Community Pulse: Grundy County Land Use hosts outdoor events in fall

As fall is coming our way and we will begin clearing out our gardens and houses, looking for outside events, and making sure that our children have everything they need for the school year. Busy time and our department would like to provide some fall events that may help you and activities that you may enjoy with your family.

September 15, 2024: Thank You, Grundy County Residents Day

Grundy County residents have been the backbone of all our events as you all have all been generous in donating used children’s books and toys for our annual events. This September 15th will be our first Thank You Grundy County Day and to celebrate will be providing you with a small gift bag with post recycled content gifts. Please come to our office to pick up your gift bag on from 8 a.m. to 4:30p.m. Monday, Sept. 16th at the Grundy Administration Building at 1320 Union Street, Morris.

October 19, 2024: Electronic Waste Recycling and Shredding Event

8 a.m. to noon, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, at the Grundy County Administration Building at 1320 Union St., Morris. TVs will be charged as follows:

TVs standard sizes- $25.00

Projection TV - $50.00

We will have a shredding truck on premise and ask that all metals/plastics be removed and that you try to keep the amount to two paper ream sized boxes so all may participate.

October 21, 2024, Reusable Halloween bags to Preschools/Daycare Centers and Libraries

Preschools and our library partners in Grundy County will be receiving small reusable Halloween bags for the smaller patrons. These bags are decorated in a friendly manner and will hold their goodies with looped handles. Once Halloween is over, these bags may easily be reused for toys, or other treasures that the children may think. The idea is that these bags may be reused and therefore, resources are preserved along with the energy to produce them.

Goose Lake Prairie – 26th Annual Prairie Day September 21, 2024

Goose Lake Prairie in Morris will be having its 26th Annual Prairie Day celebration from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 21 at 5010 North Jugtown Road. This event will have many things that all family members will enjoy and appreciate.

The prairie holds 2,537 acres of natural prairie which was restored and maintained as the largest natural prairie in Illinois. During this fall period, take your family or your furry family and take one of the educational walking trail and check for wildlife sightings of turtles, herons, songbirds, fox, and deer. The path includes educational signs that help the hiker appreciate what is being viewed, and benches where you may sit and just listen to the many songbirds that make the prairie their home.

Whether going on an adventure hike and learning more about this beautiful prairie or volunteering you may visit the Prairie Partner website at gooselakeprairie.org for more information.

Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie:

The Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie is well known for the prairie and the herd of bison that may be viewed from the trails and on a remote camera.

It is also a place whereas a family, you will have the ability to learn as you walk on a self-guided trail system (22 miles), view and hear wildlife, and enjoy the bison family if you are lucky. There are many areas to have picnics and enjoy the natural beauty and the history that this wonderful treasure has to office.

Midewin is very diverse in what you may see as it provides twenty-two miles of trail systems that will allow for biking, hiking, or even horse back riding. To learn more, you may visit their website at https://www.fs.usda.gov/midewin.

Green Thinking for School

Going back to school is a great time to think about the objectives of our environmental office to reduce, and reuse.

· If needed, consider green purchasing for school supplies such as reusable/washable lunch bags, containers for food, and reusable water bottles.

· Buy waste free for lunches, utensils, plastic containers, cloth napkins, and reusable ice packs.

· Check through existing clothing and shoes to make sure that the new clothing is truly needed. If clothes are outgrown, donate those. Consider yard sales and secondhand stores for clothing supplies.

· Purchase green products or post-consumer content products.

· Carpool students to school or consider safe walking/biking paths for students.

· Get involved in school policy on recycling not only of paper products but of composting and help in student involvement.

· Don’t over buy products for school. Only what is needed.

· Ask your children to participate in the brainstorming of “greening” up going to school.

Outside Preparations:

The vegetable gardens as they start to fade and the leaves coming down give us the opportunity to think about the best way to respect the earth by composting. Composting is something that you can do all year long and spring and fall are times when we have an abundance of browns and greens to work with. Compositing is a great job to put those old plants into something that will be a great addition to the soil in the Spring 2025.

All materials gathered now, and through the winter months, will compost such that in spring there will be an abundance of composting for you to use. Composting is simple and convenient, not taking up much space and providing such benefit.

For more information on composting, see our Green Guide at: https://www.grundycountyil.gov/services/land_use/index.php.

Please feel free to contact my office if you should have any questions. I may be reached at either (815) 941-3229 or hmiller@grundyco.org.

Thank you, Grundy County, for your part in helping our Earth!