Celebrating the 2024 BOOST Winners for Sustainability & Innovation

All of us at Delta Institute were so surprised when we got a special call from our friends and sponsors at? American Family Insurance . Being long-term supporters of the BOOST program, they shared with us that they would increase their sponsorship so that all of our finalists could walk away with larger small business grants!We passed this surprise on and presented two grand prize awards of $7,500 each to?Snail Catalog and?South Shore Bicycle Works?— and two runner up awards of $3,500 each to?Candid Hues Cosmetics?and the?Network49 Environmental Justice Committee.

Altogether, our supporters contributed a record $49,000 toward this year's BOOST fundraiser, which supports all of this year's finalists and the ongoing work of Delta Institute.?We are so proud of our Delta Emerging Leaders for helping organize this uplifting celebration of sustainable innovation! Thank you to William Blair , American Family Insurance, United Airlines , Peoples Gas , RW Ventures, LLC , and Bradley Grams ?for making this year's event an exceptionally impactful evening for multiple local, climate-focused start-ups. We also extend our gratitude to 爱德曼 for hosting BOOST!

Please take a look at our photo album to see some our favorite moments from BOOST 2024!

Planning and redeveloping brownfields in La Crosse, Wisconsin

Delta is currently working with La Crosse, WI, to analyze industrial reuse opportunities throughout the city utilizing brownfield redevelopment processes, funding, and policy recommendations. This map provides an overview of Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources remediation activities located throughout the city and shows an initial step in the research. Further analysis includes comparisons of land currently being used for industrial to land planned for future industrial use, a review of existing documents and ordinances, and policy recommendations based upon Delta's research findings and exploration.?

Please check out this StoryMap to learn more about this project, which is funded by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as part of the KSU TAB - Technical Assistance to Brownfields program.

Join us on Zoom next month to learn about urban forestry best practices!

The Northwest Indiana Tree Planting Consortium is hosting an instructional walkthrough that provides step-by-step recommendations and best practices for successful tree planting projects—so that more communities can undertake such restoration efforts!

Register for the November 12th webinar to learn more about an open-source,?freely-available best management practice?(BMP) toolkit that is designed specifically to support?NW Indiana communities in every step of their?urban forestry goals - from species selection?to maintenance - and then some!

Happy Halloween from Delta! Care to smash some pumpkins?

As recommended in Delta's Chicago Waste Strategy from 2021, the City of Chicago is once again hosting nine community pumpkin smashes on Saturday, November 9th to divert organic material from landfill and compost these pumpkins. Did you know that landfilled organic material is one of the largest methane emitters??In addition to being a fun way to connect with your community and let off some steam, pumpkin smashes are arguably the best way to say fare well to your jack-o-lantern.?We're so happy to see the City's continued commitment to compost in these efforts!

If you're not in the Chicago area, please check your local government's website to see what pumpkin composting events may be organized in your area. The trend has caught on and there are plenty of pumpkin smashing opportunities out there!

More Chicago compost news: a backyard bin giveaway is underway!

The City of Chicago is giving away compost bins to residents living in households with four units or less! 20 bins are available per Ward, so apply now at chicagorecycles.org! Increasing adoption of backyard compost was one of the priority recommendations Delta Institute made in our 2021 Chicago Waste Strategy.