Tour Fee was $95 What you see below is the web page as it appeared before the tour date.
It will link you to several great photo summaries.
- Starting Off -
The tour starts with registration from 9:00 -9:30 at our first stop, the Chicago Honey Co-op.
Bring your coffee or tea as we gather up for a full day of exploration into the possibilities of permaculture design in a highly urban environment.... CHICAGO.
Meet Here by 9:15 The Chicago Honey Co-op 3740 W. Fillmore See Map
A Few Details
There will be at least 4 different stops during this tour and we will be hosting it, rain or shine...! There is no rain date.
What to Expect Upon Registration
When you register on-line you receive an automated receipt, however, after the 10th you will receive a welcome email with the full itinerary, including times, addresses and a simple map.
If you register after the 10th or simply arrive at the first stop without pre-registering, you are most certainly welcome and will receive all the necessary details and map that morning.
There will not be a lot of walking at any one stop (get your exercise early). You can bring your grandmother on this tour, and if she is interested in inspiring possibilities for a sustainable future, she should love it.
There is no bus service for the tour. Each individual is responsible to arrange their own transportation. Our travels will keep us mostly in the city with our last stop being at 168 Elm Ave. in Elmhurst. The total estimated miles of travel from start to finish is 30.
Ride Share
If you are looking for a ride, or would be wiling to take on one or more riders head over to our new blog site and share your information. This blog is simply a free service that I hope will assist you in finding and connecting with each other. We are not assuming any responsibility for finding you a ride. Hopefully, this blog will help you.
Bag Lunch & Drinks
Pack your own lunch and whatever you will need to drink. We have a nice place out doors to stop for a quick picnic as we move about the city.
What to Bring
Be sure to check the weather for the day. Bring raincoats and umbrellas if it looks rainy - sunscreen and wide brimmed hats if sunny and warm. Otherwise, bring a notebook (if you wish) and a camera is certainly a good idea if you like to remember things with photos.
Tours End
The tour officially ends following the tour at our final stop in Elmhurst. You are of course welcome to excuse yourself from the tour at any time you wish.
- Our Planned Stops -
Stop 1
The Chicago Honey Co-op
A small group of local residents have turned an abandoned industrial lot into a growing community project.
Besides the 100 beehives that produce gallons of honey every year, the attached gardening project is supporting city residents in not only growing much of their own food, but for some, they are learning how to garden for the first time.
Michael Thompson (in top picture) is one of the founders and a leading inspiration of this community undertaking. He will share the whole story of the co-ops inception, challenges and successes as he walks us around the property.
Stop 2
Chicago Center for
Green Technology (CCGT)
The CCGT has become a national model for sustainable design and technology. It is the first rehabilitated municipal building in the nation to receive the LEED™ Platinum rating by the US Green Building Council.
Among other things, this building project displays many permaculture oriented features such as the use of many recycled materials, photo voltaic electricity, geothermal heating and cooling, a green roof, several innovative water catchment features, and more.
These words that I pulled from their websites will give you a good feel I think for who these folks are:
"We are working together to examine every little bit of our way of life and question it- from the cars we try not to drive, to the pesticides we don't want to use, helping each other to figure out a healthier way to live."
"But, if you sit by the river at sunset and see the Great Blue Heron and the beavers.. sometimes turtles.. and canoes... well, that is good for your soul."
Last Stop
168 Elm Ave., Elmhurst
Marcus de la Fleur is an ecological-landscape designer and rents the street level of a two-story house in Elmhurst. It sits on two-tenths of an acre plot.
Marcus was keen on demonstrating sustainable storm water and integrated landscape treatments at the residential scale. The home owner, Ben Rush, was intrigued.
Together, they transformed a very traditional suburban lot into an integrated design of 1) a green roof, 2) rain barrels, 3) porous pavement,
4) two rain gardens, 5) gravel grass, 6) a cistern, and 7) a bio-swale.
These combined features have reduced water run-off from the property by an estimated 95%. Also, where once there was just lawn, now there is a bounty of wild flowers, wildlife, and food. Take the time to review the website that Marcus created. It explains each feature, complete with pictures. I especially like this link to some time-laps photography Marcus did on the installation of the green roof. Click Here.
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