The City That Works has so far earned its moniker in the opening rounds of Mayor Emanuel's managed competition between city laborers and private contractors for the right to collect Chicago's recycling. more ›

Ruth Werstler started New Life for Old Bags as a way to engage nursing home residents and stumbled onto an unlikely recycling plan. more ›

Nowadays people are replacing computers almost as often as they change their shirts. Not quite at that rate, but as technology evolves and the machines are getting smarter, faster, and more necessary to our everyday routines, consumers are purchasing new systems and upgrading equipment at increasing rates. So if you are getting a shiny, new PC with a lightning-speed processor, what do you do with your old desktop besides let it collect dust? more ›

With the city trying to climb its way out of a $650 million budget hole next year, one union is suggesting a new fee on recycling to help knock out at least a little chunk of that debt. Laborers Union Local 1001 is proposing that all 600,000 households with garbage pick-up pay a $10 monthly recycling fee. Doing the math results in an influx of $72 million for the city and the labor is pitching the idea to aldermen. The union's business manager Lou Phillips told the Sun-Times: more ›

When he's not lashing out at the same state reps he's also asking for money, Mayor Daley is apparently thinking of other city assets he can sell off a la the parking meters so as to bring in a little cash to fill that ginormous budget gap. And now there's a laundry list of things under consideration including the city's recycling program and some lakefront festivals like the annual Taste of Chicago. According to a report in the Trib's Clout City blog, other services Daley is also considering selling off include vehicle maintenance and repair and animal care and control. Over the summer, rumblings of reviving the plan to privatize Midway Airport have also gotten notice. The city plans on reporting to the FAA by November about any further thoughts on that project. more ›

• A flight attendant with a pilot's license helped land an American Airlines plane at O'Hare this afternoon after the pilot fell ill.
• Mayor Daley met with Wal-Mart execs today and came away "encouraged" the city and the super-mega-retailer will hammer out a deal to open multiple stores in the city.
• More on today's Chicago School Board decision to give the CPS power to increase class size.

• Best wishes for a speedy recovery to the city's first lady, Maggie Daley, who had a foot-long titanium rod inserted into her right leg today.
• A look at the city's recycling program and the contracts at its center.
• Strange happenings at the Art Institute this morning.

The Sun-Times is reporting that a deal worth at least $40 million over the next 10 years might be stalled for want of a city Chief Environmental Officer. Steve Holland, founder of Aurora-based Free Green Can tells the paper that he was close to inking a deal with Chicago that would have put 25,000 free trash and recycling bins around the city featuring advertising. Holland says that he was close to a deal with the city after a test at deployment last summer that put 65 bins at the Taste of Chicago. The deal stalled after Chicago's Chief Environmental Officer left the city to take a job in Vancouver. more ›

The Illinois attorney general's office has sued a Chicago recycling company for misusing $88,000 of state grant money administered during former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's term, the Tribune reports. more ›

Yes, it's true: Chicago's blue bag recycling program has been a resounding success. So much so, that we're now the greenest city in the world. And if that wasn't satisfaction enough to get the good people of the City that Works to step up to the plate and sort all those empty long necks out of their coffee grounds and chicken bones, the city is starting a pilot program that awards points to households that recycle on a regular basis. more ›

46th Ward Alderman Helen Shiller, along with 1st Ward Alderman Manny Flores, proposed an ordinance Tuesday afternoon that requires new apartment buildings in the city to set aside space for recycling. New buildings with four or fewer units, which are served by the city's Streets and Sanitation Department, would be mandated to set aside space to sort and store recyclables and townhouses would have to have set aside space, either indoors or screened off outdoors for recycling. Buildings with five or more units, which are served by private waste haulers, would have to set aside space on each floor, or incorporate chutes to handle recyclable waste. "It's very difficult, right now, to actually comply with that ordinance, give that there is minimal space," Flores told the Tribune. more ›

Oh Lord, do we like hearing about things like this: a new company called The Special E functions solely to salvage leftovers from special events like weddings or conferences, often rescuing mighty amounts of food and other event leavings from getting tossed in the trash. The for-profit “green” organization, which services 30 major metropolitan areas, has already been hired for half a dozen Chicago events, including Ameriprise Financial's recent national conference at the Field Museum. more ›

Dear Ask Chicagoist, more ›

We've heard about "going green," but Chicago 2016 is taking recycling to a whole new level. Spokesman Patrick Sandusky stated that the group has been in discussion with London officials about possibly reusing parts of London's stadium, being built for the 2012 Summer Olympics, in the proposed Washington Park stadium. Sandusky claims, "What's important to note is they have a similar concept in terms of re-purposing the stadium, so we're talking to them about how to best use a stadium and how to leave the best legacy." Both stadiums would hold around 80,000 seats for each city's respective games, but the London stadium will be renovated to a 25,000 permanent seat structure, while the Chicago stadium would only hold 5,000 post-Olympic permanent seats under current plans.

Even if recycling London's stadium isn't feasible, Sandusky said the talks are worth it. more ›

Dear Chicagoist, more ›

Cartoon for Chicagoist by Tim Daly more ›

Wow, file under "took us long enough": By 2011, all of Chicago will have curbside blue-cart recycling. [CBS 2] more ›

On Tuesday, Secretary of State Jesse White unveiled a program that allows Illinois motorists to recycle old or obsolete license plates. For a few weeks now, license plate recycling bins have been available outside each of the 136 Secretary of State vehicle facilities, but the recycling program was officially announced on Tuesday, in order to coincide with Earth Day. more ›

Surprise, surprise: Chicago will not be banning retail stores from distributing plastic bags anytime soon, but steps are being taken to institute a plastic bag recycling program. According to the Sun-Times, Alderman Ed Burke from the 14th Ward proposed a "San Francisco-style ban on non-compostable plastic bags" last May, but he was ultimately forced to compromise. Now, Burke is joining Economic Development Committee Chairman Marge Laurino from the 39th Ward in proposing a much softer ordinance that instead of banning bags creates bag recycling options. more ›

People living in Wards 5 and 8 should be feeling extra smug today, since as of April 1, they can recycle using Chicago's Blue Cart program. Say "sayonara" to frustrating blue bags and "hola" to your new friends, blue carts. more ›

Although it's pretty much a given that Daley will coast to re-election at the end of next month, by no means does it mean that his time is office has been an unmitigated success. In a report card scheduled to be issued today by a coalition of interest groups and local activists called "Developing Government Accountability to the People," Daley received low grades in many areas, including economic development, transportation, education, criminal justice and ethics.... more ›

Environmental Painting? more ›

Recycling rules, everyone knows that. We like to see people recycling all manner of things. But when we read that libraries are sending books to the recycling center in Woodstock, we couldn't help but wonder - isn't there a better way to recycle a book? more ›

When Chicagoist is ready to get rid of an old computer or gadget, we try to donate it somewhere. We know, that 233 MHz, 32 MB RAM PC with a dot matrix printer may not be a hot seller at the Salvation Army store, but as long as it's working, we figure someone could get some use out of it, if anything for a stress reliever. But sometimes the damn thing is just broken, a worthless piece of electronic detritus, and dumping it on someone else isn't a morally acceptable option. Tossing it in the trash doesn't feel right either, because we know there are various and sundry metals and plastics inside that will likely outlive the human race. more ›

Oh blue bags, how we will miss mocking your irrelevance in the world of recycling. After a successful test of the 96-gallon blue carts in the Beverly neighborhood, the city will be tilting the carts onto their back wheels and rolling them to 7 wards throughout the city. more ›

We have a confession to make: We don’t recycle. At least, not at home. We know, it’s important to do, and we should do it. Really, we’re not proud of ourselves. more ›

Because Chicago's recycling program just ain't convoluted (and ineffective) enough, Daley wants to add yet another confusing step to the process. more ›

Chicagoist has been remiss in missing the missives on missing recycling. And so we pick up the story with Mayor Richard M. Daley's press conference yesterday: It's all your fault. Ours, the citizenry, we mean. But not the city's. And certainly not the Mayor's. Nope. more ›

What an opportunity to talk about our favorite topics! Recycling and Big Brother! In case you haven't heard, Chicago's Blue Bag recycling program is teetering on total failure. Not only is barely anyone participating, the material is getting blended into the rest of the trash, and getting plowed into an Indiana field. Meanwhile, City Council has approved a pilot curbside pickup program. more ›