Recent heat, drought, and air quality issues in the Chicago area underscored the vital importance of this year’s GreenTown: Climate and Equity conference. Held on June 22nd at Triton College, the conference brought together sustainability advocates from communities throughout Chicagoland and beyond. Among the topics of the day were renewable energy, active transportation, and decarbonization. […]
Heineman Middle School’s Roadmap to Zero
What do you do when you want to reduce lunchroom waste at your school, but your waste hauler can’t provide composting service? You make a roadmap! Seven Generations Ahead’s (SGA) Zero Waste Schools (ZWS) program is excited to pursue a new project that guides schools through the process of waste reduction at the source – […]
Carl Von Linné Elementary School is Thri
Seven Generations Ahead’s Zero Waste Schools (ZWS) program is celebrating another successful launch at a local school. The ZWS team oversaw what was actually a relaunch of the zero waste program at Carl Von Linné Elementary School, a Chicago Public School (CPS) with 648 students. Von Linné has been a part of the program since […]
Lincoln Park High School Launches Zero W...
On March 14, 2023 Lincoln Park High School (LPHS) in Chicago Public Schools, a school of 2,060 students, officially launched its zero waste program in the lunchroom and kitchen. According to Gary Cuneen, Seven Generations Ahead’s (SGA) Founder and Executive Director, “This launch is part of SGA’s work to support CPS in establishing food scrap […]
Going Green at School with Go Green Illi...
The latest Go Green Illinois meeting was on all things green schools, and SGA’s Becky Brodsky was there to talk zero waste schools with dozens of attendees from 25 communities around Illinois, as well as a fantastic lineup of other speakers. Presenters covered a wide variety of ways schools can become more sustainable, from waste […]
SGA and LaSalle Language Academy feature...
SGA is proud to be featured for our work with LaSalle Language Academy in U.S. PIRG’s recently released report, The Fight Against Food Waste: What We Can Learn from 10 Leaders Tackling Food Waste Along the Supply Chain. The report highlights the efforts of LaSalle, a Chicago Public School (CPS), to reduce food waste, which […]
D103 launches composting district-wide!
“We’re finally doing this!” was a sentiment shared by students and staff at all three schools in Lincolnshire-Prairie View School District 103 last month when the district launched commercial composting and recycling in their kitchens and lunchrooms. With logistical and educational support from SGA’s Zero Waste Schools team, a zero waste lunchroom program started […]
Baby steps: Changing the way we live and...
by Jennifer Nelson In my last newsletter article, A climate in crisis and how our food choices make a difference, I closed with “We all need to do more faster…and hold each other accountable for making these changes happen.” While change is needed, and needed now, knowing where to start can be hard, and actually […]
A Climate in Crisis and How Our Food Mak...
By Jennifer Nelson In December 2021 Seven Generations Ahead shared an article What is the connection between food and the climate crisis? We outlined climate impacts of food waste and highlighted actions we can all take at home, at work, and in our communities. So where do we stand today in our work to reduce […]
Food Waste Warriors in Huntley 158
“I wish we could do this food separating everyday – it was easy,” remarked a student as they stood in front of a long row of 5-gallon buckets filled to the brim with uneaten food from lunch. While the students’ can-do spirit made the task look easy, they were hard at work collecting valuable data […]