that puts something resembling “Chilean Sea Bass” on your plate at Oceanique on Main St. Contrary to what you might think I LOVED this idea, and invested in it for offsets until bad press shut down the company.

So I've been skimping on the offsets, and feeling guilty about it. This weekend I finagled a Thursday to Monday business trip to Fort Lauderdale. Between calls I tried lounging on the beach, trying my best to enjoy the “unusually” cool weather, and plugging away at Tom Freidmans “Hot Flat and Crowded;” Northwestern's book of the year. I knew the general contours of his argument – we've got to change, fast, to survive and thrive in a changed world. But the facts and his ability to master them – the irreversible loss of biodiversity, the climatic chaos, political instability and petroleum based autocracies encrusting the globe like cancer – made me feel profoundly the loss we've inherited from our parents, and pass on to our children. Occasionally I put down the book to comb the soft sand. Interspersed with the shells and brown seaweed I found rounded pieces of plastic in faded hues of brown, blue and white; had to collect more than one tattered cigarette filter from the mix. Walking, holding these objects in one hand, the Friedman in another, I wondered how I could explain the difference between them to my daughter; wondered if her children would think seashells naturally came in hues of brown, blue and faded white polystyrene.

They say there's an island the size of Manhattan floating midway between Honolulu and Tokyo made entirely of plastic, and I believe them. Perhaps my grandchildren will consider it the eighth wonder of the world, or just a convenient land bridge to replace the flights they can no longer afford to take. I don't know, but in the meantime I'll find some spare cash, I'll take responsibility for what I've done. And while I like the idea of growing phytoplankton, the idea of investing in better insulation for low-income homes in Evanston, or feasibility studies for an offshore wind farm intrigues me even more. So I hope this year as you travel you too will consider something for the Evanston Climate Action Fund; to offset our carbon, and invest in our community – our children's only sustainable future.

To learn more about offsetting air travel using the Climate Action Fund, read this greenairtravel wmasthead.pdf by Evanston resident Eleanor Revelle, first published in the Evanston RoundTable. 

Mom I wanted to thank you publicly for the wonderful gift you gave Lois for Solstice.  The Bamboo Sunshine Dollhouse by Hape gives her hours of enjoyment, and us a new way to think about home.  You bought it knowing my sustainable preferences - a consideration that in itself I treasure.  To whit

• Bamboo construction: An oriental grass Bamboo grows twice as fast as hardwoods, sequesters twice as much CO2 and - get this - harvesting is actually healthy for the plant (it's grass after all).  It's lightweight, durable, and requires few if any pesticides.  Folks are building homes of the stuff -
  
• No volatile organic compounds: no benzene, methylene chloride, hexane, toluene, trichloroethane, styrene, heptane, and perchloroethylene was used in painting, polishing or finishing this house, much less in making the family figures, furniture etc.  Less plastic toys makes for less VOCs in Lois' air - that's good, considering their long term effects on health.  Wish I could say the same for my carpet..
• Recycled packaging: Almost all cardboard packaging with printing in soy based inks - a great way to eliminate your holiday carbon footprint.
• Solar powered LED lighting: Yes, the solar panel attached to the home does work.

HaPe claims such innovative products will help "shape the child's relationship to the world and its resources."  More to the point, such products help us parents to consider our interdependence with the natural world.  These Models encourage us by showing we can phase out VOCs in our homes, go solar (or at least in northern Illinois, solar thermal), and begin composting and recycling.  More to the point Mom, their availability demonstrates the world won't collapse if we don't use petroleum to make it.  Industry and commerce will continue to grow as we move away from our reliance on fossil fuels.  After all, little girls will always want doll houses.

So go ahead President Obama do your worst!  If you implement a carbon tax, we'll consue our way around it, and be HaPe doing so.

PS the Gen X side of me would have you note HaPe and most companies have a long way to go before becoming completely "green."  HaPe makes its products in China, a country notorious for its reliance on coal for heating and manufacturing energy - among other things.  And their model family of five will even under green conditions consume more resources than a family of three.  But you've got to start somewhere.  HaPe is off to a good start, pointing us in the right direction.

I'm not sure whether to post this opportunity under Environment and Sustainability or log it with Affordable Housing.  Frankly the Weatherization and Energy Assistance programs at CEDA Neighbors at Work (1229 Emerson in Evanston) does both -

IHWAP: The Illinois Home Weatherization Assistance Program will evaluate the warmth of your home and make necessary home improvements to keep you warm through the winter.  Better yet, the improvements they make (some upwards of $20,000) will also help keep you cool in the summer.  Either way they'll increase the value of your home.

LIHEAP: Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program will literally pay your electric and heating bills for you!  Better yet if you apply for LIHEAP you'll also be eligible for IHWAP.

Springfield doesn't have the money for these programs: it's coming from the Fed and trickling into the coffers of the Community and Economic Development Corporation of Cook County.  Not for the fortunate, these programs aim to warm those living at 150% of the poverty level.  If you think that's cushy, look at the income requirements on the website and think again.  The good news: you can apply for both of these with Julie Prior, Outreach Services Coordinator at CEDA Neighbors at Work - (847)328-5166 Ext. 5422.  Tell her where you heard about it!  The bad news: processing these requests can take upwards of three months!  Collect the required paperwork for each program (on their website above) and call for your appointment today!