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In today's sixth episode of our Season Three deep-dive series -- Waste Wars -- Tia, Kendra, and Erik discuss the August 14, 2024 meeting of the Elgin City Council.

Last month, Tia and Kendra unpacked and discussed (season 3 episode 9 on July 8, 2024) the city of Elgin's request for proposals (RFP) from area waste/recycling companies for a potential five to 10 year contract. In today's episode, they continue that discussion.

• Four waste/recycling companies submitted proposals
• City staff provided their recommendation to switch from Waste Management (WM) to Lakeshore Recycling Services (LRS)
• LRS showed up to the meeting to answer questions
• Curiously, WM also showed up to lobby council members to reject city staff's recommendation
• And as you can imagine, the council meeting got weird

CLICK HERE to see the RFP and all the addendums provided by the city to companies wishing to submit a proposal for consideration. This material may provide listeners with some context.
 
CLICK HERE to view the August 14th city council meeting being discussed in this episode.
 
CLICK HERE to check out LRS' website, and CLICK HERE for their Better Business Bureau rating page.
   
CLICK HERE to check out WM's website, and CLICK HERE for their Better Business Bureau rating page.

For more information on so many sustainability related issues, please visit our website, LIKE our Facebook page, and subscribe to our podcast using one of the many RSS Readers on our Buzzsprout podcast platform.

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The Elgin Sustainability Commission met on Tuesday, August 13th at the Edward Schock Centre in downtown Elgin. 
   
To summarize the commission agenda items, Tia and Erik typically play fun little podcast games to keep things interesting. However, this month's podcast studio vibe was different. Kendra Kroiss, who is part of Team Watchman and a periodic guest on the show, was in the house. AND it was her birthday. Needless to say, this episode was celebratory and the monthly podcast game was . . . hmmmm . . . shall we say . . . different.
 
The following issues (and probably more) were discussed in between the singing and merriment:

• Climate action plan process, consultants, and structure in addition to summaries from the first round of meetings
• 2025 Elgin Earth Summit planning process
• Shared Harvest's newest plans and path forward
• Efforts to hire a videographer to document the climate action planning process (or perhaps some other sustainability initiatives?)
• Developing a recommendation memo for the Elgin City Council re. the commission's position on removal of the Kimball Street Fox River Dam
• Deep dive conversation about the new Strong Towns Elgin organization, its mission, objectives, and how people can get involved

Again, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to The Elgin Watchman's favorite person in the world -- Kendra Kroiss.
 
If you are looking for more information about Strong Towns Elgin, CLICK HERE and HERE and HERE and sign up to receive email updates HERE.

For more information on so many sustainability related issues, please visit our website, LIKE our Facebook page, and subscribe to our podcast using one of the many RSS Readers on our Buzzsprout platform. Look for The Elgin Watchman wherever you listen to podcasts.

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In today's fourth episode of our Season Three deep-dive series -- Waste Wars -- Tia talks with Clair Ryan, who is Kane County's Recycling Program Coordinator. Lots and lots of ground was covered throughout this episode, but here is a summary 

• Electronics recycling
• Kane County's Solid Waste Plan
• Recycling and waste data collection
• Landfill capacity monitoring
• Local municipalities and their efforts to secure proposals from waste haulers
• What the heck is recyclable when everyone is saying something different?
• The Recycling Contamination Task Force ... huh?
• Packaging laws
• And so darn much more

This wonky episode is soooo interesting. You totally want to tune in.

For more information on so many sustainability related issues, please visit our website, LIKE our Facebook page, and subscribe to our podcast using one of the many RSS Readers on our Buzzsprout podcast platform.

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The Elgin Sustainability Commission met on Tuesday, July 9th at the Edward Schock Centre in downtown Elgin. 
   
To summarize the commission agenda items, Tia and Erik typically play fun little podcast games to keep things interesting. This month's game was based on the 1986 movie "Ferris Bueller's Day Off."  Erik and Tia covered all of the following issues and probably more:

• Elgin's tree inventory
• Elgin's Tree Management Plan
• Elgin's Treebank Planting Program
• Kimball Street dam removal recommendation
• Proposed Single Use Bag Fee ordinance and draft communication/education plan
• Superintendent of Parks and Facilities Greg Hulke's impersonation of a filibustering U.S. Senator 
• Governance and agendas
• DropBox, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), and Open Meetings Act (OMA)

Are you interested in Elgin's tree assessment, plans, misc. information, and other external sources about trees? Here are some links the city of Elgin is sharing on its website:

• Elgin's Urban Forest Reports & Maps
• Tree Assessment
• External Resources

Do you want the city to plant a tree on your parkway? CLICK HERE
 
For more information on so many sustainability related issues, please visit our website, LIKE our Facebook page, and subscribe to our podcast using one of the many RSS Readers on our Buzzsprout platform. Look for The Elgin Watchman wherever you listen to podcasts.

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In today's third episode of our Season Three deep-dive series -- Waste Wars -- Tia and Kendra go through the request for proposals (RFP) for the city of Elgin's waste hauler contract starting in 2025. 

• How long will the waste hauler contract be? Will there be a renewal trigger? Will there be an opt-out
• What changes are being asked for from bidders?
• Will there be garbage stickers or not?
• What are the odds our garbage fees will be going up in 2025?

Tia & Kendra cover all of these questions and more. CLICK HERE to see the RFP and all the addendums Tia & Kendra talk about.

For more information on so many sustainability related issues, please visit our website, LIKE our Facebook page, and subscribe to our podcast using one of the many RSS Readers on our Buzzsprout podcast platform.

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The Elgin Sustainability Commission met on Tuesday, June 11th at the Edward Schock Centre of Elgin. (Spoiler alert . . . the meeting was adjourned at 7:28pm for the second month in a row ... so, kudos to Commission Chairperson Tom Armstrong).
   
The agenda was small, but it felt like everyone had something to say on the following topics:

• Elgin's tree planting program
• Climate Change Action planning process (and consultants)
• Grant proposal re. Eastside Community Garden
• Grant proposal re. Native Garden Demo Project
• Elgin Farmers Market
• Kimball Street Dam proposed removal and commission recommendation to city council

Honestly, the star of the meeting was Friends of the Fox River's Art Malm, who was also the city's first water engineer and was primarily the person who wrote all the operating protocols & procedures for the city's water plant. Lots of learned during this portion of the meeting, including:

• removal of the Kimball Street damn is a separate issue from the city's need to move the water intake pipe for the water plant
• the recommendation to remove dams on the Fox River is the result of years and years of work done by the Fox River Study Group
• opposition to dam removal is loud but spearheaded by a very small group of residents throughout the watershed
• Malm cited an opinion poll where almost 50% of people in the watershed believe the Fox River is dangerous because of perceived water quality concerns (which dam removal would address)
• allegedly deciding not to remove Fox River dams would trigger the EPA to require implementation of a phosphorus mitigation plan that could cost an estimated $60 million dollars
• and so very much more

During the deep-dive segment of this episode, Tia decided to focus on the uncomfortable tension in the room by looking more closely at governance issues related to commissioners and the staff liaison.

• whose role is what?
• what responsibilities belong to who?
• who reports to who?
• who has the authority to do what?
• setting commission priorities and how to prioritize projects/work?

The deep-dive segment of this episode is certainly not as sexy as the Kimball Street dam removal issue, but it certainly may be the most important issue on the table that's not being talked about enough in open public sessions.

For more information on so many sustainability related issues, please visit our website, LIKE our Facebook page, and subscribe to our podcast using one of the many RSS Readers on our

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The Elgin Sustainability Commission met on Tuesday, May 14th at the Edward Schock Centre of Elgin. (Spoiler alert . . . the meeting was adjourned at 7:28pm and Erik came to this episode in a great mood.)
   
The commission meeting contained lots of discussion on a variety of different topics. There was no action, but lots of talk. So, Tia & Erik used one of their podcast games to summarize all the chatter. The following is a laundry list of topics you will hear discussed in this episode:

• Elgin Earth Summit
• Elgin Climate Resiliency Plan consultant
• New Sustainability Coordinator hire
• Waster Hauler request for proposals
• EV readiness program
• Elgin Farmers Market
• Kimball Street dam removal recommendation
• Promotion of city's tree program
• Sustainability Grant Program -- Shark Tank concept
• Turf Reduction pilot program proposal
• Vine weeds murdering native plants at East Side Neighborhood Garden

As per Tia & Erik's tradition, they did a deep-dive on one of the topics. This month they talked about the organization "Blacks In Green," which was a participant in this year's Elgin Earth Summit. While the discussion revolved around "environmental justice" (EJ) and how many EJ neighborhoods exist in Elgin, the essence of the conversation was focused on the organization's interesting "Sustainable Square Mile" they have created.

Blacks In Green has a great website filled with lots of resources and tools. We echo commission chairperson Tom Armstrong and strongly encourage you to check it out at https://www.blacksingreen.org/resources.
   
A special thank you to the Elgin Sustainability Commission for providing a word casserole for all of our listeners this month. Please tune in next month to see if they can serve some dessert.
 
Since the May 14th commission meeting and the publication of this episode, city of Elgin published the Request for Proposals (RFP) for Waste Recyclable Yard Waste and Organics Collection. There are exhibits associated with this proposal. If you are interested in reading that RFP, you can find it here:  https://elginil.gov/bids.aspx?bidID=1859.
     
For more information on so many sustainability related issues, please visit our website, LIKE our Facebook page, and subscribe to our podcast using one of the many RSS Readers on our

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In today's third episode of our Season Three deep-dive series -- Waste Wars -- Tia interviews Elgin City Council Member Carol Rauschenberger.
 
To say Council Member Rauschenberger's "mind is blown" on so very many topics related to the city's Waste/Recycling contract is an understatement. What seems logical to this council member appears to be an foreign concept to waste haulers.
 
[TEASE] For example, should the city council consider NOT renewing recycling services with a contracted waste hauler and divert that monetary savings into operating its own recycling center where it would have more control over what actually gets recycled (and could create a baseline and annual benchmarks to track community progress)?

You're going to have to click-thru to find the answer to this question and many more ideas that Tia and Carol explore.

This episode is a load of FUN!

Oh, and Happy Elgin Earth Month! If you want to participate in our Elgin Earth Month community project that we're calling "Is This Recyclable Or Not Recyclable?" you can CLICK HERE to learn more.

Even if you don't want to participate, you can follow along and learn surprising things about what you can and can't put in your curbside recycling cart by checking out our blog at https://www.elginwatchman.com/blog. For example, can you recycle steel aerosol cans (e.g., Lysol, anti-perspirant, etc.)? Hmmmm? I guess you'll need to click-thru and check out the blog.  ;-)    

For more information on so many sustainability related issues, please visit our website, LIKE our Facebook page, and subscribe to our podcast using one of the many RSS Readers on our Buzzsprout podcast platform.

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The Elgin Sustainability Commission met on Tuesday, April 9th at the Edward Schock Centre of Elgin. 

Surely, this meeting occurred in an alternative universe because: 1) 100% of the city council appointed commissioners were in attendance AND 2) the commission got through a very busy agenda within the 1.5 hour time limit they recently mandated for themselves in 2024.  
   
In this episode, Tia Aagesen & Erik Anderson  summarize the agenda items and discussions. They also jump into their time machine, travel back in time, and have a deep dive conversation on the commission's multi-year drama -- the Single Use Bag Fee ordinance.  (queue up the Jack Benny music)

The following is a laundry list of topics you will hear discussed in this episode:

• 2nd Annual Elgin Earth Summit event  scheduled for April 20, 2024
• Zero Emission Yard Equipment Rebate program
• Single Use Bag Fee (proposed ordinance) Community Education Program
• Sustainability Grant Program
• Proposed Removal of the Fox River Dam at Kimball Street
• Proposed Turf Removal Program

If you are interested in getting caught up on previous episodes pertaining to the Single Use Bag Fee ordinance, then you can CLICK HERE, and  CLICK HERE, and HERE, and HERE (interview with council member Tish Powell), and HERE (interview with council member Corey Dixon), and HERE, and HERE, and HERE, and HERE, and HERE (interview with Batavia council member and commissioners), and HERE (more Batavia updates after they passed their ordinance), and OMG HERE. And if you want to listen to the most boring thing ever, CLICK HERE to listen to the audio from the March 22, 2023 Elgin City Council Committee of the Whole meeting where they talk about the Elgin Sustainability Commission's proposed Single Use Bag Fee ordinance before "tabling it" for another day (and quite possibly "never").
 
Oh, and Happy Elgin Earth Month! If you want to participate in our Elgin Earth Month community project that we're calling "Is This Recyclable Or Not Recyclable?" you can CLICK HERE to learn more.

Even if you don't want to participate, you can follow along and learn surprising things about what you can and can't put in your curbside recycling cart by checking out our blog at https://www.elginwatchman.com/blog. For example, can you recycle steel aerosol cans (e.g., Lysol, anti-perspirant, etc.)? Hmmmm? I guess you'll need to click-thru and check out the blog.  ;-)    

For more information on so many sustainability related issues, please visit our website, LIKE our Facebook page, and subscribe to our podcast using one of the many RSS Readers on our

Send us Fan Mail

In today's first episode of our Season Three deep-dive series -- Waste Wars -- Tia interviews Elgin City Council Member Tish Powell.  
  
Broadly, they discuss the city of Elgin's upcoming decision on who to hire for garbage and recycling services for the next 3, 5, or possibly even 10 years. Throughout this discussion, the following topics are discussed and explored:

• Process for securing proposals from interested waste haulers . . . aka "requests for proposal" (RFP) . . . and when the city will make the RFP available to waste haulers
• Process for evaluating and selecting one of the bids for garbage/recycling services
• Transfer Stations and whether Elgin might need to site a second one if the council chooses a waste hauler other than Waste Management (WM)
• State of our local landfills and the importance of reducing waste
• Organics Collection Program -- benefits of use and why participation is low (CLICK HERE to learn how to subscribe to this service)
• At Your Door Service for items not allowed in the garbage or recycling carts (CLICK HERE to learn more about the program; it is FREE)
• Various ideas that came out of a 2023 community-wide survey about waste/recycling (CLICK HERE to view the survey results in their entirety)
• Spoiler alert . . . the cost of trash/recycling services is likely going up in 2025 with the start of a new waste hauler contract.

In addition to being an elected member of the Elgin City Council, Tish Powell is a former city employee who managed the waste hauler contract from the staff side of things. Today, she is an employee of Republic Services, which is a business offering waste treatment and disposal, field and industrial services, E&P services and emergency response.
 
Tish is a highly knowledgeable expert on waste management, and The Elgin Watchman appreciates her willingness to come on the podcast to share her insights with its listeners.
 
Happy Elgin Earth Month . . .
In celebration of 2024 Elgin Earth Month, The Elgin Watchman is inviting YOU and every other Elgin resident to participate in a community project focused on waste reduction and recycling.

The rules are easy. Simply take a picture of an item in your house that you're not sure whether it is recyclable or garbage. Send it into the Elgin 3-1-1 center and ask them which it is -- garbage or recycling.

Share your question, answer, and picture with us here at The Elgin Watchman, and we will upload it to our blog section. By doing this, we can all learn from each other and help reduce the amount of garbage being sent to our already overloaded landfills.
 
You can get more information about this Elgin Earth Month community service project, by CLICKING HERE.

For more information on other topics and previous podcast episodes, please visit our website, LIKE our Facebook page, and subscribe to our podcast using one of the many RSS Readers on our Buzzsprout podcast platform.