Environmental Commission

AGENDA Environmental Commission Buechner Room Arlington Heights Village Hall, 33 S. Arlington Heights Rd., AH 60005 July 15, 2025 7:00 PM I. CALL TO ORDER II. ROLL CALL OF MEMBERS III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. June 17th, 2025 Minutes IV. REPORTS A. Education on how to recycle B. Tracking metrics to be published on VAH website C. Benchmark Single-Use plastics (includes review of proposed state regulations) D. Livestream event w/ theme with interviews with: Groot, Local Farmers, local govt officials, 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 5 Human Services Department, at 33 S. Arlington Heights Road, Arlington Heights, IL 60005, healthmail@vah.com or 847/368-5760. Page 2 of 5  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 a Village church was interested in having a recycling drop-off system (RESIN) on their property and she was putting the parties in touch. She was also interested in having local re-use and recycle organizations at local events, such as having tables at the livestream, to help educate residents on how to properly dispose of or recycle items like toys, paint, batteries and hazardous waste. 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 meet with the web page designer to select a graphic for displaying the information. Page 3 of 5  C. Benchmark Single-Use plastics- Commissioner Porwit had spoken with representatives from three local communities with single-use plastic reduction programs. Evanston has a bag ban in stores over a certain square footage, and received 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 that are 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 will be working the kids table at the farmers market on July 12 and to educate on composting programs. They plan to bring 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 added that the Trustees should be asked if there are any projects they would like the Commission to explore. 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 Page 4 of 5  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. Page 5 of 5