CSParks Environment

Thank you for Another Successful Earth Day Festival

Carol Stream Park District Green Team — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 16:20:07 +0000

Thank you to all of the attendees, vendors and sponsors who braved the cold temperatures to visit this year’s Earth Day Festival and Farmer’s Market.

Earth Day Festival & Farmers’ Market – April 20

Carol Stream Park District Green Team — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 15:47:28 +0000

The Earth Day Festival and Farmers’ Market is taking place as scheduled on Saturday April 20 from 10am-2pm at Carol Stream Town Center. Due to this week’s flooding, however, the Village of Carol Stream has cancelled the recycling portion of the event.

Activities this year include the chance to make your own tote bag from recycled plastic bags, a reptile show, touch a tractor, and the first 100 children will be able to make a wooden toolbox in the Home Depot Kids Craft Corner.

Community organizations including District 93 schools, Carol Stream Library, Friends of the Great Western Trails and Hanover Park Apiary will be sharing information on their green initiatives and two dozen vendors will be selling everything from cherry salsa to handmade soap in this year’s Farmers’ Market. Visit our virtual farmers’ market on pinterest to view some of the items available.

More information is available on our Earth Day webpage.

Earth Day Rain Barrel & Composter Orders Now Available

Carol Stream Park District Green Team — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 16:25:01 +0000

Repurposed rain barrels and composters from the Minooka based company, Upcycle, are now available to pre-order. The barrels, which start at $48.50, will be available to pick up at the Earth Day Festival on April 20. Home delivery and installation options are also available for an extra fee.

The barrels are Food Quality High Density Poly Ethylene Barrels that were previously used to ship pickled food overseas., A portion of all rain barrel sales will be donated to the Conservation Foundation.

Use the online order form at http://upcyclerainbarrel.com/static.asp?path=5200 to order your products.

Virtual Farmers’ Market Launched

Carol Stream Park District Green Team — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 20:04:27 +0000

Over 30 vendors are already lined up for the 2013 Earth Day Festival & Farmers’ Market, which will be returning to Carol Stream Town Center on April 20 from 10am-2pm.

To give visitors an idea of the range of local products and food that will be available at this year’s event, we’ve launched a Virtual Farmers’ Market on Pinterest. Head to http://pinterest.com/csparkdistrict/carol-stream-virtual-farmers-market/ to follow the board and to learn more about the vendors attending.

Great Backyard Bird Count Begins Feb 15

Carol Stream Park District Green Team — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 23:10:47 +0000

The Great Backyard Bird Count is an annual 4-day birding event that is now in its 16th year. This year’s event takes place Friday, February 15, through Monday, February 18, and anyone can take part.

Participants are asked to count the number of birds they see in a 15 minute period at any location they choose. They then upload the results to the GBBC website. The data is used to create a real-time snapshot of where birds are and discover more about trends in bird populations.

To take part visit the Great Backyard Bird Count website on Feb 15 and register for an account. Birding photographers can also upload photos to enter in their contest.

Over 5000 pounds of lights recycled

Carol Stream Park District Green Team — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 22:35:21 +0000

The Carol Stream Park District and Village of Carol Stream collected 5019 pounds of lights for recycling in this year’s Holiday Lights Recycling program. As well as keeping the lights out of landfills, proceeds from recycling help to fund the Village of carol Stream’s Christmas Sharing Program.

Thank you to everyone who brought in lights for recycling.

Want to Beat Holiday Blues? It’s a Walk in the Park

Carol Stream Park District Green Team — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 20:16:47 +0000

Everywhere you turn these days, you’ll see some kind of advice on fighting off holiday stress. Magazines, TV news, blogs all claim to have the cure. But you don’t need to look any further than just outside your window to find the oldest, easiest answer to soothing frazzled nerves. It’s in the little bits of nature all around us.

The restorative powers of natural surroundings are well documented. Beginning back in the 1970’s at the University of Michigan, researchers noticed that mental fatigue, and the associated psychological distress, was caused by too much direct attention to tasks. Creativity, cognitive abilities, and mood all suffer. The antidote to this is contact with or observation of natural scenery. People’s abilities and moods recover almost instantly.

The Japanese, who have long believed in the positive effects of nature, actually practice “forest bathing”. They wash away the stresses of urban life in greenery. New research started in 2004 to record the measurable positive effects of being outside. Blood pressure, stress hormones, depression all decrease after visits to forests. Results are so convincing, the government there intends to establish 100 “forest therapy” sites in ten years to help de-stress its urban population.

Steven Covey, in his book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, recommends week-long sojourns into the wilderness. The effects, he says, stay with you well after you return to “normal” life. I myself have found this to be true. It instills a sense of calm that persists for a good month or more. Problems at work, family conflicts, booked-to-the-hilt schedules, happen at the same rate they did before, but the stress seems to just roll off. It doesn’t stick.

But for those of us who can’t just take off and go camping whenever things get hectic, there are easy ways to add a bit of nature in your everyday life. Outside Magazine, in its December 6 e-newsletter, tells us that just five minutes of exposure to nature can make a difference in lifting your spirits. If you can’t do that, even photos of the out-of-doors can effectively substitute for the real thing.

But why make do when you’ve got it all just outside your door? We are fortunate in our state to have special districts established to provide public parks on a very local level. Right here in the Carol Stream Park District, nearly every home has a free public park within a five minute walk. And more and more, they are all connected by trail ways to make it easier for you to get the full benefits of nature therapy and some exercise to boot. Even if you’re not up to a walk or jog, a good quiet sit on a park bench, soaking up the scenery, will still lift your spirits and soothe your soul.

Natural Playgrounds Encourage Play

Carol Stream Park District Green Team — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 16:50:06 +0000

A recent study from the University of Tennessee, shows that children play longer in natural settings, with elements like logs and flowers, compared to traditional playgrounds. The study, which examined changes in physical activity levels and patterns in young children exposed to both traditional and natural playgrounds, is among the first of its kind in the United States, according to Dawn Coe, assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology, Recreation, and Sport Studies. “Natural playgrounds have been popping up around the country but there was nothing conclusive on if they work,” she said. “Now, we know.” For the study, Coe observed children at UT’s Early Learning Center. She began in June 2011 by observing the children while the center still had traditional wood and plastic equipment. She logged how often they used the slides and other apparatus, studied the intensity of their activity, and how much time they spent in a porch area to get shade from the sun. The Early Learning Center staff then began renovations of the playground and over several months added a gazebo and slides that were built into a hill. They planted dwarf trees, built a creek, and landscaped it with rocks and flowers. They also added logs and tree stumps. They turned it into what Coe called a “natural playscape.” Coe, working with Cary Springer, a statistician with the Office of Information Technology, returned for follow-up observations this year and found significant differences between usage of the traditional and natural playground. The children more than doubled the time they spent playing, from jumping off the logs to watering the plants around the creek. They were engaging in more aerobic and bone- and muscle-strengthening activities. “This utilized motor skills, too,” Coe said. She also found that the children were less sedentary and used the porch area less after the renovation. Coe is preparing a manuscript of the study to submit for publication. “Natural playscapes appear to be a viable alternative to traditional playgrounds for school and community settings,” Coe said. “Future studies should look at these changes long-term as well as the nature of the children’s play.”

Recycle Your Old Holiday Lights at Simkus

Carol Stream Park District Green Team — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 01:55:29 +0000

Have your holiday lights lost their sparkle? The Carol Stream Park District will be collecting old lights for recycling as part of the fourth annual village lights recycling program.

Lights will be collected from Nov 14 – Jan 31 at Simkus Recreation Center, Carol Stream Library and the Carol Stream Village Hall. Accepted lights included Italian Mini-lights, traditional lights, rope lights, LED lights and extension cords. This year the lights will be recycled by Elgin Recycling.

Proceeds from recycling go to the Carol Stream Christmas Sharing program.

Doctors Prescribe Parks for Health

Carol Stream Park District Green Team — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 17:16:31 +0000

The following article was published in the National Parks & Recreation magazine.

A growing number of physicians and pediatricians are looking to parks as natural partners in the fight against chronic disease and obesity. These physicians are recognizing the exceptional health benefits of using parks and trails to improve one’s health. Many have embraced the concept of “Park Prescriptions,” that is an actual prescription from a doctor to direct patients to engage in a specific amount of daily physical activity, which can be achieved by walking in parks or on public trails. Additionally, some doctors are putting skin in the game by coming out to parks and showing by their own example that walking and spending time outdoors is great for one’s health.

Parks and public lands have long been associated with higher physical activity levels, but are now also associated with greater feelings of revitalization, energy, and perceptions of improved health. Prescribing parks as a solution for improving health offers affordable, accessible health benefits to people of all ages, abilities and incomes, and it can produce outstanding results in promoting healthy behaviors and preventing chronic disease conditions.

The Children in Nature Partnership, a working group of parks professionals composed of representatives of the National Park Service, the National Association of State Park Directors, and the National Recreation and Park Association, have been looking at ways that parks can do more to tangibly improve the health of children and adults. A number of local, state, and national parks have begun to partner with pediatricians and physicians in innovative ways to design trail systems to promote health outcomes, prescribe walking or biking as a way to get daily physical activity, and to create better examples of ways to promote regular physical activity to achieve improved health, fitness, and appreciation for our nation’s natural and cultural heritage.