Environmental Commission

Regular Meeting

Arlington Heights, IL · May 29, 2025

Minutes

Village of Arlington Heights Environmental Commission Minutes from May 29, 2025 I. Call to Order Chair Jordan called the meeting to order at 7:08 p.m. II. Roll Call Present Not Present Chair Jordan Commissioner Sawyer Commissioner Porwit Commissioner Jaeschke Commissioner Flores Commissioner Eisenhardt Commissioner Skrudland Also Present Youth Commissioner Gil-Lara Jeff Bohner, Staff Liaison II. Approval of Minutes Commissioner Skrudland moved to approve the minutes of the April 22, 2025, Environmental Commission meeting. Commissioner Eisenhardt seconded the Motion. The Motion passed unanimously. III. Reports IV. Old Business A. Commission Goals Chair Jordan asked for updates on the Commission projects previously discussed. A. Education on how to recycle, using QR code (OSCAR) on bins- Commissioner Eisenhardt said she had contacted a local church regarding the recycling drop-off system (RESIN) and was waiting for a call back. She was also contacting schools and proposed a listing of green programs and organizations in the area to increase collaboration of efforts. B. Tracking metrics to be published on VAH website- Commissioner Porwit reported he and Chair Jordan met with Kailey Schwarzhoff, the Village’s Communication Specialist, and learned the requirements for publishing items on the Village website. He had spoken to the Sustainability Coordinator in Naperville for ideas on which metrics to publish and agreed to forward a list of possible metrics to the liaison for research. C. Benchmark Single-Use plastics- Commissioner Porwit had updated the benchmarking the Commission had completed in 2023 and had also begun contacting neighboring communities to see which had a program to reduce single use plastics. D. Livestream event Commissioner Flores said the event was going to take place on Thursday, September 18th with the working title “Greener Living in Arlington Heights”. He had the Hendricks Room reserved at the library so attendance could be in the livestream or at the event itself. Chair Jordan suggested a give-away or raffle could increase attendance and Commissioner Eisenhardt proposed allowing community groups to have informational table at the event. E. Public Event Education- Commissioner Porwit had several possible days for the Commissioners to work as greeters at the farmers market. After discussion, Commissioners Jordan, Skrudland and Porwit agreed to work the early shift on September 6th and Commissioners Eisenhardt and Porwit agreed on the early shift on August 23rd. F. Reduce Paper to Landfill- Commissioner Jaeschke was not present, so no update was available. G. Increase participation in Curbside Composting- Commissioner Skrudland exhibited flyers she had created with information on the Village food scrap recycling option. The Commissioners were going to be present at the farmers market on July 12 and give out information on composting programs. Also at that event, she and Chair Jordan were going to work the kid’s table with examples of food scrap carts and finished compost. VI. New Business VII. Other Business The Commissioners agreed to meet again on June 17. VIII. Adjournment With no further business to discuss a motion was made by Commissioner Flores to adjourn. Commissioner Porwit seconded the Motion. The Motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 8:15 p.m.

Agenda

Packet

AGENDA Environmental Commission Community Room Arlington Heights Village Hall, 33 S. Arlington Heights Rd., AH 60005 May 29, 2025 7:00 PM I. CALL TO ORDER II. ROLL CALL OF MEMBERS III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. April 22, 2025 Minutes IV. REPORTS A. Education on how to recycle B. Tracking metrics to be published on VAH website C. Benchmark Single-Use plastics (include review of proposed state regulation) D. Livestream event w/ theme with interviews with: Groot, Local Farmers, local govt official, add AH- specific info E. Frontier Days & Farmer's Market education F. Reduce Paper to Landfill G. Increase participation in Curbside Composting V. OLD BUSINESS VI. NEW BUSINESS VII. OTHER BUSINESS VIII. PUBLIC COMMENT Anyone wishing to speak on a subject not on the Agenda may speak at this time. Please limit your comments to three minutes. IX. ADJOURNMENT Persons with disabilities requiring auxiliary aids or services, such as an American Sign Language interpreter or written materials in accessible formats, should contact the Health & Human Services Department, at 33 S. Arlington Heights Road, Arlington Heights, IL 60005, healthmail@vah.com or 847/368-5760. Page 1 of 3 Village of Arlington Heights Environmental Commission Minutes from April 22, 2025 I. Call to Order Chair Jordan called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m. II. Roll Call Present Not Present Chair Jordan Youth Commissioner Gil-Lara Commissioner Eisenhardt Commissioner Skrudland Also Present Commissioner Flores Jeff Bohner, Staff Liaison Commissioner Jaeschke Commissioner Porwit Commissioner Sawyer II. Approval of Minutes Commissioner Eisenhardt moved to approve the minutes of the March 18, 2025, Environmental Commission meeting. Commissioner Sawyer seconded the Motion. The Motion passed unanimously. III. Reports Old Business A. Commission Goals Chair Jordan reminded the Commissioners of the goals discussed at the previous meeting and asked for updates or possible timelines. A. Education on how to recycle, using QR code (OSCAR) on bins- Commissioner Eisenhardt said the OSCAR system for helping the public sort recycling may not be possible in the Village yet. Instead, she had found a can recycling system called RESIN, that tracked recycling with a QR code and provided donations to charities based on use at their drop off site. The Commissioners thought that a church or other institutional parking lot would be a good spot for such a drop off container. B. Tracking metrics to be published on VAH website- Commissioner Porwit shared a timeline he had developed for the metrics to be published. After deciding which metrics to track, he hoped to have a draft ready for the Commission in August and the tracking on the website by December. C. Benchmark Single-Use plastics- Commissioner Porwit also had a timeline for this goal. The plan was to research possible programs to reduce plastic use and a draft proposal for review in August with a presentation to the Village Board in the fall. He would be speaking with other communities to develop the proposal. Page 2 of 3 D. Livestream event-Phil, Damian Commissioner Flores said he hoped to have a Village Trustee, the farmers market manager and a representative from Groot for the livestream event. He hoped to have the event by the 3rd quarter of this year. One of the topics for discussion would be a plastic- free week where residents could go without or reduce single- use plastic use. Commissioner Flores hoped to have a date by summer to promote on the livestream. Chair Jordan said plastic-free week promotion would need approval from the Mayor. E. Public Event Education- Commissioner Porwit had spoken to the manager of the farmers market regarding handing out educational materials. The information table won’t be at the market this year, but the Commission was offered to act as greeters or have an activity at the kids table. Commissioners agreed that they should alternate weeks at the market and promote their goal items. F. Reduce Paper to Landfill- Commissioner Jaeschke circulated a proposal for having paper drop off locations to increase quality and quantity of paper recycling He also said that better education was needed so residents know how to dispose of hard to recycle items and hazardous waste, along with more frequent special collection events. G. Increase participation in Curbside Composting- Chair Jordan mentioned using the social media livestream event to promote curbside and backyard composting. She mentioned that the Village and Commission would need to create their own materials because Groot didn’t have any. Commissioner Skrudland said educational materials could also be distributed during parades. There was a discussion about QR code applying stickers to the Groot toter carts so residents could understand which cart to put items in during source separation at home The Chair asked everyone to come back to the next meeting with this list of ideas narrowed down to a few actions, reminding the Commissioners that the sustainability metrics and reducing single-use plastics had already been reviewed positively by the Mayor. She also requested a possible timeline for the educational tables at the farmers market, a parade appearance and livestream event. VI. New Business VII. Other Business Commissioner Flores said that name badges for Commission members were being created. All members present agreed they wanted a badge. The liaison reminded the group of the document destruction and textile recycling event on April 26. VIII. Adjournment With no further business to discuss a motion was made by Commissioner Sawyer to adjourn. Commissioner Skrudland seconded the Motion. The Motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 8:15 p.m. Page 3 of 3