As the City’s leading greening stewards, every day is Earth Day for the Chicago Park District.
The Chicago Park District is Chicago’s green agency – sustainability is at the foundation of what we do!?We care for Chicago’s green spaces all throughout the city, with over 600 parks to serve Chicagoans.
In celebration of Earth Day, the Chicago Park District in partnership with Friends of the Park hosted 85 park clean ups across the city where more than 5000 volunteers who helped clean our parks, mulch trees and add fibar to our beloved playgrounds on Saturday, April 23.
Among those events was an Earth Day clean-up and rededication of Harold Washington Park, located at 5200 S. Hyde Park Boulevard. Chicago recently celebrated the 100th birthday of Mayor Washington, the first African American Mayor to lead our city. To commemorate the occasion, the Park District planted a Horse Chestnut tree in the park named in his honor and located near his home.
Here are some of the many ways that the Chicago Park District is Chicago’s green agency:
- The Chicago Park District cares for an existing urban forest of over 200,000 trees.?We plant over 3,000 trees each year, working to maintain or increase our tree canopy. ?Trees help provide shade to keep people cool in the summer, help to absorb stormwater and reduce flooding, and provide beauty for our neighborhoods.?
- Chicago Park District now has nearly 2,000 acres in over 90 distinct natural areas in our parks.?
- We have worked closely with partners such as Greencorps Chicago and the Student Conservation Association to provide job training for careers in the growing fields of ecological restoration and natural areas maintenance.
- We provide programs for Chicago children and youth to learn about nature, including gardening, fishing, paddling, camping, and learning about the wildlife and natural resources in our parks.?
The Chicago Park District also works to follow sustainable practices throughout our operations. We:
- Procure 100 % of the Park District’s electricity usage through renewable energy sources.
- Run maintenance equipment on the lakefront on biodiesel through our award-winning program in partnership with the American Lung Association and other partners.?Biodiesel is a renewable, biodegradable fuel manufactured from vegetable oils and recycled restaurant grease. The program reduces greenhouse gas emissions and also reduces the harmful particulate air pollution that comes from burning fossil fuels.
- Practice green lawncare practices and work to minimize the use of chemical pesticides in our parks, in partnership with Midwest Grows Green.
- Built smart. Many of the parks that we have developed in recent years area built on brownfields, converting contaminated former industrial land into clean park space.?For example, La Villita Park in the Little Village community converted a 21.5 acre federal superfund site into a thriving community park, with soccer fields, baseball fields, and a natural area.
- Worked to incorporate energy efficiency and water conservation into new construction.?Many of our newer park field houses are LEED certified or built to LEED certification standards.?
- Installed Building Automation Systems in over 60 of our park facilities.?These systems allow our building engineers to control heating and cooling systems from a centralized location, reducing energy consumption and cost, and also reducing our carbon footprint.
- Promote sustainable practices in our special events and partner with event producers to reduce the environmental impact of events in parks.
- Observe environmentally sound operating and maintenance procedures that protect coastal water quality. 7 of Chicago’s harbors are certified Clean Marinas by the State of Illinois.
