Greener Grove works to create a more sustainable Downers Grove

In only a few years what began as a group of like-minded neighbors has grown into an impactful nonprofit, Greener Grove, aimed at creating a more sustainable Downers Grove.

In 2022, a local group led by Louise Kelly and Carol Richart wrote a petition asking the Downers Grove Village Council to join the Greenest Region Compact and bring back the dormant Environment Concerns Commission.

The group also campaigned for Downers Grove to adopt a long-range Environmental Sustainability Plan, something that only became a reality in April.

After achieving those initial goals, the group now is ready to tackle new challenges to continue promoting sustainability in the community.

“This has been a really exciting moment of change,” said Michelle Libby, who was introduced to the group at the Downers Grove Farmers Market and now serves as its head of programming.

Greener Grove is looking ahead to providing an assortment of programs and events on the fourth Tuesday of each month, aimed at helping residents learn how to make an environmental impact on a local level.

The group’s May meeting was focused on birding. A bird walk at Lyman Woods followed a few days later.

In June, Greener Grove’s monthly meeting will feature a panel on sustainable food systems and how “your individual food choices [and] what and how you eat can have a big impact,” Libby said.

The event will include speakers from the Prairie Food Co-Op, a community-based grocery store opening in Lombard in July; Naperville’s McDonald Farm; the Conservation Foundation’s Green Earth Harvest farming operation; and a chef who will discuss how to reduce food waste at home.

In July, the monthly program will feature a speaker from the Conservation Foundation who will discuss conservation at home and how homeowners can become certified for creating an environmentally friendly landscape.

“It is a great way to learn about organic gardening, native plants and techniques that could be used on lawns,” Libby said.

She said shifts in environmentally friendly practices don’t have to happen at once.

Homeowners should not think “they have to rip out their lawn in one day,” she said.

“It is incremental practices such as reducing pesticides or herbicides first and maybe transitioning a 3-foot-by-3-foot square for a composite bin or a flower bed,” Libby said. “I think that is what Greener Grove is wonderful for because it meets people where they are and tries to invite them in.”

The focus remains on the “different ways we can take action in our own everyday lives to drive sustainability at home and at work,” she said.

In August, the organization’s monthly program will focus on the group’s younger members, the newly formed Microgreens, said Greener Grove volunteer Michelle Weed, mother of Clara, 8, and Teddy, 11.

Weed’s daughter wanted to get involved in issues relating to protecting the environment and mentioned to her mom that she wished there “was a kids’ Greener Grove.”

So earlier this year, Weed and her daughter invited other like-minded youths to the group’s initial meeting.

At the meeting, children broke up into small groups and brainstormed activities and topics and planned future events to bring others into the group.

“We want the community to be aware that there is an opportunity for kids to have a voice,” Weed said. “Kids have all different interests and reasons for caring about this, but they can come together and have a community around it.”

“Change is generational. If we can start talking to kids now about issues such as normalizing composting or bringing bags to a grocery store, it will just become normal life for them,” she said.

Greener Grove also is piloting a community coaching program, Libby said.

“We are really trying to reduce the barriers to entry for people to start to make more sustainable choices,” she said.

Greener Grove’s first community coaching program will focus on composting. Future topics will include sustainable lawn care and solar panels, Libby said.

Looking toward the fall, Greener Grove will host a recycling event Oct. 4 at the Belmont Train Station parking lot.

“We will have a number of vendors who will accept hard to recycle items,” Libby said.