Today at noon, two activists from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals will be handing out free Tofutti Cuties in front of Wrigley Field. Described as "delicious nondairy ice cream sandwiches," the free snacks will help Chicagoans cool off in the summer heat, even if the provocative, 1940's-inspired ice cream parlor outfits might heat a few spectators up. "We hope that these frozen treats will help folks who are feeling the heat in Chicago understand that it's never been easier to help prevent climate change and improve their health," PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman said in a statement. "Choosing healthy and delicious vegan foods is good for the planet and your waistline and helps prevent the suffering of countless animals on factory farms." more ›

Running March 6 -- April 2 at the Siskel, the 12th Annual European Union Film Festival includes 59 feature films, all Chicago premieres. No matter what kinds of movies you like, this festival has them. We urge you to check out the full slate. Meanwhile, we'll be reporting on a few of the titles we've seen. more ›

Mark your calendars: For one hour on March 29th, Chicago will be in the dark. The City of Chicago and COM ED are asking businesses and residents to turn off their lights and unplug all electrical devices between 8 and 9pm on Saturday, March 29th to participate in Earth Hour, a global initiative organized by the World Wildlife Fund in which cities and communities turn out their lights to symbolize their commitment to finding climate change solutions. more ›

GrubHub users concerned about how your Thai food delivery impacts the environment needn't fear. Last week the online restaurant delivery service began purchasing carbon credits to offset the environmental costs involved with delivering to customers here and in San Francisco. more ›

If green is the new black and localvore is the word of the year, then what does it mean when eating locally is not only not necessarily better for the environment, but could actually be worse? An article in the NYT challenges the notion that "fresh" and "local" add up to "green." The article presents data from UC Davis's Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program. Tom Tomich, director of the program, told the NYT that... more ›

Everyone knows puberty is the #1 most awkward and mortifying stage of growing up, but what if it hit you before you were even 8 years old? According to today's Sun Times, kids as young as 4 are experiencing early-onset puberty. Precocious puberty, which is not as fun as it sounds, is more common than you'd think. According to the Oak Park-based Magic Foundation, between 1 in 5,000 and 1 in 10,000 kids become gangly... more ›

Sure, Al Gore got a Nobel Prize today, but the environment? Well, it's still pretty fucked. Nearly half of Illinois's waterways are unsafe for swimming or fishing. more ›

So the folks over at BP have been listening to your - and our - reservations over their plans to increase the level of pollution they can dump into Lake Michigan from the planned expansion of their Whiting, Indiana refinery. They even met with opponents of the expansion yesterday. So why are we not surprised that BP said that they're doing it anyway? BP America vice chairman Stephen A. Elbert said that the planned expansion... more ›

If you’ve played along Chicago’s lakefront this summer, then you may have noticed the 124 sculpted, painted globes designed by artists with the intent to inspire and empower the public to take action against global warming. Cool Globes: Hot Ideas for a Cooler Planet dots the lakefront north of the Field Museum and at Navy Pier. “Cool Globes presents a vast array of solutions with a clear message: We can solve the problem,” the exhibit’s... more ›

Last week we clued you in to BP's plans to increase the levels of ammonia and sludge thhey are discharging into Lake Michigan from their Whiting, IN refinery. Responding to the wave of local bad press the company got, BP ran full page ads in newspapers, letters to the editor, and even blog advertising, including here on Chicagoist. Yesterday the Chicago Tribune ran with a front page headline detailing the flogging that BP took on... more ›

In the marathon that this presidential political season is becoming, presidential hopeful and former North Carolina Senator John Edwards made a pair of brief campaign stops in Chicago Wednesday, just one day before Barack Obama made a campaign stop in North Carolina. At BB's bar and restaurant on Hubbard, part of his "Small Change for Big Change" series of fundraisers, Edwards told the crowd, who had paid between $15 and $100 a head to hear... more ›

All hail the start of Green Market season! Chicagoist loves the green markets, cooks love the markets, and even professional chefs are getting into them. A quick perusal of the official Green Market guide reveals that most are starting up between the middle of May and the middle of June, and most are running through October. Since it seems like this year local is the new organic (see: The Omnivore's Dilemma), Chicago Localvores, a... more ›

Friday night, Chicagoist sat in the Kroc University Theater of the Adler Planetarium to hear Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" presentation given by someone with PhD style credibility, Dr. James Sweitzer. The majority of the presentation had the same slickness of Gore's documentary without the cut scenes of impending doom (though the excessive rumbling of traffic above the theater was slightly ominous). However, in lieu of soliloquies about being a boy on a farm,... more ›

You know that extra car you have lying around? The one that only half works, requires lots of maintenance and doesn't get driven that often? Yeah, us neither (we rely on the lovely services of the CTA). But if we did, we would be pumped about an event that Zipcar is having next Monday, Feb. 26, at the Music Box Theatre called "Drive-In, Don't Drive Out." Drivers who bring in their old Pintos, Yugos and... more ›

Think carefully. Which city is a more natural choice for an environmentally sensitive convention, Chicago or Los Angeles? OK, you can stop thinking now, because the U.S. Green Building Council has moved its annual meeting from L.A. to here. The reason? A scheduling conflict with an auto show. Greenbuild, a three-day conference that revolves around developing construction that's friendlier to the environment, took place in Denver last year and brought in 13,500 attendees. This year... more ›

In January, General Motors Vice Chairman of Product Development and Chairman of GM North America, Bob Lutz, spoke with a group of bloggers about the Chevy Volt Concept car shortly after it was revealed at the Detroit Auto Show. The Volt, if developed, with its E-Flex power system, could nearly eliminate trips to the gas station. During the interview Lutz spoke about how likely it is the Volt could go from concept to reality "Are... more ›

More than 1000 chefs were surveyed about industry trends for the coming years by the National Restaurant Association, and the results announced yesterday provide a glimpse of what diners in both Chicago and nationwide can expect to see on their plates. more ›

Environmental Painting? more ›

The latest in the trend towards environmental friendliness in Chicago: the old Cooper lamp factory at 2545 W. Diversey in Logan Square is going to be converted into a “green Merchandise Mart.” Known as The Green Exchange, the building will house a furniture maker, a building supply business, a printing company and several other businesses. Chicagoist has long been concerned about the environment, though we usually reserve expressing said concern to when it’s economically... more ›

Over the weekend, the city announced that it has a solution to one of your many, many problems. Rather than turning all your old TVs and computer monitors into plant holders and cluttering drawers with old batteries because you have no idea what to do with them, you can now take them somewhere: a recycling center. more ›

Chicagoist never liked riding the bus to school, but maybe if we’d had a cool ethanol-powered bus, we would have felt a little better about it. Actually, that probably wouldn’t have mattered. But we digress. Chicago Public Schools and Falcon Transportation have announced that they’ve converted 27 school buses from diesel fuel to an ethanol-diesel blend. The cost per bus is between $500 and $600, paid for by the national CityHome program, which promotes the... more ›

Here at the Chicagoist offices, we have an entire staff dedicated to gathering all the news and information about elections for you. In all of the craziness of this election season, we want to remind you that going out to vote is more than just a right, it's your civic responsibility. Selecting who will make all the big decisions that will affect your life for the next few years is really important. And if you... more ›

One of the coolest ideas happening in the city right now is the push for environmental friendliness. In 2005 22 city buildings were registered as “green,” and all new city buildings are to be green designs. The idea is that as builders become familiar with doing green projects they will be comfortable adding green aspects to private projects, and of course take advantage of governmental incentives to do such. Green roofs are the Mayor’s biggest selling point, and they are all over the place on the Department of Environment’s website. more ›

Even when we're stuck between the crying child who keeps throwing crayons at people and the huge guy drinking Bud Light at $5 a pop, we love Amtrak. Our love of the transportation system made us do an embarrassing Arsenio Hall fist pump this morning when we heard that Dick Durbin muscled Canadian National into allowing Amtrak to use its rail lines. That's right - Amtrak is expanding in Illinois. It gives us a warm,... more ›

Phewww, gas prices are finally starting to go down after another summer of paying way to much to fill the tank. Chicago peaked at an average price of $3.29 per gallon of gasoline in 2006 and is expected to make it all the way down to below $2.30 by mid-winter. The average price of gas in the city is currently $2.59. Does anyone else find that number a bit low? It's got to have something to do with the neighborhoods that we at Chicagoist are driving through, but an average of $2.59? That means there is lots of gas being sold for less than that price. more ›

OK, so maybe Chicago is the fattest city, but we’re also at the top of the list of “sustainable” cities. Which means we can continue to stuff our faces with deep-dish pizza and combo sandwiches long into the future, until we have a heart attack. Or something like that. 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 ›

Richard Doherty more ›

Bike Storage, Loop Side more ›

Remember the old Saturday Night Live “Superfans” sketches where they pondered who would win in a fight between say, Mike Ditka and the 1992 Chicago Bulls? The city saw a real-life version of that matchup yesterday when it was Ditka vs. The Entire Chicago City Council on the proposed smoking ban. True to form, Ditka, a longtime fan of cigars, pulled out three of the signature moves in his unstoppable fighting style: more ›