Beckie Nilles looks at used home decor pieces and sees potential, something most others can't envision. Nilles is the owner of Urban Chic Home, a store chock full of eclectic, antique items that she and others have brought back to life.  "As a child, I just tagged along on a lot of estate sales.”   These excursions with her mother inspired her, and over time her “recycle and repurpose” theory of style just evolved. She learned, for example, that an old, useless sewing machine cabinet — if reinvented properly — could become a table just perfect for the end of a hallway. “Over time, as I looked…

There is a new "green" home in Glen Ellyn. On Riford Road overlooking Perry’s Pond, Faganel Builders just completed construction on a 4,200 square-foot, three-story home utilizing extensive “green building” materials and technology. The home, designed for a family of four, is an energy efficient home with curb appeal that blends well with the collective residential architecture along Riford Road and is good for the environment. David Faganel took me on a house tour to demonstrate how he rethought traditional home construction, from the ground up. Three factors form the structure: a smaller …

Cantigny’s Third-Annual Green Fair will have tons of things to do and see. Come out to learn, shop, eat, and recycle between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 24. It’s all free with a $5 parking pass. If you stay all day, that’s $1 per hour for a whole carload of people to do a ton of interesting things. Did I say a ton? Yes, a TON. The Recycling Extravaganza: 9:00 a.m. to noon in the parking lot. What can you bring? Electronics: Computers, monitors, scanners, printers, televisions, VCRs, DVD players, radios, cell phones, dial phones, answering machines, keyboards, kids electronic games, …

Last weekend I looked at the old HP printer that has sat on my garage floor for the past six months. Unwilling to toss it in the garbage can (for environmental reasons), I am also too impatient to wait until the next Village Recycling Extravaganza, which, unfortunately, occurs only once a year for four hours on a Saturday in April. So, if, like me, you just can’t wait to recycle, here are a few ” local establishments” that will recycle or properly dispose of your unusable materials—from the serious to the silly. (Disclaimer: the list is much too long for one article, and due to ever-…

Glen Ellyn has seen too many harsh storms this summer. This photo, showing one result of the damage, is especially sad for me to look at. It is the house I lived in about six years ago, in fact, the house that I remodeled from a one- to a two-story house. My family did a lot of growing up there, and that crunched southwest corner was my daughter’s room. I asked myself a question that some of you might also have: Why do trees fall down? The answer is partly the tree’s fault, partly suburbia’s fault, and partly human fault. Let me explain. Many “urban” trees do not have perfect form, which can …

Today, Sustainability in the Suburbs takes a different turn. It is the middle of summer, your kids are getting restless, and parents everywhere are wondering: How will I sustain my sanity until school starts?It’s normal. It’s OK. And it’s going to get a little better right now. Here are some great ideas that combine fun, learning, low cost, and doing something that is even a little "green." You may have heard these ideas before, but don’t pass them over. Look for the parent perk to help you retain your sanity.The Glen Ellyn Public Library: You don’t need to spend money or resources on brand …

Maybe you don’t have enough time this year to think about it. Perhaps you’ve already gotten your plastic plates and cups and other (non-recyclable) gear for your Fourth of July shindig and it’s just too late to go green. BUT WAIT! Here are a few super simple and practically free ways to make your BBQ, block party, or Lake Ellyn Park picnic more about celebrating and less about waste. Uncle Sam will be proud! Ask guests to carpool, or WALK to your party. Remind adults that the fewer cars there are, the fewer (responsible) drivers are needed to get home.   Tell caterers and takeout places to …

Sometimes it’s hard to figure out how to get rid of old stuff. So the next time you drive toward Baker Hill on Roosevelt, turn right just past Nicholl Way and look for SCARCE on the left. It's a 6,000 square-foot warehouse filled to the brim with donated stuff, which will find its way to children and schools. On any given day, the facility is buzzing with volunteers from teens to senior citizens who organize and connect donations with new users. And there is Kay McKeen, the energetic, enlightened founder and executive director. SCARCE’s mantra is “get to know us, whether you volunteer one …

Originating in the United States and declared a national event by President Calvin Coolidge in 1924, today Father's Day is celebrated around the world. This year on Sunday, June 19, grandfathers, husbands, uncles, fathers-in-law, and step-fathers will all be honored. Although a necktie is still the most common gift, these suggestions are inexpensive or hand-made, and slightly natural. Everyone has heard of Red Bull, Amp, Monster and the rest of the energy drinks out there, but have you ever heard of a relaxation beverage? Dubbed by Time Magazine as "the anti-Red Bull" Drank is the first drink…

For anyone looking at these next few weeks as the official start to summer, here is a quick list to save money, time by helping out the environment. It's easy and fun for the whole family, too. Put a brick in your toilet. Reduce water usage by one quart per flush without altering the functionality of your toilet. Find a solid brick, remove the tank lid, and place brick carefully on the bottom, away from mechanical parts. Hang your clothes out to dry. Most dryers are electric, utilizing a lot of power. Install a simple, inexpensive clothes line in your back yard--at least for drying towels and…

The future is looking bright for one Glen Ellyn neighborhood—literally. Village leaders are seeking grant funding to install 100 new LED streetlamps in the Brayside subdivision. Bob Minix, the village engineer, said the subdivision only has a handful of lights in it. “Right now there are just some lights at the intersections. Some of the areas of the neighborhood have no lighting at all,” Minix said. Minix said he believes most street lighting will eventually be converted to LED lighting. He said the LED bulbs have a longer life than bulbs currently being used and are also more energy …

Pat Dietzler of Glen Ellyn didn’t dream of owning a farm 11 years ago. Her husband, Dan, an engineer, called her one day with an announcement: He put a bid on a 35-acre farm in Elkhorn, WI. The news puzzled her. “He said to me ‘I always wanted to be a farmer,'” she said. “At this point, I’ve been married to him for 28 years. I said ‘Really?’” Later, he added on two dozen cattle and began reading and exploring the Internet for further research. “He started going on Amazon.com and every day there were piles of books about making hay and genetics,” she said. “He was just devouring this. Every …

When chef Danny Ovanin sees a fruit or vegetable from local purveyors and farmer's markets, his culinary imagination runs wild—in an organic way, of course. “I just wing it and create something,” said Ovanin, executive chef at Glen Ellyn’s Glen Prairie, 1250 Roosevelt Rd. “I love making dishes, because I can be creative. I really enjoy it.” For example, beets from a southwestern Illinois farm become roasted and dressed in a balsamic vinaigrette. Hormone-free lamb chops from the Delavan, Wis.-based Pinn-Oak Ridge Farm become an appetizer. “Its availability was from week to week,” he said. “…

“We protect hundred-year-old houses, so why don’t we protect hundred-year-old trees that are actually living?” asks longtime Glen Ellyn resident Janiece Waters. It’s a question that’s been asked many times by village residents concerned about the lack of protection for trees on private property, and the problem is now literally in her backyard. “The house next door to mine just sold as a teardown, and there’s a legacy oak tree in the backyard very close to my fence line,” she said. “I benefit from that tree, and am concerned that it will be cut down or damaged.” In 2001, the village adopted …

A group of several students from College of DuPage Architecture and Construction Management, Elgin's Judson College and professional architects woke up early for some serious Saturday morning brainstorming on Jan. 29. College of DuPage’s Technical Education Center in Glen Ellyn was the host site for these groups during a design charrette. Charrette is a French word meaning an intense design activity with a deadline. That deadline, in this case, was early afternoon. Broken into teams, the architects—members of the American Institute of Architects, Northeast Illinois Chapter—guided students as …

Like most products in modern America, milk has become a tangled web of multi-syllable, often-misunderstood words. Pasteurized, homogenized, organic. What does all of it mean, and how can we know what's best for our family and planet? To see what's available in our area, I visited three grocery stores—Jewel-Osco and Trader Joe's in Glen Ellyn and Whole Foods in neighboring Wheaton—and researched each brand with help from the Organic Dairy Report, a web-based publication provided by organic industry watchdog group the Cornucopia Institute. I've chosen the report as a resource for a few reasons…

Is your Christmas tree getting brown? Are the needles piling up on your floor underneath? Sounds like it's time to give it the ol' heave-ho, but before throwing it out with the trash, consider taking it for one last drive over to Willowbrook Wildlife Center, located at 525 S. Park Blvd. "If you're looking to get rid of your tree, instead of putting it on the lawn, bring it to us," said Sandy Fejt, educational site manager at Willowbrook. "We use them for habitat enrichment in the animals cages and a lot of other things." Willowbrook Wildlife Center is a place for education and learning, as …

Drive to the end of a long, tree-lined road in the southern skirt of Carol Stream, take the winding path to the right—past two ponies and group of grazing goats—to a small barn marked by the only light in what seems like miles. There, you'll find Golden Guernsey Dairy, one of the few fresh dairy farms left in Illinois, let alone DuPage County. Working inside are the farm's owners, Glen Ellyn residents Richard and Kelly Boge, who lease a portion of the land for their herd of 13 Guernsey-breed cows—each of whom has her own name and distinct personality. There's Lucy and Lydia, Lily and Jan—and …

"I remember being under the weather one day, going around town unable to find someone who sold homemade chicken soup," explains Elizabeth Janus, owner of the downtown Glen Ellyn cafe Honey. "I knew that people, like me, wanted to eat fresh organic food." That was the tipping point for Janus, who decided to open her cafe in 2007 with an angle unique to the area at the time. She wanted to use as many locally grown ingredients as possible—including grass-fed beef, home-grown herbs and as many organic foods as she could afford. She wanted to know exactly where her food was coming from and who …