"The phrase “land conservation” has an overwhelming sense to it - something that sounds too big for one person to make a difference. However, through volunteering with the Sugar Creek Stewards program and the leadership of Steward Coordinator, Nate Bair, I’ve learned that land conservation can be attacked iteratively, gradually…. bit by bit every month.
Our primary focus has been to remove invasive species from the Ewing and Fairview Parks in order to give native plants a chance to break through the seed bank and thrive. Over the last two years since I started volunteering, it has been amazing to see the results. Looking back, I couldn’t have imagined the progress I now see today.
My favorite moment was the time Nate called all of us over to an area of Fair View Park to observe something rewarding.
A new oak sapling had broken through an area where we had cleared invasive honeysuckle months before.
It was fascinating and motivating. It was a moment that convinced me to keep going. To keep coming each month when possible. To do more. Invest my sweat equity.
I know that our work is making a difference. We are healing the land and helping it welcome back what has been waiting for a chance to break through - native trees and plants. Our work is ensuring that birds can be nourished by the best foods. That our waterways will not be clouded unnecessarily. And that one day our children will have large native areas to appreciate. Everything we put out there goes downwind. Volunteering for the EAC makes you part of the solution, bit by bit and step by step."
Thank you Donald for your sweat equity and your hopeful message! This is the outlook that keeps all of us going. 🙂
On Wednesday, February 19th, 2025, from 10 AM to 11:30 AM, the City of Bloomington will host an in-person information session about the City’s Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction and Healthy Homes Program (LBPHR/HH) at Mid Central Community Action (MCCA) at 1301 West Washington Street, Bloomington, IL 61701. Rehabilitation activities in this program may include work on or replacement of windows, doors, floorboards, and other items. Residents have limited time to apply for this program. Lead from paint, chips, and dust can pose serious health hazards - especially for young children under the age of six. At this age, children’s brains and nervous systems are more sensitive to the damaging effects of lead. If children are exposed to lead, it can cause nervous system and kidney damage, learning disabilities, speech and behavior problems, hearing damage, and decreased bone growth. Adults and pregnant women can also face serious negative health consequences from lead-based paint hazards.
The City’s LBPHR/HH program removes lead-based paint hazards in buildings with no more than four rental units within the 61701 zip code. Owner-occupied single-family units within this zip code are also eligible for the program. Tenants and owner occupied applicants must income qualify for the program for their household size. Other eligibility requirements apply. If a housing rehabilitation project is approved, rental owners must agree to an affordability period to ensure that units served remain affordable for community members.
Registration for the in-person information session is appreciated by MCCA staff. Please contact Michelle Davis at 309-834-9272. We hope you can join us in-person to learn more about this program and how it can help address health hazards in our community.
For additional information regarding the grant program please contact Lori Schambureck at lschambureck@cityblm.org or call 309-660-5211 or click on the QR code.
Noticing the Birds? Thank the Trees!
Winter has set in in earnest this year, and we're all trying to carry on despite the cold. As I attempt to notice the little positive things around me, my very interested indoor cats have pulled my attention to a flurry of activity outside our window: birds! Lured by a bird feeder on the patio, our snow covered stoop is alive with Dark-eyed Juncos, nuthatches, chickadees, sparrows, and the occasional cardinal. Many of our resident birds don’t migrate in winter, instead they rely on the abundance of resources trees provide and soldier through the cold months, just like us!
What do birds eat in the winter?
Songbirds eat mostly insects and spiders while they are abundant in spring and summer [1]. During fall and winter their diets shift to fruits and seeds to survive, sourced mostly from native trees. Blue jays, titmice, and finches especially enjoy eating acorns and pine nuts left by oak and pine trees [2]. Trees like hawthorn, American cranberrybush, and American holly fruit late in the year, providing nutrient rich berries [3].
How do they stay warm?
Weighing less than an ounce, little birds like chickadees still manage to maintain an internal temperature of 100 degrees, despite below freezing temperatures [2]. Their little bodies achieve this with multiple strategies:
Insulation: Winter birds have a layer of super warm downy feathers that trap warm air pockets around their bodies [2]. This works just like our fancy winter coats!
Frequent Eating: Regulating temperature burns a lot of calories, and fat reserves help birds survive the cold [2]. This means that birds have to eat as many seeds, nuts, and berries available to them during winter days - which explains the popularity of my bird feeder!
Taking Shelter at Night: Blue Jays and Cardinals tuck themselves into dense evergreen trees, small birds like finches find spots to huddle together in trees or a hollow in the snow, and others prefer a tree cavity that shields them from the wind [2].
In my research I am reminded that local birds are part of our fragile native ecosystem, relying on species of plants and insects they have co-evolved with. These cycles are occurring even in the dark winter days, when we really have to pay attention to find signs of life. So, while my cats and I are enjoying our winged visitors, I’ll also be thanking the trees!
Road salt isn’t great for our aquatic ecosystems, pets, infrastructure, and cars. So don’t throw down lots of salt the minute the weather man says snow and ice is on the way. Once snow has occurred, traditional ice picks and shoveling are the best method as they use no fossil fuels and have no downstream impacts! If you are mostly worried about traction, try switching to sand, but make sure to spread in moderation as sand still gets into our waterways and is known to clog storm drains when in excess. You can also try switching to a minimally toxic product like a urea-based product or a carbonite or carbonyl-based product.
If you are still wanting to use salt, make sure to use it sparingly! The average driveway only needs about a 12-ounce coffee mug of salt for snow and ice to melt. Remember that in temperatures below 15°F, road salt does not work. Instead, switch to a deicer formulated for colder temperatures [1]. Want something to put on before the snow and ice come? Make brine! Using brine helps to put less salt in our environment (Brine is actually only 23% salt) and can be added before it even snows [1]. All you need to make brine is road salt, a measuring cup, hot water, and something to spread the brine with like a pump sprayer. You can make brine with the recipe below!
Heat up about 1-2 gallons of water.
Measure out 3½ cups of salt in a bucket and pour the hot water over the salt.
Once the water is covering the salt, mix vigorously until dissolved.
Let cool and pour brine into a pump sprayer using a strainer if you notice salt clumps.
Use your brine 24-48 hours before it snows as long as rain is not forecasted before the snow.
To apply your brine, spray lines back and forth across the pavement area. Just like with road salt, you do not need to cover the entire pavement. If you notice that there is salt setting in your sprayer, shake it.
Come spring, any leftover brine can be stored in a milk jug for next winter [1].
Want to learn more about what to do in winter weather? Visit mcleanwater.org.
Collectively, we throw away a lot of waste every day. In fact, the state of Illinois throws out almost 19 million tons of waste every single year, which is 23% higher than the national average (1). The majority of waste in Illinois get sent to landfills; waste in McLean County gets sent to the Livingston County landfill. This is due to the closure of the McLean County landfill in 2018 after it reached capacity and was closed. How much waste Illinois makes and where it gets taken is becoming an increasingly more important question as more and more landfills are reaching capacity. As a region, East Central Illinois landfills have the most lifetime expectancy in Illinois of about 50 years. Other Illinois regions are not as lucky (2).
Figure 1: Landfill Capacity in the East Central Illinois Region as of 2023 (2)
As conversations about landfill capacity progress, many begin to wonder why waste isn’t disposed of in a different way. Incineration is seen by some as a potential solution because waste can be heated to very high temperature in controlled settings, and turned into energy (3). However, the U.S. used to rely almost exclusively on incinerating waste before switching over to landfills. Incineration became less popular as science understood the environmental impact of burning our trash.
The captured energy from burning waste used to be one of the biggest reasons why incineration was favored, but this small amount of extra energy comes with massive costs as incinerators can lead to the release of harmful chemicals like nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxides, particulate matter, lead, mercury, dioxins, and furans which worsen air quality (3). Incinerators can also cost communities a great deal, in terms of both money and health. As incinerator plants age their efficiency decreases, requiring more monetary investments. The decreased efficiency also means more environmental pollutants can escape into our air, worsening human and environmental health. Recent reports have shown that incinerators emit more greenhouse gases per unit of power than power plants using fossil fuels (3).
Human health is impacted by incineration; many of the pollutants released by incinerators are associated with increased cancer risk, respiratory illnesses, cardiac disease, reproductive issues, developmental changes, and neurological problems (3). Because incinerators were predominantly placed in low-income communities and/or communities of color, these health issues become evidence for environmental injustices (3). In 2019, of the 72 incinerators still operating in the U.S., 80% were placed in a community where more than 25% of the residents were low income, people of color, or both, inequitably placing health and environmental harm upon these communities (3). Because of this, much of the country, including Illinois and McLean County, have begun moving away from incineration, opting for landfills instead.
Illinois has a long and complicated history with incinerators, and it was not until 2013 that the very last incinerator plant closed (1). The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) has since emphasized that local governments do their best to facilitate landfills over burning waste. The IEPA outlines key principles like providing low-cost waste collection, developing education programs, and utilizing outreach programs to promote landfills over burning (4). Many counties, including McLean, have taken these suggestions to heart and chosen to send collected municipal waste to landfills instead of incinerators, in the hopes of creating and maintaining a healthy environment for everyone.
While incineration is not the solution to the landfill capacity problem, more landfills is also not the answer. Instead, communities need to be focusing on reducing their waste, reusing what they have, recycling, and composting. In 2014, four years before the McLean County Landfill closed, an audit was done to understand what type of waste was disposed of in McLean County. You may (or may not) be surprised to know that most of the waste disposed of in our community did not need to end up in the landfill. Instead, it could have been recycled, composted, or reused.
As the solid waste agency for McLean County the Ecology Action Center has been working hard to deal with waste in an environmentally friendly way. If you want to read up on what we have been working on, read the Five Year Municipal Waste Management Plan Update completed in 2024.
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