Environmental Commission

Regular Meeting

Arlington Heights, IL · June 17, 2025

Minutes

Village of Arlington Heights Environmental Commission Minutes from June 17, 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 Commissioner Sawyer Commissioner Porwit Commissioner Flores Commissioner Jaeschke Youth Commissioner Gil-Lara Commissioner Eisenhardt Commissioner Skrudland Also Present Jeff Bohner, Staff Liaison II. Approval of Minutes Commissioner Skrudland moved to approve the minutes of the May 29, 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- Commissioner Eisenhardt said she a Village church was interested in having a had recycling drop-off system (RESIN) on their property and she was putting the two parties in touch. She was also interested in having local re-use and recycle organizations at local events, like having tables at the livestream, for items like toys, paint, batteries and hazardous wastes to educate residents on how to properly discard or recycle these items. Chair Jordan responded that the farmers market would be a good place for a re- use organization to market their services. There was a discussion of which items could be swapped which included school supplies, shoes, sports equipment and books. B. Tracking metrics to be published on VAH website- Commissioner Porwit reported was in the process of determining which metrics to post on the Village website. The Village currently has data for 9 of the metrics. He will then meet with the web page designer to find a graphic. C. Benchmark Single-Use plastics- Commissioner Porwit had spoken with representatives of the 3 local communities with single-use plastic reduction programs. Evanston has a bag ban in stores over a certain square footage, and reported positive feedback but didn’t have data to show that plastic use had decreased. Northbrook had a 10 cent per bag tax on plastic and paper shopping bags they credit with reducing single-use bag use by 12 percent. Mt. Prospect had begun a voluntary plastic reduction campaign for restaurant take-out meals in March. The city had 189 restaurants participating, but didn’t have any data to show the program was successful at this point. There was a bill proposed in the State senate (SB 1872) which would ban single- use plastic bags throughout Illinois. Commissioner Porwit agreed to keep the Commission updated on any progress. D. Livestream event Commissioner Flores wasn’t able to attend the meeting, but had told the Chair that the event was going to have to be postponed because the room at the library was under renovation until November. Commissioner Flores was looking at other possible locations. E. Public Event Education- Commissioner Porwit reminded the Commissioners were scheduled to work as greeters at the farmers market on September 6th on August 23rd. Commissioner Jaeschke agreed to assist on August 23rd. F. Reduce Paper to Landfill- Commissioner Jaeschke said recycling instruction on the Village web site were not clear. He proposed drop off locations for paper as well as items such as batteries and single-use plastics, but such a project would take support from the Village Board. G. Increase participation in Curbside Composting- Commissioner Skrudland and Chair Jordan were going working the kids table at the farmers market on July 12 and to educate on composting programs. They were going to have food scrap carts and finished compost along with examples of food scraps. H. Inviting New Trustees to Future Meeting The Chair said new Village Trustees should be invited to a future meeting. The Commissioners agreed to invite the Board to a July 15 meeting. Commissioner Skrudland said a special agenda should be made for that night. Chair Jordan agreed, saying a recap of the Commission’s goals and projects would be beneficial. Commissioner Porwit said the Trustees should be asked if they have any projects they wanted the Commission to investigate. V. New Business Chair Jordan noted that Mayor Tinaglia had discussed electronic vehicle fires in underground parking garages at a recent meeting and asked if that was a topic the Commission should research. Commissioner Eisenhardt reminded the group that research needed to be approved first. The Chair agreed to ask the Village Manager if the Commission should research the topic. VII. Other Business The Commissioners agreed to meet again on July 15. VIII. Adjournment With no further business to discuss a motion was made by Commissioner Skrudland to adjourn. Commissioner Porwit seconded the Motion. The Motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 8:12 p.m.

Agenda

Packet

AGENDA Environmental Commission Buechner Room Arlington Heights Village Hall, 33 S. Arlington Heights Rd., AH 60005 June 17, 2025 7:00 PM I. CALL TO ORDER II. ROLL CALL OF MEMBERS III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. May 29th, 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 H. Invitations to New Village Board Members to Engage with Commission 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 & Page 1 of 4 Human Services Department, at 33 S. Arlington Heights Road, Arlington Heights, IL 60005, healthmail@vah.com or 847/368-5760. Page 2 of 4 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 Page 3 of 4 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. Page 4 of 4