April 17 - 21, 2024

PLEASE COME AND JOIN A CELEBRATION OF LIFE!

Held to commemorate the lives of our neighbors who were buried by the Office of the Cook County Medical Examiner

Wednesday May 22, 2024 12:00 Noon - 1:00 PM

77 West Washington — Chicago

Featuring: Luciano Antonio, Guitarist Heitor Garcia, Percussionist

LIVESTREAMED ON WWW.CHICAGOTEMPLE.ORG

Keynote Speaker DR. BRAD BRAXTON

President and Professor of Public Theology for CTS Chicago

Official Greetings from Ms. Toni Preckwinkle President of The Cook County Board of Commissioners

“To live and die alone is a human tragedy, but not to be remembered and mourned after earthly life is an ugly blemish on human dignity.”

W. Earl Lewis (1949-1999)

Founder, The Interfaith Memorial Service for Indigent Persons

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT RECOMMENDATIONS

Sonic Arts!

Samita Sinha ‘Tremor’

"Tremor" is artist and composer Samita Sinha’s latest performance work. In the piece, Sinha explores what she de scribes as “the practice of attuning oneself to the raw material of vibration and its emergence in space, as well as unfolding the possibilities that arise from encounters between this sonic material and other individuals.” "Tremor" is born from Sinha’s practice of decomposing, distilling, and transforming Indian vocal traditions through the body, employing sound as a vessel that harnesses and liberates energy through oneself. Through this practice, what emerges is a new language with the potential to challenge our thinking, reconfigure our relationships, and open new forms of collaboration. In "Tremor," Sinha asks how we might reactivate our relationship to life itself through our sense of vibration, despite the numbing and distorting effects of coloniality and modernity. How can our voices be vessels to repair the fabric of our interconnection and open generative possibilities? How can we relearn to listen? Playing April 18 - 20 at 7:30 p.m. at the Edlis Neeson Theater inside the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, 220 E. Chicago Ave. Tickets are $30 at visit.mcachicago.org/events/samita-sinha-tremor

A Queer History!

‘Images on which to build, 1970s-1990s’ “Images on which to build, 1970s-1990s” presents a range of photographic practices that used the medium as a tool for collectivity and empowerment within interconnected lesbian, trans, and queer grassroots organizing. This exhibition reveals the technologies through which influential image cultures were constructed and circulated. The exhibition presents a range of photographic practices to explore the process of learning within alternative schools, workshops, demonstrations, dance clubs, slideshow presentations, correspondences, and community-based archive projects. Featured artists and collectives include: Diana Solís, Joan E. Biren (JEB), Lola Flash, the Lesbian Herstory Archives, ART+Positive and the Sexual Minorities Archives, among others. On display April 20 - August 4 at the Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St. FREE.

Down the Rabbit Hole!

‘Alice in Wonderland’ Hyde Park School of Dance (HPSD) presents “Alice in Wonderland.” April 19 at 7 p.m. & April 20 at 1, 3, & 6 p.m. at Kennedy-King College, 740 W. 63rd St. “Our performances of Alice in Wonderland will be a fun experience for all ages,” said HPSD Founding Artistic Director August Tye. “Younger children will enjoy seeing this familiar story come to life with dancers of all ages and levels, showing young children that they too have a chance be in a pre-professional performance.” Based on the classic Lewis Carroll story and characters, “Alice in Wonderland” was first produced by the Kalamazoo Ballet in 1991. Tye created the choreography; Kalamazoo Ballet Artistic Director developed the story. After founding HPSD, Tye brought “Alice” to her students in 2001 and revived it again in 2003 and 2009. This 2024 revival offers new choreography and an expanded cast of 100 dancers ages 6 to 18. Tickets are $35 / $25 seniors / $13 children age 6-18, or college students with ID / FREE under 5 at hydeparkdace.org

2nd Story Street Art!

‘b l i n k 2.0’

b l i n k 2.0 is a group exhibition/temporary public art project featuring the diverse work of 21 international artists. Photography, video, painting, collage, and more will be projected on the second-floor windows of 1 W. Grand Ave. (the former Rock Bottom Brewery building). The exhibition is FREE to the public daily from sunset to midnight through April 28. It is best viewed from the sidewalks across the street at State Street and Grand Avenue. b l i n k 2.0 invites viewers to experience each window on the second floor of One West Grand Avenue as a portal to other places, other times, and other minds. Find yourself face-to-face with a stranger, contemplating technicolor moons, or exploring distant cities and landscapes. Artwork themes include nature, urbanism, sociopolitical issues, personal narratives, speculative futures, and the everyday.

From Canvas to Movement!

‘Dalí’: Surrealist Symphony of Dance

“Dalí” is an evening-length dance work inspired by the life and art of Salvador Dalí. Dancers explore surrealism through movement and bring visually stimulating worlds of depth to life on stage. This event promises to be an evening of inspiration, surrealism, and stunning visuals. Immerse yourself in a dreamlike world exploring themes of isolation, grief, loss, companionship, fear, intimacy, and even the bizarre. It is choreographed by Kimberly Baker, features a cast of local Chicago dance artists and an original score composed by Joshua Loveland. April 19 & 20 at 7 p.m. at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn St. Tickets are $25 at eventbrite.com

Support Local Shops!

Record Store Day 2024

Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store." Held this Saturday, April 20, and every Black Friday in November, the day brings together fans, artists, and thousands of independent record stores around the world. A number of records are pressed specifically for Record Store Day, with a list of releases for each country, to shops participating in the event. Find your local record shop (Rattleback Records, 5405 N. Clark St., in Andersonville is pictured), find out what new music will be released, and more at recordstoreday.com

Free Concert & Clothes?!?

'Under the Dome' Concert & Clothing Swap

The Chicago Cultural Center’s "Under the Dome" Concert will feature performances by Shawnee Dez (pictured) and Rudy De Anda under Preston Bradley Hall’s Tiffany dome – the largest Tiffany glass dome in the world, Thursday, April 18, 5:30 - 8:30 p.m. at 78 E. Washington St. FREE. Plus, join Chicago Fair Trade’s Conscious Closet Club from 5 - 8:30 p.m. for a clothing swap: bring clean clothing you would like to contribute and leave with up to 5 new items - a whole new look!

An August Wilson Classic!

'Joe Turner’s Come and Gone'

On the heels of “Gem of the Ocean” (2022), expert August Wilson interpreter Chuck Smith revives the second work in the famed American Century Cycle—one of Wilson’s best-loved, most compelling plays. Herald Loomis searches the country with his young daughter to find his estranged wife. But first, he must regain a sense of his own heritage and identity in this story of spiritual and emotional resurrection. Playing now through May 12 at the Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St.

Tickets start at $25 at goodmantheatre.org

Caregiving in a Cruel World

Confronting Antisemitism - A Training for Parents & Caregivers

The recent rise of antisemitism in the United States resulted in a 49% increase in antisemitic incidents in K-12 schools in 2022. Join Illinois Holocaust Museum as it confronts this alarming trend with an interactive workshop designed for parents and caregivers of school-age children from all backgrounds and levels of knowledge on the topic led by Ari Sagett, museum board member and 3G descendant of Holocaust Survivors, and Doris Lazarus, 2G descendant of Holocaust Survivors. April 21, 2:30 p.m. at the Illinois Holocaust Museum, 9603 Woods Drive, Skokie. FREE but registration required at ilholocaustmuseum.org

A Period of Change in Japan!

Meiji Modern: Fifty Years of New Japan

This exhibition takes a fresh look at the art of Japan’s Meiji era (1868–1912), four decades that propelled the country into the modern era. This traveling exhibition presents some of the finest examples of Meiji artwork in American collections, both public and private. "Meiji Modern: Fifty Years of New Japan" features more than 130 artworks—including paintings, prints, photographs, sculptural works, and objects in various media, that reveal a complex period of radical cultural, technological, and political change. On display now through June 9 at the Smart Museum of Art, 5550 S. Greenwood Ave. Open Tuesday - Sunday 10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. FREE.

The Bulls head to post-season

John: Can you feel it in the air? It’s the Chicago Bulls’ next rodeo of playoffs. The top 6 teams automatically qualify. At No. 9 in the Eastern Conference as of March 29, the Bulls [35-38] made the play-in tournament April 16-19 to fill the 7th and 8th playoff seeds. They’ll play the No. 10 Atlanta Hawks, while No. 7 Miami Heat will play the No. 8 Philly 76ers. What’s your barometer of excitement?

Allen: Well, they’re not a young team and they're not an old team, with small forward DeMar [DeRozan] being 34, point guard [Coby] White being 24 and small forward Zach [LaVine] being 29. They're still kind of a young team and they got a lot of spunk. And White is getting paid $36 million. So you know, he's got to be up to par for $36 million. I'm expecting a lot out of him.

Russell: I don’t think the Bulls can make it to the final round

because this is a young team, they don't have a superstar. You need somebody to take over a game. One day they come to play, the next day they don’t show up. They lose to the Wizards [14-59], but they beat Cleveland [44-29].

Allen: Yes, hit or miss.

William: Well, they're finally after all these years gonna be back in a post season. I think it'll probably be one and done. They’re pretty impressive this year but not quite tough enough to go up against all the teams to actually make the NBA championships. They might get the first two rounds, but I don't look for them to play the final championship round, the final two teams.

John: The Bulls haven’t been to the Eastern Conference Finals but once since the second three-peat in 199698. Only once, in 2011.

You have decent players like Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Coby White, but you don't have that guy who is going to take over. And in terms of rebounding, they don't have guys who can knock people over.

Even if the Bulls do get to the playoffs, they’re still going to have to go up against Eastern Conference No. 1 Boston [5716] or No. 2 Milwaukee [4627] and I just don't see that. If you lose to the Washington Wizards at home, how are you gonna do against the Atlanta Hawks [33-39]?

Russell: They got a chance but it's gonna be a tough a tough, tough, tough road. You never know who's gonna show up for the Bulls. They beat the good teams and lose to the bad teams. If they do get to the first round, Boston is waiting on them and Milwaukee and that’s disaster. Zach LaVine is out so they don’t have anybody but De-

Mar, center Nikola Vucevic, Coby White and [point guard] Alex Caruso. Good luck, Bulls. Hope you make it.

William: I'm thinking the same thing. If you lose a good player around a time like this, that can really hurt you. And that's probably going to be the case with the Bulls. I'm still thinking one and done. We're not going to see a three-peat or a six-peat like we did in the ’90s. That's kind of a once in a lifetime thing. The Bulls had it twice, in the ’70s with Bob “Butterbean” Love and then in the ’90s, along came Michael Jordan. But I am rooting for the Bulls.

Any comments, suggestions or topic ideas for the SportsWise team? Email StreetWise Editor Suzanne Hanney at suzannestreetwise@yahoo.com

Vendors (clockwise): A. Allen, Russell Adams, William Plowman and John Hagan chat about the world of sports.

PRESERVATION CHICAGO'S 'CHICAGO 7' ENDANGERED BUILDINGS

by Suzanne Hanney, from prepared materials

The last two tall buildings of the Chicago School of Architecture could be torn down, leaving a hole in the block fronting State and Adams Streets and Quincy Court.

Preservation Chicago has a better idea: adaptive reuse of the Century and Consumers Buildings as the Chicago Collaborative Archive Center, (CCAC) an historic repository which would synergize with colleges and universities already downtown.

The Century and Consumers Buildings are again among the “Chicago 7 Most Endangered” imminently threatened historic buildings announced March 6 by Preservation Chicago. Since the dubious designation began in 2003, “despite seemingly impossible odds, the public interest generated by the Chicago 7, coupled with devoted advocacy, has resulted in a remarkable number of preservation victories over the past 20 years,” said Ward Miller, executive director of Preservation Chicago. As examples, he cites the Thompson Center, old Cook County Hospital, the Ramova Theater, and the terra cotta-clad Century and Consumers buildings themselves.

Threat

The two buildings have been listed four times previously because of deferred maintenance and vacancy since the federal government acquired them after Sept. 11, 2001 with the idea that they imposed a security threat to the federal courthouse a block west on Dearborn Street. In 2017, a City of Chicago call for proposals elicited a plan for apartments that was ultimately shot down by a federal judge, who said the roof deck and rear windows were a safety concern.

Sunlight is unfriendly to archives, however, so the collective is an out-of-the-box adaptive reuse for the buildings. The CCAC could block the windows facing Dearborn Street and could impose rigid security on those entering the building, Miller said in a telephone interview. The collective archive has already drawn interest from Dominican University in River Forest, which has proposed relocating its graduate library sciences program and archive there, from Franciscan and Dominican religious orders all over the U.S., and from the national Episcopal church, Miller said. Some of the orders have sold property and put money aside for the project.

Their historic material pre-dates the founding of the United States and could complement other research being carried out in downtown schools of higher education, he added. There is enough interest to fill all 16 stories of the Century Building, 22 stories of the Consumer Building, and more.

1. CENTURY & CONSUMERS BUILDINGS

Century Building, 202 S. State St. | 1915 |

Architects: Holabird and Roche

Consumers Building, 220 S. State St. | 1913 |

Architects: Jenney, Mundie & Jensen

Style: Chicago School Skyscrapers | Loop

Public support for their adaptive reuse is the highest in Preservation Chicago’s 22 years of existence, Miller said. They were featured in a story by The B1M of London that captured 1.4 million views. A Change.org petition garnered 24,500+ signatures from around the world. The City of Chicago approved preliminary landmark designation.

The collaborative archive had engaged an architect and engineers when Preservation Chicago learned in 2022 that Congress had earmarked $52 million for demolition.

Recommendations

What needs to be done now is Final Chicago Landmark designation, according to Preservation Chicago prepared materials. The words “renovation or” should be added before “demolition” in the congressional earmark so that the $52 million could be used for restoration, Miller said.

Razing these historic skyscrapers would irreparably damage South State Street, says the non-profit devoted to leveraging the power of Chicago’s historic built environment. Aside from the loss of two early Chicago School skyscrapers by two important architecture firms, the vacant lot would detract from its vitality. An example is Block 37, bounded by State/Randolph/Washington/Dearborn Streets, which lay empty for 30 years.

2. SHEFFIELD-BELDEN GROUP

Courtyard Building: 1000-1012 W. Belden/2300-2302

N. Sheffield (NW corner of Sheffield and Belden Avenues)

| 1926 | Architects: Maher & McGraw | Style: Renaissance Revival | Four Freestanding Townhouses: 2308, 2310, 2314 and 2316 N. Sheffield | 1892, 1890, 1890, & 1893

| Architects: Attributed to John Morrell and others | Style: Romanesque Revival | Lincoln Park

In the past year, DePaul University has proposed these five structures be demolished for a new athletic center. The building would be of the same general scale and size as nearby DePaul athletic facilities constructed over the past two decades. The east side of the 2300 block of North Sheffield Avenue has been completely lost to new developments; buildings between Webster and Fullerton Avenues are of a

completely different scale and style than historic structures that visually define Lincoln Park’s finer buildings.

Recommendations

Preservation Chicago very much supports the need for DePaul University to expand its programs and footprint asneeded, but suggests an alternative, such as the underdeveloped surface parking lot a block away at Sheffield and Fullerton. This site for the proposed athletic building would not harm the architectural fabric of the community and would be much closer to the CTA Red Line station. The university has officially stated that they would like to use the Sheffield/Fullerton site for an academic building, but that may be years in the future.

Given DePaul’s history of demolition, Preservation Chicago cites other historic Lincoln Park properties near its campus – which it says are all worthy of Chicago Landmark status. These include Cortelyou Commons (1929) designed by architect Dwight Wallace, St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church and Rectory (1897) by architect James Egan, the former DePaul Academy (1907), Sanctuary Hall (1883-1889), and several rowhouses at the southeast corner of Belden and Sheffield (1891) by Harold M. Hansen. It says that a sensible vision for growth can be crafted that respects DePaul’s and its surrounding neighborhood’s historic assets.

The Century Building, 202 S. State St.. The Consumers Building, (Left: Eric Allix Rogers photo;

Top: Serhii Chrucky / Esto photo; Below: Photographic Images of Change, University of Illinois at Chicago. Library. Special Collections Department photo).

Sheffield-Belden Group, northwest corner of Sheffield and Belden Avenues. Courtyard building, 1000-1012 W. Belden and 2300-2302 N. Sheffield Ave. Four freestanding townhouses, 2308, 2310, 2314 and 2316 N. Sheffield. (Left column: Serhii Chrucky / Esto photos; Right Column: Max Chavez / Preservation Chicago photos).

3. OGDEN KEELER INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS

Western Felt Works, 4115 W. Ogden | 1916 | Architect: R.C. Fletcher | Style: Prairie School | Turner Manufacturing Company, 4147-4151 W. Ogden; 2309-2325 S. Keeler | 1918 - 1921 | Architect: Alfred S. Alschuler | Style: Prairie School and Classical Revival | Little Village/Lawndale

Turner Manufacturing was designed by Alfred S. Alschuler, one of Chicago’s most important architects. Born in Chicago and educated at Armour Institute of Technology (today, Illinois Institute of Technology), he trained in the offices of Dankmar Adler before opening his own practice in 1907. Although known for grand designs like the London Guarantee Building (1922) and KAM Isaiah Israel (1924), Alschuler made his name with earlier solo commissions for commercial or industrial buildings. He was the first Chicago architect to use reinforced concrete.

Threat

Current owners seek to create a blocks-long logistics warehouse that will permanently alter the street wall of this portion of Ogden Avenue, part of the original Route 66. The proposal envisions a 246,200-square-foot structure on a nearly 15acre site that would necessitate the demolition of long-standing buildings.

Demolition of other industrial structures in the area—the notoriously dangerous Crawford Power Plant demolition in particular— raised environmental concerns, which would be compounded by the impact of increased trucking to this corridor.

Recommendations

Preservation Chicago urges the landmarking of these buildings and their reuse or incorporation into the proposed development. It recommends that this logistics center opt for a more industrially dense area. Whatever the outcome, further transparency and environmental accountability will be necessary during this proposal’s review.

4. SCHULZE BAKING COMPANY BUILDING

40 E. Garfield Blvd. | 1915 | Architect: John Ahlschlager & Son | Style: Sullivanesque | Washington Park

Prominently located at East Garfield Boulevard and South Wabash Avenue, the five-story bakery is clad in cream and blue terra cotta and glazed brick, lending the building a hygienic and modern appearance. The company produced 150,000 loaves of bread a day using cutting edge technology, part of Chicago’s rich food production history. The Schulze Baking Company Plant has been closed since 2004.

Threat

In 2015, plans for adaptive reuse as a data center and restoration of the terra cotta facade (the latter estimated at two to three years) were announced. There was a subsequent acquisition and plan in 2018. In January, the plant was again listed for sale.

Protective scaffolding has been erected around the structure, but recent installation of tarping around the building has raised new concerns about the condition of the terra cotta. Since the data center proposal was announced, a large garage and storage structure featuring similar glazed brick and terra cotta was demolished.

Recommendations

Marketing materials for the current listing encourage use of the site as a data center, advertising its proximity to a ComEd station and other data centers. Given its large, open floor plates and sturdy warehouse construction, this is sensible, Preservation Chicago says.

Chicago Landmark status would aid renovation, says Preservation Chicago, because permit fees are waived and the site becomes eligible for substantial Adopt-a-Landmark funds, along with potential tax credits provided by the building’s National Register status.

Schulze Baking Company Building, 1914, John Ahlschlager & Son, 40 E. Garfield Boulevard (Left: Debbie Mercer photo; Top: Eric Allix Rogers photo; Bottom: Debbie Mercer photo).

5. CHICAGO VOCATIONAL SCHOOL (CVS)

Chicago

6

2100 E. 87th St. | 1938-1941 | Architect: John C. Christensen | Style: Art Deco/Art Moderne | Avalon Park

Chicago Vocational School (today, Chicago Vocational Career Academy but most commonly known as CVS) is among the most notable examples of Art Deco/Art Moderne architecture in Chicago and the largest that is not a downtown skyscraper. It was constructed as the South Side counterpart to Albert G. Lane Technical College Preparatory High School: Lane Tech.

Beyond its sheer size – the school’s four principal structures sit on a 22-acre triangular parcel–the school is significant as a former site of wartime preparedness during WWII, an early and surviving Public Works Administration/Works Progress Administration-funded project in Chicago.

CVS is an active Chicago Public School, with a renewed emphasis on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) education and college preparedness. Enrollment, however, has dwindled. As of 2023, the school had only about 800 students in a facility originally designed to accommodate anywhere from 4,000 to 6,000. In 2022, CVS alumni mounted a successful campaign to list the property on the National Register of Historic Places.

Threat

There are no apparent plans to close and/or downsize the school. However, CVS clearly needs an infusion of funds to address both deferred maintenance and, as alumni contend, modernization of the curriculum for a 21st-century workforce.

Recommendations

Chicago Landmarking would potentially open the school to City of Chicago Adopt-a-Landmark funds and provide the school with a much-needed financial boost. Ultimately, the school needs a bold investment of public dollars, either local, state, or federal, to be made whole again.

6. ALL OF MANKIND MURAL /STRANGER’S HOME MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH

617 W. Evergreen Ave. | Church Architect/Artist: John Neal

Tilton | 1901 | Style: Gothic Revival | Murals Artist: William Walker | 1971-1974 | Style: Black Arts Movement | Near North Side

Once surrounded by Cabrini-Green Homes, the Stranger’s Home Missionary Baptist Church was a center of religious life for Italian immigrants and later Black families on the Near North Side beginning in 1901. In 1971, a progressive priest commissioned Chicago artist William Walker to adorn the church with murals. The pieces explored the beauty and struggle of Black America and envisioned a world united. The piece was widely regarded as one of Walker’s masterpieces and a symbol of Cabrini-Green.

The church has remained standing even as Cabrini-Green was demolished by 2011. Walker’s murals were completely whitewashed by 2016.

Threat

It is believed the murals still exist underneath layers of paint. A coalition of local community organizations, art conservators, neighborhood residents, and Chicago Public Arts Group has pursued fundraising to purchase the church and restore them. The coalition would also redevelop the property as a community center.

The current owner has not listed the property, but has reportedly signaled openness to offers. As Chicago Housing Authority sells off parcels of the former Cabrini-Green, the building otherwise could one day be demolished.

Recommendations

The site touches on many important themes—Black history, mural art, and public housing—that could certainly attract funding from preservation-, art-, and history-focused organizations. Guided by this devoted coalition and with the resources of the city and CHA, restoration of this church and its murals could become a moment of rebirth and resilience for a community heavily affected by demolition, disinvestment, and the traumas of urban renewal. 5

Vocational School (CVS), 1941, John Christensen, 2100 E. 87th St. (Eric Allix Rogers photo)

All of Mankind Mural by William Walker (1972) at Stranger’s Home Missionary Baptist Church, 1901, John Neal Tilton, 617 W. Evergreen Ave. (all photos courtesy of Karen-edis Barzman).

7. SWIFT-MORRIS MANSION

4500 S. Michigan Ave. | 1892; c.1917 (coach house) | Architect: James R. Willett & Alfred Pashley (attributed) | Style: Richardsonian Romanesque / Queen Anne | Bronzeville

The Swift-Morris Mansion is an echo of South Side’s turn of the century “Gold Coast.” The property was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

Its namesake and first resident was Helen Morris, née Swift (and extended family). After periodic use as a gathering space, funeral home, and insurance office, the property was home to the Cook County Bar Association and later, the Chicago Urban League from 1964 to 1984. Since 1995, it has been owned and operated by Inner City Youth and Adult Foundation (ICYAF), a non-profit providing housing and transitional services to formerly incarcerated individuals.

Threat

On Dec. 3, 2023, an intense fire badly damaged the upper floors, attic and roof. Much of the impressive oak paneling and carved ornament on the ground floor interior appears intact, however. Media reports suggested the City of Chicago’s Department of Buildings was conducting a structural report “to determine if the damage [was] bad enough to order the home demolished.”

Recommendations

The Swift-Morris Mansion should be immediately stabilized against weather damage, and situated for eventual rehabilitation, if not full restoration. Considerable resources will be required, but it is an otherwise stable, primarily stone structure that can surely be reconfigured for residential, commercial, or mixed use.

Its significance to the city’s legacy of meatpacking, alongside its multidecades role as a Black-led social service provider, make it worthy of the funding and sweat equity its restoration will require.

Get closer

You can get a lot closer to becoming a Zero Waste recycler thanks to changes in Chicago over the past year. The City of Chicago launched its first-ever citywide Food Scrap Drop-Off program in December to encourage composting and the Department of Streets and Sanitation (DSS) has initiated a new Recycling Block Captain program to help better implement its Blue Cart recycling program.

Because 17% of household waste is food scraps, keeping them out of landfills substantially reduces greenhouse gas emissions, according to the city website, www.chicago. gov/city/en/sites/chicago-recycles/ home/food-scrap-drop-off.html. You can sign up there for voluntary dropoff at 15 sites around the city.

Compostables include fruit & vegetables, cooked food, meat/fish/bones, dairy (including yogurt), eggshells, bread/rice/baked goods, coffee grounds and tea (minus filters or bag). Items that can NOT be composted include bags (even compostable), pet waste, rubber bands, produce stickers, napkins, plastic packaging, yard waste and liquids.

Meats and cooked foods can be composted in the city program, unlike your backyard, because DSS trucks take them to a commercial facility where the scraps are placed in large windrows and turned regularly by machinery; they reach temperatures high enough to kill pathogens and break down materials. Harbor View Composting, operated by Whole Earth Compost in the South Deering neighborhood, is IEPA-permitted, according to its website.

The optimal temperature for aerobic composting is 130-140 degrees F, which occurs when macro and microorganisms break down waste

Swift-Morris Mansion, 1892, Willett & Pashley, 4500 S. Michigan Ave. (Left top: Cristen Brown / Twitter @LadyTophamCatt photo. Left bottom: Chicago Fire Department Media photo. Right interiors: Eric Allix Rogers photos.)

closer to zero waste recycling in chicago

and reproduce quickly, according to the National Resources Defense Council. When food scraps are buried in landfills instead, they decompose anaerobically (without oxygen), which creates biogas. Biogas is comprised of equal parts methane and carbon dioxide – greenhouse gases that trap heat in the atmosphere.

Composting thus minimizes climate change. It also helps soil better retain water and it provides better yields.

DSS began its Recycling Block Captain program so ambassadors could learn from the original source, provide feedback on the Blue Cart program – and give neighbors accurate info. Sign up at 312.744.2413 or www.chicago.gov/city/en/sites/ chicago-recycles/home/residential-recycling.html

DSS partners with Lakeshore Recycling Systems (LRS) to pick up Blue Cart recyclables, take them to a transfer center and then a materials recovery facility (MRF). In February 2023, LRS opened such a facility in the Chicago Stockyards that within a month was processing 90% of Chicago’s Blue Cart pickups.

Glass, metal, paper and cartons go on to nine states (Illinois, Wisconsin,, Iowa, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina) and the Canadian province of Ontario to become new versions of themselves. According to governing.com, China dealt with half the world’s recyclables

by Suzanne Hanney

until its National Sword Policy of 2018 set a contamination level of 0.5% – too low for most U.S. technology. As a result, recycling industries are being built here and there is less fuel used for transport.

The City of Chicago maintains the Household Chemicals & Computer Recycling Facility (HCCRF) on Goose Island as a central location for disposal of potentially hazardous household chemicals and computer equipment. Precious metals like gold and platinum can be harvested for making new electronics; mercury and lead can be managed as hazardous waste.

Located at 1150 N. North Branch St., the HCCRF is open 7 a.m.-noon on Tuesdays, 2-7 p.m. Thursdays and 8 a.m.-3 p.m. on the first Saturday of each month. More information is available at 312.744.3060 or cityofchicago.org/hccrf

There are also websites that allow you to sell your old phones and electronic equipment. A recent search on Flipsy.com found prices of $6-$19 for iPhone 6S Plus to $866 for a likenew iPhone 15 Pro Max. EcoATM.com has roughly 20 kiosks in Chicago, Skokie and Evanston for iPhones, Samsungs, Androids, Motorola and Blackberry products where you can get cash on the spot: from $12 for an LG Stylo 6+ to $255 for an iPhone 15. Similar sites include BuyBackWorld.com and itsworthmore.com. Decluttr.com buys video games and consoles, CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays and books.

April 3 & 10 answers

Crossword

StreetWise exists to elevate marginalized voices and provide opportunities for individuals to earn an income and gain employment. Anyone who wants to work has the opportunity to move themselves out of crisis.

StreetWise provides “a hand up, not a handout.”

How StreetWise Works

All vendors go through an orientation focusing on their rights and responsibilities as a StreetWise Magazine Vendor. Authorized vendors have badges with their name, picture and current year.

Vendors purchase the magazine for $1.15 and sell it for $3 plus tips. The vendor keeps all of their earnings.