Happy Earth Day!

Aprril 22 is Earth Day.... a time for spring cleaning and a time to think about the 3R's: REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE  Maybe you've been following Marie Kondo, and have items that no longer spark joy.   Keep reading to learn how to get rid of your unwanted "stuff" and keep it out of the landfill. Or use these ideas in reverse to get items you could use .... and help someone else keep it out of the landfill.

Sell It

To sell your "stuff",  list it on Craig's list. or the Warrenville Garage Sales and Exchange Facebook group. 

New for 2019 - Get a Phone app

There mignt be many apps. Two examples are:

• OfferUp: An app to buy and sell locally
• thredUP:  Online consignmeny thrift shop - Mail clothes to donate or sell

Meeting someone to make a transaction? Be safe. The Warrenville Police Station lobby is a safe internet transaction zone.

Donate It

Find a resale shop. Most resale shops take clothes, shoes, accessories, household goods, sports equipment, dishes, kitchen gadgets, toys, knick knacks, small working household appliances (NO big TV's or computer monitors, even if they work) Click links for hours and more detailed lists.

• Discoveries Resale Shop and Furniture Annex in Warrenville: Pickup can be scheduled for furniture. Benefits Warrenville Youth and Family Services.
• ReStore for working appliances, light fixtures, and other building supplies. Nearest one is by Fox Valley (4100 Fox Valley Ctr Dr Aurora, IL 60504). A division of Habitat for Humanity.
• Jubilee - A bigger furniture store than the Discoveries Annex - located at 730 E. North Ave. Carol Stream, IL 60188 - 630.784.2890 - Benefits Outreach Community Ministries
• Freecycle- Join the Warrenville Group - post what you want to give away - "one person's trash is another person's treasure" - Use the website to arrangements for them to pick it up.  For a bigger audience, there are other Wheaton and Naperville groups too. You might be able to get rid of things you thought were garbage. . For example,  I got rid of landscape stones and logs (and they loaded them up), and old chair cushions. 

Recycle It

Upcoming Recycling Events in Warrenville

• Warrenville Paper Shredding and Electronics Recycling Event - May 4 from 9 am to noon Bower School ( 4S241 River Road ).  Limit 3 bankers boxes of paper to be shredded. Items accepted for electronics recycling include computers, laptops, servers, switches, modems, routers,, printers, copiers, fax machines, circuit boards, cords, wires, toys, small appliances, stereo equipment, office equipment, telephone systems, cell phones, games, and banking/financial/medical equipment. TV's, monitors, and larger items are accepted for a fee paid in advance - learn more on city website..
• Bike Rodeo - May 18, 2019 from 9-noon in City Hall Parking Lot. Collecting Bikes to be donated and fixed for use by those in need.
• Book Drive at the Park District from April 1 - May 31:  Your books can help  Bernie's Book Bank.  Please donate new and gently used children's books, aged birth through 6th grade. (Please, no workbooks, textbooks or reference books.)

  Drop box in the Park District Recreation Center lower level lobby from April 1 - May 31. Goal:

Ongoing Recycling / Reuse

Remember that most items items are made of natural resources - better to find a way to re-cycled even after the item is no good (e.g. keys, small metal pieces, lawn chairs, books). There are also things that the right person might be able to use (pens, blank paper, crayons, games, puzzles, yarn, glue, craft supplies, books, file folders, tools, lawn furniture .....). Here are places to get rid of of stuff that's too good to throw away:

• Warrenville Public Library: Eye glasses (including sunglasses) for Lions club - in between doors at back entrace. Also paperback and jigsaw puzzle exchange downstairs..
• Warrenville Park District - Bins at the back entrance for ink jet cartridges, old cell phones, gym shoes, eye glasses, plastic  / aluminum bottles. Gently used Children's book drive until 5/31/19.
  
• Warrenville City Hall - Batteries (alkaline, lithium, lithium-ion) - Collection bins at lower entrances. Keep the chemicals that leak out of batteries out of our water supply!
• St. Irene's - Paper Recycling - includes outdated text books
• Wheaton Public Works: Second Saturday each month. 9-noon - small electronics, cooking oil, scrap metal and more (no TV's or hazardous waste).
• SCARCE in Glen Ellyn has BookRescue, Tools for Schools and Super Crayons projects - Tools for Schools is for any supplies that a teacher might use in a classroom, including any and all books, paper, pens, pencils & crayons, game pieces or groups of other small things for kids to count / manipulate, anything that could be used for craft projects, any office supplies, buttons, sewing machines, sewing supplies and more. See  Tools for Schools List. Also Book Rescue takes all books. Books for kids are distributed to teachers, for classroom use, and SCARCE finds homes for other books, or recycles those that are in bad shape. All Crayons (broken or not) are used by the Super Crayons project.
• SCARCE in Glen Ellyn Recycles odds and ends  - Keys, flags, records, small metal pieces, cell phones, lights & cords (all year) - Click to see list
• Food Panty in Immanual Church - non-perishables that you won't use (that are still good) - open Tuesday mornings
• People's Resource Center in Wheaton - food, clothes, computers (critial need for working computers), books
• Sharing Connections - Furniture and Household Items - they will pickup. They help people in crisis that need to setup a household. Also new cleaning supplies and personal care products.
• Bags - Resale shops including Discoveries in Warrenville re-uses shopping bags (paper or plasstic) that are in good shape. Family Foods no longer takes plastic bags, but Kohls and Target take them.
• Tennis Shoes - Take them to the Nike store in the Aurora Premium Outlet Mall - Nike grinds them for playground surfaces so bring shoes worn our or with holes - limit might be 10 pairs (in one drop off).  If the shoes are wearable, they can go to a resale shop.
• Bubble Wrap & Peanuts - UPS and other packaging stores (call first)
• Hangers - return to cleaners (call first)
• Electronics and more - Wheaton: Second Saturday each month. 9-noon at the Public Works - small electronics, cooking oil, scrap metal and more (no TV's or hazardous waste)., and  Naperville Electronics Recycling - M-F, 7-3
• Garden Tools - Garden Works Project now has a facility in West Chicago is creating a Garden Tool lending library.Learn more or make arrangements with the Garden Works Project. 

Find a Recycling Extravaganza!

These events, usually sponsored by a community or municipal group, provide a "drive-thru" recycling. Each event has its own list of items, and arranges for charties or commercial organizations to take the various items.  Find upcoming extravaganzas and read the flyer for the event or go to their webpage to get the details. ThereTypical items include:

• Scrap Metal
• Eye Glasses (Lyons Club usually collects and distributes)
• Electronics (Look Carefully! Usually electronics are considered to be anything with a battery or cord, but each event has different requirements. Old monitors and TVs may not be collected, or may be collected for a fee).
• Old Bikes
• Garden Tools
• Medical Equipment
• Books
• Pet Supplies
• American Flags
• Many More - check your event listings

Hazardous Waste

Some things can't be recycled, and shouldn't go in the landfill.  These include old medicine, cleaning chemicals, oil based paints, and weed killers. We're lucky to have the Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) disposal site in Naperville that is open every weekend. Learn more at these websites:

• Naperville Hazardous Waste Dropoff - Jefferson and Forthill (Not in the Fire Station Anymore). They made the drop-off bigger so cars can move thru more quickly - open Sat and Sunday mornings.
• Medicine Disposal - Many police stations, including Warrenville Police Station, and the Naperville Hazardous Waste (HHW) provide at drop of for unneeded or expired medications. Dump all the pills into a ziplock bag - there is not enough room to store all the prescription containers. .Some Walgreens also have safe disposal boxes for prescription drugs. The closest ones are  612 RAYMOND DR, NAPERVILLE, IL 60563 or  227W171 GENEVA RD, WINFIELD, IL 60190,630-681-8482, 630-428-9171

Additional Resources

If you are looking for more information, check out these websites. It is illegal to put TV's into the landfill, it's difficult to find places to recycle them, and the information is always changing.

• DuPage County Electronics Recycling
• SCARCE Electronics Page
• Kane County Recycles (many resources - but some are only for Kane County residents)

Don't Be Surprised in the Voting Booth

Take a look at your ballot now, to see what will be there when you go to vote on April 2, 2019. There may not be a national election this time, but the local officials  that we select might impact our lives more than those on the national stage.

I can’t attach your ballot, because even within Warrenville, there are multiple districts at every level of government – each with different boundaries. Just considering Warrenville voters, there are many ballot variations.

Follow the steps, just a few clicks, and enter your address and you'll have the ballot. These instructions are for anyone in DuPage county.

1. Go to the Voter Information Page on the Dupage County website: https://www.dupageco.org/VoterLookup/
2. 
   Click on the "Search by Address" tab
   
3. Type your address. Note:the house number includes the numbers and letter (e.g. 28w530). The "Suffix" is your street type (e.g. Street, Road).  It has to match exactly -- for mine Ln works but not Lane. Click Search.
4. Click to "View Ballot" link.

On this page, you can also see your polling place, all your current elected officials, and what districts you are in.

Finding the ballot is the easy part. Now you have the harder job of deciding how to cast it. 

• Meet some of the candidates at the Warrenville Candidates Forum on Wednesday March 20  in the evening at City Hall
• In additiona to elected officials, Warrenville ballots include: PROPOSITION TO CREATE A NEW TAX RATE FOR EMERGENCY AND RESCUE FUND PURPOSES that Reads "Shall the Warrenville Fire Protection District, DuPage County, Illinois, be authorized to levy a new tax for emergency and rescue crews and equipment purposes and have an additional tax of .10% of the equalized assessed value of the taxable property therein extended for such purposes?" Don't know what it;s all about --- go to Coffee with the Fire Chief on March 21
• If you're still looking for nore information, there is  a website ballotready.org. This site has a tab for each candidate on your ballot, along with links to learn their stances on many issues and a newsfeed of artices printed about them.  This is not an official ballot, and does not contain all the local items.

Happy Voting!.

Don't Be Surprised in the Voting Booth

If you take a look at your ballot now, you still have time before election day,  Nov. 6, 2018, to figure out how to vote. Take a look at the choices for local offices, they might impact your life more than those on the national stage.

I can’t attach your ballot, because even within Warrenville, there are multiple districts at every level of government – each with different boundaries. Just considering Warrenville voters, there are many ballot variations.

Follow the steps, just a few clicks, and enter your address and you'll have the ballot. These instructions are for anyone in DuPage county.

1. Go to the Voter Information Page on the Dupage County website: https://www.dupageco.org/VoterLookup/
2. 
   Click on the "Search by Address" tab
   
3. Type your address. Note:the house number includes the numbers and letter (e.g. 28w530). The "Suffix" is your street type (e.g. Street, Road).  It has to match exactly -- for mine Ln works but not Lane. Click Search.
4. Click to "View Ballot" link.

On this page, you can also see your polling place, all your current elected officials, and what districts you are in.

Finding the ballot is the easy part. Now you have the harder job of deciding how to cast it. If you're still looking for information on that, I just learned of a website ballotready.org. This site has a tab for each candidate on your ballot, along with links to learn their stances on many issues and a newsfeed of artices printed about them.  This is not an official ballot, and does not contain all the local items.

Besides the usual candidates, Warrenville ballots contain a referendum for Wheaton Warrenville School District 200 regarding the Early Childhood Education Center, and 3 propositions:

• Shall DuPage County oppose the General Assembly instituting a property tax increase equivalent to 1% of your home’s value to help retire state debt?
• Shall DuPage County oppose the creation of a statewide Vehicle Mileage Tax (VMT) which would tax DuPage County citizens based upon the number of miles driven annually?
• Shall DuPage County continue to dissolve and consolidate units of local government to reduce costs, increase efficiencies, and increase accountability? 

Happy Voting!

Art on the Prairie, Warrenville's fall art and music festival, is coming up on the weekend of Septermber 15 and 16, 2018. The park district is looking for volunteers. Your help will make this event run smoohtly.

Volunteers Needed on September 15 and 16:

• 6-8 volunteers to assist artists unloading their cars and setting up (starting at 7:30 on Sat and 8:30 on Sunday)
• 3-4 volunteers 21+ to assist with ID bands for the Micro Brew Tent (shifts starting at 10 am)
• Under 21 volunteers to  assist with pop & water sales (shifts starting at 10 am)

To volunteer,  call the Park District 630-393-7279 Ext. 307 or email ruthb@warrenvilleparks.org.

Thanks for your consideration!

Schedule for Art on the Prairie 2018

Enjoy live music, children's art station, taste Two Brothers beer & products and shop for art as you stroll through Warrenville City Hall Complex. This juried art fair features photography, wood work, jewelry, ink prints and much more from Midwest artists.

Saturday, September 15
12:00pm - L.J Slavin
1:00 - 3:00pm - Face Painting & Ben’s Bubbles - FREE
1:15pm - Real Steel Island Band
3:00pm - West Chicago Schools D33 Ballet Dancers
4:00pm - Ashley Lewis & Legacy
5:00pm - Tin Fiddle Band

Sunday, September 16
11:30am - Paul Botts
1:00 - 3:00pm - Face Painting - FREE
1:00 - 3:00pm - Chris Fascione - Strolling Juggler - FREE
1:45 pm - Robert Rose Celtic Folk Music
3:00pm - Banjo Buddies

Sponsored in part by the City of Warrenville Hotel Motel Tax Fund.
Funded partially or wholly by the City of Warrenville.
Thank you to our sponsors NorthStar Credit Union, Daniel and Associates Real Estate, Warrenville Public Library District, East China Inn, Two Brothers Brewing Co., Art Works IL Arts Council, Edward Jones, Daily Herald Media Group, Chiro One, Ed Hoy's International, Ball Hort.

Happy Earth Day!

Aprril 22 is Earth Day. Also time for spring cleaning. It is a  time to think about the 3R's: REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE. Keep reading to learn how to get rid of your unwanted "stuff" and keep it out of the landfill. 

Sell It

To sell your "stuff",  list it on Craig's list. or the Warrenville Garage Sales and Exchange Facebook group. If not,  donate it to bless someone else or recycle it. 

Donate It

Find a resale shop. Most resale shops take clothes, shoes, accessories, household goods, sports equipment, dishes, kitchen gadgets, toys, knick knacks, small working household appliances (NO big TV's or computer monitors, even if they work) Click links for hours and more detailed lists.

• Discoveries Resale Shop and Furniture Annex in Warrenville: Pickup can be scheduled for furniture. Benefits Warrenville Youth and Family Services.
• ReStore for working appliances, light fixtures, and other building supplies. Nearest one is by Fox Valley (4100 Fox Valley Ctr Dr Aurora, IL 60504). A division of Habitat for Humanity.
• Jubilee - A bigger furniture store than the Discoveries Annex - located at 730 E. North Ave. Carol Stream, IL 60188 - 630.784.2890 - Benefits Outreach Community Ministries

Recycle It

Upcoming Recycling Events in Warrenville

• Paper Shredding and Electronics Recycling - April 21, 2018 from 9 am  - 1 pm at Northstar Credit Union at 3 S 555 Winfield Road.  Limit 2 bankers boxes of paper per person, and any electronics except TVs and computer monitors
• Bike Rodeo - May 19, 2018 from 9-noon in City Hall Parking Lot. Collecting Bikes to be donated and fixed for use by those in need.
• Warrenville Paper Shredding and Electronics Recycling Event - May 19 from 9 am to noon at the Warrenville Public Works facility, 3S346 Mignin Drive.  Limit 3 bankers boxes of paper to be shredded. Items accepted for electronics recycling include computers, laptops, servers, switches, modems, routers, batteries, UPS systems, printers, copiers, fax machines, circuit boards, cords, wires, toys, small appliances, stereo equipment, office equipment, telephone systems, cell phones, games, PDAs, and banking/financial/medical equipment. Larger items are accepted for a fee paid in advance. More info in the "April Hometown Happenings" newsletter.
• Book Drive at the Park District from May 1 - May 31:  Your books can help  Bernie's Book Bank.  Please donate new and gently used children's books, aged birth through 6th grade. (Please, no workbooks, textbooks or reference books.)

  Drop box will be located in the Park District Recreation Center lower level lobby from May 1 - May 31. Goal: To collect 1,500 books.

Ongoing Recycling Events

Remember that most items items are made of natural resources - better to find a way to re-cycled even after the item is no good (e.g. keys, small metal pieces, lawn chairs, books). There are also things that the right person might be able to use (pens, blank paper, crayons, games, puzzles, yarn, glue, craft supplies, books, file folders, tools, lawn furniture .....). Here are places to get rid of of stuff that's too good to throw away:

• Warrenville Ace Hardware - Electronics Recycling  and CFL bulbs - Take electronics to a box in back of store (small items, TV's for a price) and CFL light bulbs (bring to cash register).
• Warrenville Public Library: Eye glasses (including sunglasses) for Lions club - in between doors at back entrace. 
• Warrenville Park District - Bins at the back entrance for ink jet cartridges, old cell phones, batteries, gym shoes, eye glasses, paper, plastic 
  
• Warrenville City Hall - Batteries (alkaline, lithium, lithium-ion) - Collection bins by upper and lower entrances. Keep the chemicals that leak out of batteries out of our water supply!
• St. Irene's - Paper Recycling - includes outdated text books
• Freecycle- Join the Warrenville Group - post what you want to give away - "one person's trash is another person's treasure" - You make arrangements for them to pick it up. For a bigger audience, there are other Wheaton and Naperville groups too. (Can be all sorts of things. For example,  I got rid of landscape stones and logs (and they came to get it), and old chair cushions.
• Wheaton Public Works: Second Saturday each month. 9-noon - small electronics, cooking oil, scrap metal and more (no TV's or hazardous waste).
• SCARCE in Glen Ellyn has BookRescue, Tools for Schools and Super Crayons projects - Tools for Schools is for any supplies that a teacher might use in a classroom, including any and all books, paper, pens, pencils & crayons, game pieces or groups of other small things for kids to count / manipulate, anything that could be used for craft projects, any office supplies, buttons, sewing machines, sewing supplies and more. See  Tools for Schools List. Also Book Rescue takes all books. Books for kids are distributed to teachers, for classroom use, and SCARCE finds homes for other books, or recycles those that are in bad shape. All Crayons (broken or not) are used by the Super Crayons project.
• SCARCE in Glen Ellyn Recycles odds and ends  - Keys, flags, records, small metal pieces, cell phones, lights & cords (all year) - Click to see list
• Food Panty in Immanual Church - non-perishables that you won't use (that are still good) - open Tuesday mornings
• People's Resource Center in Wheaton - food, clothes, computers (critial need for working computers), books
• Sharing Connections - Furniture and Household Items - they will pickup. They help people in crisis that need to setup a household. Also new cleaning supplies and personal care products.
• Shopping bags - Resale shops including Discoveries in Warrenville re-uses shopping bags and plastic bags in good shape. - If DIscoveries can't use your plastic bags, then take them for recycling next door at Family Foods.
• Tennis Shoes - Take them to the Nike store in the Aurora Premium Outlet Mall - Nike grinds them for playground surfaces so bring shoes with holes. - if the shoes are wearable, they can go to a resale shop - limit might be 10 pairs (in one drop off). 
• Bubble Wrap & Peanuts - UPS and other packaging stores (call first)
• Hangers - return to cleaners (call first)
• Electronics and more - Wheaton: Second Saturday each month. 9-noon at the Public Works - small electronics, cooking oil, scrap metal and more (no TV's or hazardous waste).
• Garden Tools - Garden Works Project now has a facility in West Chicago is creating a Garden Tool lending library. (103 W. Washington, West Chicago - in the same building as Gallery 200)  Stop by to drop off when the gallery is open (Thur 12-6, Fri 12-8, Sat 10-4, Sun 12-4) Learn more or make arrangements with the Garden Works Project. 
• Latex Paint - Usable paint that has not been frozen. is usually collected in June and July at Woodridge Greene Valley Wastewater Treatment Facility - 7900 S. Route 53, Woodridge

Find a Recycling Extravaganza!

These events, usually sponsored by a community or municipal group, provide a "drive-thru" recycling. Each event has its own list of items, and arranges for charties or commercial organizations to take the various items.  Find upcoming extravaganzas and read the flyer for the event or go to their webpage to get the details. ThereTypical items include:

• Scrap Metal
• Eye Glasses (Lyons Club usually collects and distributes)
• Electronics (Look Carefully! Usually electronics are considered to be anything with a battery or cord, but each event has different requirements. Old monitors and TVs may not be collected, or may be collected for a fee).
• Old Bikes
• Garden Tools
• Medical Equipment
• Books
• Pet Supplies
• American Flags
• Many More - check your event listings

Hazardous Waste

Some things can't be recycled, and shouldn't go in the landfill.  These include old medicine, cleaning chemicals, oil based paints, and weed killers. We're lucky to have the Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) disposal site in Naperville that is open every weekend. Learn more at these websites:

• Naperville Hazardous Waste Dropoff - Jefferson and Forthill (Not in the Fire Station Anymore). They made the drop-off bigger so cars can move thru more quickly - open Sat and Sunday mornings.
• Medicine Disposal - Many police stations, including Warrenville Police Station, and the Naperville Hazardous Waste (HHW) provide at drop of for unneeded or expired medications. Dump all the pills into a ziplock bag - there is not enough room to store all the prescription containers. . Drug Take Back Day is April 28, 2018. Find additional locations on the DEA website that are open 10-2 that day.

Additional Resources

If you are looking for more information, check out these websites. It is illegal to put TV's into the landfill, it's difficult to find places to recycle them, and the information is always changing.

• DuPage County Electronics Recycling
• SCARCE Electronics Page
• Kane County Recycles (many resources - but some are only for Kane County residents)

Will You Ask for a Democratic or Republican Ballot?

The upcoming election is a primary, so your ballot will not have all the candidates that you see in the commercials. You must choose which ballot you want to vote.

Looking up the ballots, there was one surprising issue on both ballots. This issue is, "Should the DuPage County Elections Commission be dissolved, and it's functions be consolidated  with the office of the Dupage County Clerk."  This question is on the Republican, Democratic, and the only item on the Non Partisan Ballot. It is probably on all ballots in DuPage County.

Candidate Forum for 14th Congressional District

Wondering who to vote for? Come meet the candidates

Most of Warrenville is in the the 14th Congressional District. The Republican candidate, (Randy Hultgren) is unopposed. Now you have the opportunity to choose which of 7 Democratic candidates will oppose him on the November ballot. Come meet these candidates:
D14 Candidate Forum: Sunday March 11 from 6-8 pm at Warrenville City Hall. 

Find Your Ballots

If you are in DuPage County, follow these steps to enter your address and you'll have the ballots. For this election there are Republican, Democrat, and Non-Partisan Ballots.

1. Go to the Voter Information Page on the Dupage County website: https://www.dupageco.org/VoterLookup/
2. 
   Click on the Address Tab
3. Type your address. Note:the house number includes the numbers and letter (e.g. 28w530). The "Suffix" is your street type (e.g. Street, Road).  It has to match exactly -- for mine Ln works but not Lane. Click Search.
4. Click to "View Ballot" links to get each ballot.

On this page, you can also see your polling place, all your current elected officials, and what districts you are in.

It's good to look up your own ballot, but for this election, there are few local contests, so if you live in DuPage County Board District 6, and Congressional District 14, these may be your  sample ballots:

• Republican Party Ballot - Winfield Township - Dupage County Board 6

• Democratic Party Ballot - Winfield Township -  DuPage County Board 6

Looking a last minute gift idea? A book to read? Find a book that supports a local Warrenville author.  There are links to purchase each book on Amazon. If you don't find what you are looking for here, check out these other ideas:

• Shop Local - Buy a Book from a Local Author: 2016 Edition and 2015 Edition
• Visit a Prairie Path Books: A local bookstore that your family will love.
• How about some Artwork? Check out Gallery 200 in West Chicago -- features 30 artists and reasonable prices - open

  Shop Local - Buy from a Local Author or Artist - 2017 Edition

Art on the Prairie, Warrenville's fall art and music festival, is coming up on the weekend of Septermber 16 and 17, 2017. The park district is looking for volunteers. Your help will make this event run smoohtly. 

Volunteers Needed on September 16 and 17:

• 6-8 volunteers to assist artists unloading their cars and setting up (starting at 7:30 on Sat and 8:30 on Sunday)
• 3-4 volunteers 21+ to assist with ID bands for the Micro Brew Tent (shifts starting at 10 am)
• Under 21 volunteers to assist with pop & water sales (shifts starting at 10 am)

See the flyer below for the full schedule of events. To volunteer,  call the Park District 630-393-7279 Ext. 307 or email ruthb@warrenvilleparks.org by Friday Sept 8.

Thanks for your consideration! 

Attachments:

Art on the Prairie Flyer

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