Healthy Foods, Home Improvement Grants, Rain Barrels are Topics of Yorkville Go Green Environmental Fair workshops

The following is a press release from the Yorkville Area Chamber of Commerce.

Nathan Thompson thinks its important to be responsible ecologically, but he also thinks people often forget to focus on the internal environment of their bodies.

Thompson, who owns Thompson Chiropractic, 728 E. Verterans Parkway in Yorkville, will provide people with information on how they can avoid toxicity in their foods in one of three workshops scheduled for this year’s Go Green Environmental Fair. The Fair, which is sponsored by the Yorkville Area Chamber of Commerce’s Green Committee, will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, March 2, at Yorkville High School, 797 Game Farm Rd.  This is a free event.

Other presenters at the Fair include Brandon Pettigrew from Energy Impact Illinois who will speak on “Energy Efficiency Improvements for the Home” at noon; and Jim Kleinwachter from The Conservation Foundation, who will offer information on “Rain Gardens and Rain Barrels” at 1 p.m.  Thompson, who will speak at 2 p.m., is focusing on “Eliminating Toxicity.”

“I’m going to talk about toxicity that is specifically in foods, some of the things that are in are meat and dairy products and some of the agricultural food,” Thompson said.  “I am going to talk about genetically modified organisms.  Eighty-five per cent of our corn, most canola oil, soybeans and cotton seed oil have been modified.  I’ll talk about what they atually do to our bodies and how they actually shorten life-spans.”

In the first workshop at the Fair, Brandon Pettigrew will inform people about upfront rebates of up to $1,750 for people who improve the insulation and air sealing in their homes. The grant money is offered through Nicor, Commonwealth Edison and the Department of Energy, and is deducted up front from the cost of the work done.

“Our homes are the one piece of the environment that we can control, so why can make them the best that they can be?” Pettigrew said.  “We seal around insulation and in your attic.  We make sure that there aren’t any areas of penetration from outside and in the basement.  We look at those areas for energy efficiency.”

Pettigrew said if a homeowner hired a contractor to just evaluate their home for energy loss, it could cost as much as $4,800. Through Energy Impact Illinois, it will cost $99, and it could be free if the homeowner agrees to have a “home party.”

“If you can get up to 10 households represented at your home party for us to make a presentation and explain how our program works, we will do the evaluation on your home for free.”

Pettigrew said the homeowner can then decide how much money to spend on improvements.  Homeowners who complete the work will find continued savings in their heating and cooling bills, Pettigrew added.

The third presentation by Jim Kleinwachter will offer imformation on the Conservation Foundation’s Conservations@Home program that encourages and recognizes property owners who protect and/or create yards that are enviornmentally friendly and conserve water. Kleinwachter will discuss ways to reach these goals by planting native vegetation, creating butterfly and rain gardens, and using rain barrels.

In addition to the presentations, this year’s Fair will include some 40 vendor booths, where attendees can learn about and purchase eco-friendly products, and learn about upcoming environmental events and organizations.

For more information on the Go Green Environmental Fair, go to the Yorkville Chamber website at www.yorkvillechamber.org of call the Chamber office at 630-553-6853.