The Planning Department will host the first annual Growing Greener Expo on Monday, April 23, 2012 from 4:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. at the Champaign Public Library. The expo is a kick-off event for public input into the Champaign Growing Greener Plan to become a more environmentally friendly city. It will showcase resources available to help residents ‘go green.’ In addition to City departments, the expo will feature local organizations that work to make the community more eco-friendly. These organizations include the Illinois Green Business Association, Ameren Act On Energy, The IDEA Store, Smart Energy Design Assistance Center, Champaign County Bikes and more. The expo will also include short presentations on topics like energy efficiency (Ameren), weatherization (AmeriCorps), and biking to work (Champaign County Bikes). To encourage attendance, registrants will be eligible to win a rain barrel, compost from the Landscape Recycling Center and other prizes. All registrants will receive a City-branded reusable shopping bag with materials on the planning effort.
The Growing Greener Expo was conceptualized as an alternative to traditional public input meetings, which often have low attendance. Staff will have a booth with information from the sustainability assessment and greenhouse gas emissions inventory. Easy input gathering exercises will be available at the expo and registrants will receive e-mail following the event encouraging them to stay involved, take an online survey or share their input via e-mail.
The Champaign Growing Greener Plan is funded by an Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant. The first phase of the project focused on creating a sustainability assessment to determine existing conditions. The planning process is now in the public outreach phase and will be completed this fall.
Questions? Please contact Lacey Rains Lowe, 403-8800, [email protected].