The village of Oak Park and the Park District of Oak Park joined together to celebrate Earth Day on Wednesday at Earth Fest, where community members visited Oak Park Conservatory to learn about resources and ways to make the Earth a cleaner and healthier place.
This was the first time the event was hosted at the Conservatory, but there have been other Earth Day events in years past. About half a dozen organizations set up stations with information about their contributions and volunteering opportunities.
Lindsey Nieratka, Oak Park’s chief sustainability officer, said she wanted the gathering to help focus the area’s community spirit.
“Oak Park is very active, particularly around environment and equity initiatives,” Nieratka said. “This event is really important for our residents to understand the work that’s happening.”
Jen Packheiser, a member of Go Plastic Free, set up shop at the conservatory to inform people about the different ways to reduce plastic usage including buying products that have more eco-friendly packaging. For example, Packheiser uses toilet paper packaged in cardboard, she said.
But keeping the Earth clean has always been pertinent to her. Her mom introduced her to recycling when she was a child, and Packheiser’s contributions have only grown.
“I drive an electric car, my other car’s hybrid. I’m trying to not use fossil fuels when possible. I have community solar, because my house can’t have solar on it,” she said. “There’s all these choices we make as consumers that can help us.”
In partnership with Greenprint Partners, Oak Park’s Office of Sustainability & Resilience is working to establish Oak Park’s Biodiversity and Green Infrastructure Plan, with the goal of implementing green infrastructure or enhanced management for native plants, wildlife and people at 30% of Oak Park’s public land by 2030. It’s also called Oak Park’s 30×30 goal.
The plan started in 2022 in an effort to build a more climate resilient and sustainable community and is currently in the first of three phases.
Malcolm Mossman, a sustainability coordinator for the village, was on hand to give community members information on the plan and collect their thoughts on what changes they’d like to see within Oak Park.
Some people were there to get a tour of the conservatory, something 16-year volunteer Kathie Walsh is always happy to do. As part of her volunteer work at the conservatory, she gives tours for schools, senior centers and hosts programs for a group of people with special needs called diverse learners. That’s her favorite group to help, she said.
“Earth Day is very important, just really celebrating the planet and protecting the planet and recognizing what we need to do to take care of our planet,” Walsh said.
Oak Park’s Earth Day activities didn’t stop there. On Friday, the One Earth Film Festival was to mark its 15th Anniversary with a screening of the film “How to Power a City” at Oak Park and River Forest High School. Hosted by the village of Oak Park and the Oak Park Public Library, the film explored the front lines of the clean energy revolution.
