The Neighborhood Volunteer's Credo


How do you make a community safe?
Block by block!

How do you make a community beautiful?
Lot by lot!

How do you make a community better for all the people?
HEART BY HEART!

-author unknown
(but probably a Chicagoan!)


A Resource and Reference Handbook


Your Neighborhood: The Place to Begin
Community Map

1. Getting Started: Find and Organize Volunteers

  • Get the Ball Rolling
  • Foster Partnerships
  • Work with the City and the Police
  • Enlist Many Groups

    • 2. Clean Ups: Get Rid of What's There Now
  • Join In, Neighborhood by Neighborhood
  • Tow Away Abandoned Cars
  • Blow the Whistle on Illegal Dumps
  • Join the Lake Michigan Beach Sweep
  • Turn Tires into Cash
  • Rake It Away Anytime

    • 3. Graffiti Removal: Erase It for Good
  • Blast Your Neighborhood Clean
  • Paint Over the Scrawlings
  • Light Up the Darkness

    • 4. Safety Measures: Eliminate Home and Neighborhood Hazards
  • Send Rodents Packing
  • Get Used Motor Oil Off Your Hands
  • Dispose of Hazardous Wastes Safely
  • Keep Sewers Free of Debris

    • 5. The Three Rs: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle
  • Recycle at Home Every Day
  • Promote Recycling at High-rises
  • Support Those "Three R" Businesses
  • Make Recycling Part of Your Neighborhood Festival

    • 6. Beautification: Plant for Your Future
  • Nurture the Trees in Our Urban Forest
  • Make Greening a Year-round Effort
  • Give Christmas in July a New Meaning
  • Plant a Community Garden
  • Compost Your Organic Matter for Rich Soil
  • Paint and Repair Homes for Seniors

    • 7. Litter Prevention: Maintain Your Neighborhood
  • Educate Your Neighbors and Businesses
  • Adopt a Site

    • 8. At Your Fingertips: Who, Where, and What
  • City of Chicago Departments
  • Chicago Park District
  • City of Chicago Aldermen and
  • Streets and Sanitation Ward Superintendents
  • Cook County Offices
  • State of Illinois Offices
  • Illinois Delegation to U.S. Congress
  • Not-for-Profit Organizations
  • Ward Map

    • 9. Recognition: Clean Home Chicago Awards

    10. Keep Chicago Beautiful: Helping the Neighborhoods
    NEIGHBORHOOD: The Place to Begin The City of Chicago is made up of many distinct neighborhoods. Some 176 in all, located in 77 different communities. Each has its own name, rich history, and approach to community issues. Common to all, however, is the desire among residents and business owners to live and work in an attractive and safe place.

    Unfortunately, not everyone knows where to begin. Neighborhood groups may want to stage a park cleanup, eliminate graffiti, or recycle cans and bottles during a community festival, but they just dont know the first step.

    An advocate for the preservation of Chicagos natural beauty for nearly 10 years, Keep Chicago Beautiful has developed Neighborhoods: A Resource and Reference Handbook to give community groups a starting point. In this binder, youll learn how to prevent litter, recycle at home and at festivals, erase graffiti, clean up streets and parks, and plant trees and flowering plants. Perhaps most important of all, youll learn how to get your neighbors and local businesses to join you.

    Your highly visible work not only will boost neighborhood pride, but help fight crime. Time and time again, in cities across our nation, neighborhood crime has dropped after cleanup and beautification efforts. A litter-free flower bed isnt just a pretty sight, its a sign of a community that cares.

    Make this guide a living document. Each section features success stories, how-tos, and all youll need to write your own stories. Add hints, additional phone numbers, and anecdotes on the note pages provided. As you record your efforts for future volunteers, know that you are writing the history of a community that cares.

    Keep Chicago Beautiful

    GETTING STARTED: Find and Organize Volunteers
    Working together, we can make a difference in our neighborhoods and our city. For democracy to work, all must take part in finding solutions...otherwise, we will be part of the problem, says Jeanne Bradner, former director of the Illinois Office of Voluntary Action, in her book, Passionate Volunteerism. The motto of Keep Chicago Beautiful adds a new twist to this sentiment: If youre not part of the solution, youre part of the pollution. Being part of the solution has many rewards. Just watch: volunteering will create the magic of community spirit in any neighborhood.

    Get the Ball Rolling A young couple moved into a neighborhood from across town. Used to a very active block association, they were surprised to find it so quiet in their new community. After asking around, they were able to track down the last president of the community group, who was ill and had been unable to do any community organizing for years. Posting signs in local businesses and on the librarys community bulletin board, the couple organized a community meeting around a spring cleanup. A handful of people showed up. But there were enough to make people notice. The next meeting drew more attendees, and today the community group is thriving (and still doing spring cleanups).

    Most neighborhoods have existing organizations. If youre not sure, you can check the sources above or ask at the local library, local schools, or your aldermans office. If your neighborhood has a festival, organizers are probably involved in community affairs year-round. If you want to learn how to start a block club from scratch, call the Mayors Office of Inquiry & Information, 312-744-5000 (Telecommunications Device for the Deaf, 312-744-8599). Be sure to: publicize your meetings well; elect officers who can set the agenda for meetings, keep minutes, and manage any money; and involve everyone, young and old. Keep America Beautiful offers five steps to success: (1) get the facts; (2) involve the people; (3) plan systematically; (4) focus on results; (5) provide positive reinforcement.
    Create Partnerships
    Residents, financial institutions, insurance companies, corporations, and the city have joined hands to stimulate reinvestment in many Chicago neighborhoods under the umbrella of Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago. This independent nonprofit uses its resources to help redevelop problem properties and attract residents and businesses. A strong component is helping neighborhoods organize community networks.
    See how your efforts can help or be helped by Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago. Call 312-738-2227 to find the nearest local office. This program is targeted at predominantly minority low-income neighborhoods in which many homes are privately owned.
    Work with the City and the Police
    One dormant community group got reinvigorated after a city-sponsored question-and-answer session. These are held twice a year by a City Hall representative in each of Chicagos 50 wards. After that meeting, which centered on community concerns about crime, some of the attendees published flyers about what they had learned. Lots of volunteersbusiness owners and residentscame forth to start a local CAPS (Community Alternative Police Strategy) program. Under this program, the beat cops have gotten to know community members. They, in turn, have formed a neighborhood watch group that has, among other things, made recommendations for improved lighting and published flyers on anti-crime tips.
    Call 312-744-5000 to find out when city officials will be in your neighborhood. Or call that same number to set up a meeting of your own (with three weeks notice) on the topic of your choice with a representative from City Hall. If you know youre interested in CAPS, call the Neighborhood Relations office at your local police district. Call 312-744-5000 to find the number of your local police district.
    Enlist Many Groups A neighborhood group planning a cleanup sought the involvement of the local Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts and several environmentally oriented groups whose roots were outside the community. The result: a big crowd and a dramatic difference in the neighborhoods appearance.
    Consider teaming with other groups, even if theyre not in your neighborhood: school groups, service organizations (such as the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts and the Boys and Girls Clubs), womens organizations, fraternal organizations, ethnic societies (call the Illinois Ethnic Coalition for its directory of ethnic groups, 312-368-1155), conservation groups, veterans organizations and their auxiliaries, garden clubs, historical societies, labor unions, and religious organizations. These organizations always are looking for activities, and they can share their successful strategies with you.
    Think, too, about some of the newer groups pledged to community service: CLEANUPS: Get Rid of Whats There Now
    You've got to get it clean to keep it clean. Neighborhood cleanups once or twice a year attract large numbers of volunteers. Sweeping away the debris of winter or earning cash from collecting old tires is satisfying. You can translate this satisfaction into continuing neighborhood efforts.

    Join In, Neighborhood by Neighborhood
    Each year, the mayor declares Clean & Green spring cleanup days for Chicagos neighborhoods. Many blocks and communities have found this a way to spark community spirit while ridding the neighborhood of the debris of winter. Residents borrow rakes and brooms from the city and get free paint to cover graffiti to make an all-out effort.
    Call 312-744-5000 to become a part of the citywide spring cleanups. Make this a rallying point for neighbors after being shut in all winter. The city will provide rakes, brooms, trashbags, and special refuse collection services. Talk to local schools and scout groups to get children involved.
    Tow Abandoned Cars
    A few weeks before a cleanup, one citizen called the city to ask for the towing of three junk cars that long had blighted the neighborhood. The cars quickly disappeared. Organizers were able to recruit lots of volunteers after they saw that their efforts could get fast results.
    Call 312-744-5000 (Telecommunications Device for the Deaf, 312-744-8599) any hour of the day or night to report junk cars for towing. The city tows thousands of cars each year.
    Blow the Whistle on Illegal Dumps
    One resident who lived near an illegal dump knocked on her neighbors doors for help. After getting the cooperation of the property owner, who was tired of having to pay for hauling away other peoples trash, the resident recruited people at home during the day to watch the property. These people managed to get the license numbers of several illegal dumpers, who tended to arrive in the early afternoons and late on Fridays. The police arrested them, and they were fined. With everyone working together, the neighborhood was able to get the site cleaned up and kept that way.
    Contact the landowner of any illegal dump. He or she is responsible for keeping it clean. Ask for the area to be cleaned and then fenced or chained off to prevent further dumping. If the property owner does not maintain the property and respond to complaints, talk to the police or your alderman. Try to cooperate with the property owner by agreeing to watch the property and report dumping to the police as it happens.
    Join the Lake Michigan Beach Sweep
    Chicagos 17 beaches are swept clean of trash and debris once a year by volunteers from all over Chicagoland. Since 1991, these volunteers have teamed up on the third Saturday of each September to clean the beaches and record what theyve found to help scientists searching for permanent solutions to beach and lake pollution. Some 250,000 people in 90 countries do their own beach sweeps on that same day.
    Call the Lake Michigan Federation, 312-939-0838, for details on how your group can help. The federation provides data cards, pencils, garbage bags, flyers, posters, marine debris guides, and news releases. Or stage your own beach sweep effort to build community spirit.
    Turn Old Tires into Cash
    One group spent a Saturday morning in the fall collecting and turning in used tires for the citys Tire Bounty program. Some residents and a local business volunteered the use of their trucks and vans to haul the tires to a South Side dropoff site manned by the city. Six weeks later, the group got a check in the mail.
    Call 312-744-5000 (Telecommunications Device for the Deaf, 312-744-8599) for the dates and sites of the citys next Tire Bounty day. The city will pay 50 cents for each tire brought to one of six locations on the south and north sides. Checks are mailed to community groups or residents four to six weeks after the dropoff. The program is geared to neighborhood cleanups. If youve got a lot of tires, be sure to bring plenty of people to help unload.

    Rake It Away Citizens
    who live in high-rises dont usually have cleanup tools, such as the brooms and rakes needed to clear away autumn leaves. But an enterprising condo association president didnt let that deter him. He called the citys Clean & Green office to borrow all the equipment needed to rid the entire area of the trash and leaves before it snowed. Almost a quarter of his buildings residents turned out for the cleanup.
    Stage a cleanup on your own with rakes, brooms, and other equipment borrowed free from the Clean & Green program. Call 312-744-5000 (Telecommunications Device for the Deaf, 312-744-8599). Be sure to contact a private waste hauler (look in the Yellow Pages under Waste Reduction Disposal & Recycling Service) to take away the trash you bag.

    GRAFFITI REMOVAL: Erase It for Good
    Graffiti doesnt have to be a fact of modern life. With its Graffiti Blasters and Give Graffiti the Brush programs, the City of Chicago first declared war on unsightly graffiti on both public and private property. In April 1995, the city began enforcing a ban on sales of spray paint within the city borders. Working with the city, neighborhood volunteers have been the heroes in this war.

    Blast Your Neighborhood Clean
    Within hours of being spray painted with racially offensive graffiti, a brick and stone high school was blasted clean by city crews. It only took a phone call for graffiti blasters to move quickly to eliminate traces of hate-crime graffiti from public property.
    Phone 312-744-1234 (Telecommunications Device for the Deaf, 312-744-8599) to find out more about anti- graffiti programs or report graffiti vandalism in progress. You also may report vandals with a free cellular call to *GRAF*.

    Report graffiti as soon as you see it on public property, especially repeat performances on previously scrubbed buildings. The city has found that vandals move on when a building is cleaned repeatedly.

    Request brochures from the anti-graffiti hotline to circulate to building owners in your neighborhood. The brochures contain permission forms that authorize the city to enter private property and remove graffiti. Urge building owners to take advantage of this free cleanup from the city.

    Paint Over the Graffiti
    Armed with free gallons of paint, community groups all over the city have painted over graffiti on wood and painted surfaces. In five years, volunteers have brushed more than 40,000 gallons of city-donated paint on private property for special paint-out events.
    Call the hotline above about Give Graffiti the Brush. Using free paint from the city, host a paint-out in your neighborhood.

    Light Up the Darkness
    Residents on neighborhood watch patrols regularly call the city when street light bulbs are out. Well-lighted areas deter graffiti vandals and other criminals.
    The city regularly changes the bulbs in Chicagos 175,000 street lights and 59,200 alley lights, but you should report problems by calling 312-744-5000. Let the city know if trees around lights need trimming. If you feel you need more city lighting, contact your alderman.

    SAFETY MEASURES: Eliminate Home and Neighborhood Hazards
    All of us value safety. Sometimes what seems annoying but harmlessa leaf-clogged sewer or someone dumping his cars used oil in the guttercan be downright dangerous. Neighbors can educate one another about these hazards.

    Send Rodents Packing
    A local block club worked hard to eliminate rats. At the groups urging, the city replaced local garbage carts and set poison in underground burrows. On its own, the block club sent out flyers urging residents to keep garbage under wraps and clean up after pets. A spring cleanup further helped eliminate the rodents shelter among litter and junk.
    Neighborhoods can combat rodent infestations through education. Basically, people need to know how to deny rats food. One open container of garbage is all thats needed to keep a colony of rats fat and happy. Keep garbage in secure containers, not in bags or boxes on the ground. Carefully pick up pet droppings, which hungry rats view as food. Ask the city to set poison in rat tunnels and tear down abandoned frame garages or brick buildings, both of which provide nesting space for rats. To schedule a rodent control expert to speak at a community meeting, report rat sightings, or seek help from the city, call 312-744-5000 (Telecommunications Device for the Deaf, 312-744-8599).

    Get Used Motor Oil Off Your Hands
    As part of a multi-faceted neighborhood spring cleanup, a service station on the North Side used flyers to promote its free collection of used motor oil. The station boosted its business that day. Boosting awareness of this year-round free service increased traffic for the service station over the long term and helped the neighborhood stop the dumping of a potentially dangerous substance into sewers and on the ground.
    More than 50 service stations throughout Chicago will dispose of used motor oil for free. More than 60 percent of Chicagoans change their own oil, and, unfortunately, more than 2 million gallons are improperly disposed of each year. Alert your neighbors to this service. After draining oil from your cars engine, put it in a clean container with a cap, such as a milk jug. Bring no more than 5 gallons of oil at a time to each station. Get a list of participating stations by calling the City of Chicago Department of Environment, 312-744-7606.

    Dispose of Hazardous Wastes Safely
    Before moving to an apartment across town, an older couple rounded up all the old paint, drain cleaner, wood stripper, and antifreeze they had collected over many years of maintaining a home and car. They drove the items to the one of citys twice-a-year Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day sites so that they wouldnt have to move the chemicals or pay a private waste hauler to take them away.
    The City of Chicago Department of Environment makes it easy for Chicagoans to get rid of their hazardous wastesfrom old gasoline to pesticidesby holding a collection day each spring and fall. Call 312-744-7606 for dates and locations.

    Report Illegal Housing Conversions
    Many of the tragic fires we see on the evening news happen in former single-family homes. The wiring is overloaded by the demands of several families under one roof, and there are no fire exits or smoke detectors. The neighbors may have seen evidence of many familiesmultiple cars parked nearby, numerous mailboxes and doorbellsbut didnt think it was any of their business. Community groups are beginning to make it their business for safety reasons.
    Disregarding city zoning and building rules, property owners often convert single-family homes into boarding houses, sleeping room facilities, and other multiple-dwelling uses. These illegal conversions are dangerous to residents as well as to their neighbors because of the strain on electrical, plumbing, and ventilation systems and the usual lack of fire exits, sprinkler systems, and smoke detectors. If you spot evidence of many unrelated people living together, call 312-744-5000 (Telecommunications Device for the Deaf, 312-744-8599). The Illegal Conversion Task Force will investigate, issue citations, file lawsuits, and shut down the units, if necessary, to protect people.

    Keep Sewers Free of Debris
    A man left his car parked on the street over a sewer grate clogged with leaves and wrappers from a local fast-food place. During a torrential storm, the water could not drain for hours. Water was still puddled inside the mans car when he came out the next morning to go to work. He let his community group know of his mishap at the next meeting, and the citizen crime patrol group decided to check and clear sewer grates as the teams made their rounds.
    The city cleans sewer catch basins and gutter boxes on a regular basis. If you are doing a neighborhood cleanup, clear sewer grates of obstructions yourself. Educate your neighbors so that no one dumps leaves, grass clippings, motor oil, or anything else poisonous or bulky down the sewer. For information, call 312-747-7030 (Telecommunications Device for the Deaf, 312-744-2952) during business hours. To report a sewer problem, call 312-744-5000 24 hours a day.

    THE THREE Rs: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
    Todays schoolchildren learn a new kind of Three Rs along with the old reading, writing, and arithmetic. The City of Chicago in 1993 committed itself to a comprehensive plan to reduce, reuse, and recycle to conserve resources and manage better the more than 4 million tons of waste produced annually by the citys homes and businesses. The program was phased in, starting with homes served by the City of Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation and moving to the businesses and multi-family dwellings whose trash hauling is handled by private contractors. The Department of Environment has brochures targeted at everyones needs. Call 312-744-SORT.

    Recycle at Home Every Day
    Chicagos Blue Bag Recycling Program got a smooth start in many neighborhoods, thanks to block clubs and community groups working with the city to educate people. Some groups held special meetings to explain the program. Others encouraged landlords of homesfrom single-family dwellings up to four-flatsto include information about recycling when they welcomed new tenants to the neighborhood.
    Residents place recyclable materials in blue bags and put them out with their trash in their city-supplied black garbage bins. A family sorts recyclables into two bags: one for clean glass, metal, and plastic containers and the other for dry paper and cardboard. Use 1.5-mil.-thick bags, available at local stores. Even before you get to the recycling stage, look to minimize your waste, reuse disposables such as bags, envelopes, and jars, and think about how your household can cut its trash production. Learning to integrate your solid waste handling practices is better in the long run. Theres an appropriate time for all these practices: using less stuff to start with, conserving resources, sending some waste to landfills, recycling where programs exist, composting if possible, and reusing materials.

    Promote Recycling at High-Rises
    One high-rise condonewly included in the recycling ordinance in 1995uses recycling as a selling point. Knowing that the buyers it sought were very supportive of recycling and environmentally friendly initiatives, the management company proudly included its comprehensive building recycling plan in its sales materials. A visible commitment by building managers to recycling and source reductionthrough signs and serviceshas helped give the entire building a strong community feeling.
    The second phase of the citys recycling and source reduction plan covers businesses and large multi- family residences that use private waste haulers to cart away their trash. Since 1995, workplaces and large residence buildings have recycled at least two items on the citys list of recyclables, such as cans and paper. Since 1996 began, they have added a third item to their list or adopted two practices that reduced waste at the start.

    Support Those Three R Businesses
    One office, like so many in Chicago, has recycling bins throughout the work areas for white office paper and mixed office paper. In the lunchroom are bins for newspapers and catalogs as well as for cans and bottles from nearby vending machines. Corrugated cardboard also is bundled for recycling. Youd think the recycling push came from managers interested in saving money, but it was an employee group that proposed the comprehensive plan and won points for initiative along the way.
    Businesses have to comply with the law, of course, but many, like the office above, go above and beyond whats required. Show them that you appreciate their hard work by patronizing their businesses. When you see the Three Rs in action, say thanks. If you know that a law office donates its used office paper to the local schools for scratch paper or a dry cleaner recycles everyones hangers and plastic, let the managers know you appreciate their thoughtfulness and extra efforts. Make sure you also support business use of products with recycled content. And look for those products yourself!

    Make Recycling Part of Your Neighborhood Festival
    Neighborhood festivals can be a case study in trash productionand proper solid waste handling. Many of the festivals across the city each summer have followed the recycling and trash handling guidelines suggested in Keep Chicago Beautifuls Guide to Recycling at Chicago Summer Festivals. Says Mayor Richard Daley in the Guide, Recycling is good for the environment, helps you control your disposal costs, and helps you keep your festival clean. It is also appreciated and expected by your guests.
    You can keep your costs and litter down by planning carefully for the disposal of packaging, food, and drink, and other trash at your festival. Most of your packaging can be recycled if you keep it clean and separate from the trash. Follow the Guides advice and talk to several waste haulers to find out how they can handle your needs. Youll need to educate your vendors and festival-goers to make recycling easy. Consider an appearance by Les Waste, Keep Chicago Beautifuls mascot, who can entertain your guests and teach them to recycle and dispose of trash properly. This blues-loving blue bear makes the message memorable! When you apply to the Mayors Office of Special Events, 312-744-3315, for your festival permit, you will receive the Guide in your packet. Organizers for the more than 400 festivals in Chicago each year are invited to a meeting in December to hear festival rules and helpful suggestions. Call Keep Chicago Beautiful, 312-984-0448, to schedule an appearance by Les Waste.

    BEAUTIFICATION: Plant for Your Future
    Urbs in HortoCity in a Gardenhas been Chicagos motto for more than a century and a half. Volunteers always have been an important part of preserving and expanding the citys natural beauty. With many years of recognition as a Tree City USA, Chicago takes pride in its millions of trees on public and private lands.

    Nurture the Trees in Our Urban Forest
    A neighborhood group worked with local merchants to plant new trees throughout shopping areas where traffic, road salt, and neglect had taken a toll on earlier plantings.
    The city encourages block clubs and community groups to plant and care for trees and flower beds. The Department of Environments GreenStreets program, 312-744-5714, helps coordinate public-private partnerships for tree planting projects around schools, vaulted sidewalks, and major thoroughfares, such as Lake Shore Drive and State and LaSalle Streets. The Bureau of Forestry, 312-744-4380, also runs Adopt-a-Flowerbed and Adopt-a-Boulevard to help community groups tend flowerbeds along streets and median strips. More than 300 community groups receive free seeds, plants, and bulbs four times a year through Citywide Distribution Days, 312-744-8691. The Department of Streets and Sanitation also offers free parkway trees, 312-744-5000.

    Make Greening a Year-Round Effort
    Many community groups have beautified their neighborhoods with the extensive help of the Community Greening Program, a joint effort of the city and the University of Illinois Cooperative Extension Service. Every year volunteers rejuvenate nearly a hundred gardens or landscape areas.
    Representatives of more than 100 community groups a year attend five Community Greening workshops to learn how to improve city landscapes or create new gardens, 312-744-8691. After the workshops, the groups get soil, plants, and tools to carry out their plans. With the help of labor from the Green Corps Program, 312-744-8691, community members work on building raised beds, planting, weeding, and mulching.

    Other resources for neighborhood gardeners include: the Chicago Botanic Gardens Horticulture Department, which helps community groups with planting projects over a three-year period, 847-835-8254; the Urbs in Horto Fund, a special fund administered by the Chicago Community Trust that awards grants to block clubs and other groups for tree and plant projects, 312-372-3356; Treekeepers, a seven-week program to teach people about tree care, in which participants are expected to volunteer 36 hours to community tree care in Chicago, 312-427-4256; and the Chicago Park District conservatories in Lincoln and Garfield Parks, which offer free gardening classes, 312-638-1766.

    Give Christmas in July a New Meaning
    The residents of one community did some on-the-spot recycling in mid-January. Bringing their Christmas treesminus the lights, tinsel, and ornaments, of courseto Lincoln Park, they watched their trees get chipped into mulch for the shrub and flower beds that they enjoy all spring and summer in their neighborhood.
    Some 22 parks are transformed into Christmas tree recycling sites on a mid-January Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Call the citys GreenStreets program, 312-744-5714 (Telecommunications Device for the Deaf, 312-744-2971). You can take the fragrant mulch with you or leave it for someone else.

    Plant a Community Garden
    An enormous vegetable garden grew out of a former vacant lot, thanks to a community group that linked up with a neighborhood school. Individual families had plots, and the school created a hands-on learning farm for students. Volunteers from the neighborhood help schoolchildren with the farm, strengthening community ties all the way around. The students make a big harvest meal for volunteers in the fall.
    A community garden can be a great source of pride for your neighborhood. Find a lot within walking distance of the homes of people who will participate. Make sure its in a safe place, with six hours of sunlight and access to water. Most vacant lots can be leased for little or no money; check with the city about land ownership (312-744-7195). Set up a steering committee of interested neighbors to establish rules and guidelines for operations. Contact the Clean & Green program to see how the city can help, 312-744-5000 (Telecommunications Device for the Deaf, 312-744-8599). The Chicago Park District, 312-747-0545, also offers open space in parks for vegetable gardens tended by schoolchildren. Wherever your community garden is, perhaps you can use the produce you grow to help needy local residents.

    Compost Your Organic Matter
    One block group maintained a compost pile in its garden, using the rich soil it produced to fertilize vegetables and herbs as well as the flowerbeds planted to beautify the neighborhood.
    Find a shady spot. Use grass clippings (above and beyond those you leave on your lawn to help it stay robust and green), spent but healthy garden plants, kitchen scraps (including egg shells and coffee grounds, but not meat, bones, oils, or dairy products), leaves, straw, hay, and sawdust from untreated wood. Avoid coals, charcoal, dog feces, cat litter, and pesticides. Mix them in a 6 layer, add a shovel full of soil or old compost, and sprinkle with water to moisten the mixture to the wetness of a squeezed-out sponge. Repeat the layers, aerating and watering as needed. Call the City of Chicago Department of Environment, 312-744-7606, for further tips. If you dontcompost your organic matter, you need to put it in tall biodegradable paper bags, which you can buy at supermarkets and hardware and drug stores, for pickup with your regular trash.

    Paint and Repair Homes for Seniors
    The home of a lucky senior citizen got a facelift from neighbors using donated materials from the Department of Agings Light Up Chicago program. Volunteers repaired the wooden steps and gave the house a fresh coat of paint during a community spring cleanup day.
    Call 312-744-5795 to see about supplies, such as paint and lumber, you can use to help senior citizens repair and maintain their homes.

    LITTER PREVENTION: Maintain Your Neighborhood
    Research shows that people litter for three main reasons. First, they feel no sense of ownership for a property, even a public park. Second, they think someone else will clean up after them. Third, they see litter already accumulated and think a little more wont matter. What is the message for community groups? Clean up the neighborhood and then maintain a litter-free environment with individual and group efforts and continuing community education.

    Educate Your Neighbors and Businesses
    A talk by a city official during the lunch break of a spring cleanup helped educate a small group about the sources of litter and ways to prevent it. Two people went on to print and distribute a flyer throughout their neighborhood that outlined what they had learned. Merchants were happy to post the flyer in store windows to show their support. A nearby car wash donated plastic litterbags that a local scout troop distributed to residents. At successive cleanup days, residents have had noticeably less litter to clean up.
    The seven primary sources of litter are: (1) household trash; (2) commercial refuse sources, such as dumpsters; (3) construction and demolition sites; (4) trucks with uncovered loads; (5) loading docks; (6) motorists; and (7) pedestrians. People can set examples for one anotherespecially childrenby not dropping trash on the sidewalks or streets, carrying a litterbag in their cars, and making sure trashbin lids are securely fastened and dumpster doors are closed. Community leaders can go a step further, reminding local businesses to make sure trucks are covered and visiting local construction sites to let workers see that the neighborhood is committed to a litter-free environment.

    Adopt a Site
    Many groups can adopt neighborhood sites to keep clean. In one area, the Boy Scouts, the Girl Scouts, a teachers union, and several businesses each agreed to watch a street for litter. The number of adopted streets grew over time. This process created the sense of ownership necessary to keep an area clean. When kids walked down the street, they were more likely to pick up trash and put it in the proper receptacles than they were to add to the litter problem.
    Contact the citys Clean & Green program, 312-744-5000, and GreenStreets program, 312-744-5714, to get started. Usually the process begins with a cleanup of litter, leaves, and any graffiti. The city can supply rakes, trashbags, and paint. You will need to find and organize the people to do the work, using flyers, posters, notices in local papers and on bulletin boards, and phone calls. Then add or replace the trees and plant flowers to beautify the area.


    AT YOUR FINGERTIPS: Who, Where, and What
    City of Chicago Departments     
    Mayor's Office of Inquiry and Information			312-744-4000
    RESOURCES

    City of Chicago Departments     
    Mayor's Office of Inquiry and Information 					 312-744-4000

    
Commission on Animal Care and Control                          312-747-1382       
Department on Aging (Light Up Chicago program)                 312-744-5795       

    Department of Buildings                                     312-744-3400       
121 N. LaSalle, Room 900, Chicago, 60602                                          
Abandoned Buildings Division (Board Up program)                312-744-6140       
Building Inspection Division                                   312-744-3405       
Code Enforcement Bureau                                        312-744-3409       
Court Demolition Program                                       312-744-5056       
Fast Track Demolition Program                                  312-744-3422       
Large Abandoned Building Transfer Program                      312-744-3122       
Special Inspection Section                                     312-744-7816       

    Office of Cable Communication (community news)             312-744-4052       
Commission on Chicago Hist. and Architect. Landmarks           312-744-3200       
Chicago Public Library                                         312-747-4090       
Office of the City Clerk                                       312-744-6861       
Office of the City Treasurer                                   312-744-3367       
Department of Consumer Services                                312-744-9400       
Department of Cultural Affairs                                 312-744-8923       

    Department of Environment                                  312-744-7606       
30 N. LaSalle, 25th Floor, Chicago 60602                                          
Complaints                                                     312-744-7672       
Compliance                                                     312-744-8908       
Energy                                                         312-744-8901       
Natural Resources                                              312-744-5801       
Public Education                                               312-744-5716       
Recycling Coordinator                                          312-744-5917       
Solid Waste Management                                         312-744-5721       
Toxic Pollution Control Unit                                   312-744-9377       

    Department of Fire                                             312-744-6666       
Department of Health                                           312-747-9884       
Department of Housing                                          312-747-9000       
Commission on Human Relations                                  312-744-4111       
Office of Inquiry & Information                                312-744-6671       
Municipal Reference Library                                    312-744-4994       
Office for People with Disabilities                            312-744-7209       
Chicago Police Department                                      312-744-5501       
Department of Planning and Development                         312-744-9476       
Department of Purchases, Contracts and Supplies                312-744-4900       

    Department of Sewers                                        312-747-8060       
333 S. State St., Room 410, Chicago, 60604                                        
24-Hour Complaint/Emergency Number                             312-744-5000       
Inspection Division                                            312-747-7890       

    Mayor's Office of Special Events                          312-744-3315       

    Department of Streets & Sanitation                        312-744-4611       
121 N. LaSalle, Room 700, Chicago, 60602                                          
Bureau of Forestry/General Superintendent                      312-744-4393       
Green Streets                                                  312-744-5714       
Bureau of Rodent Control                                                          
Dead Animal Recovery Section                                   312-744-7959       
Director of Rodent Control                                     312-744-6465       
Bureau of Sanitation                                                              
Code Enforcement Division                                      312-744-5027       
Vacant Lot Coordinator                                         312-744-7195       
General Superintendent                                         312-744-4583       
General Support Division/Carts                                 312-744-4587       
Solid Waste Management Division                                312-744-4571       
Refuse Collection Coordinator                                  312-744-4577       
Bureau of Street Operations                                                       
1700 W. 119th Street, Chicago, 60643                                              
General Superintendent                                         312-747-8623       
Graffiti Blasters                                              312-747-1731                                                                                  
Street Sweeping                                                312-744-8237       
Bureau of Traffic Services                                                        
1248 W. Washington Blvd., Chicago, 60607                                          
Abandoned Auto                                                 312-686-4957       
Auto Pound Division                                            312-686-4965       
General Superintendent                                         312-686-4959       
Towing Division                                                312-686-4520       

    Department of Transportation                               312-744-3674       
30 N. LaSalle Suite 1100, Chicago, 60602                                         
Bureau of Streets                                                                 
Asphalt Maintenance/Repairs                                    312-747-7504       
Concrete Maintenance/Repairs                                   312-747-6550       
General Superintendent/Streets                                 312-747-6498       
Signs & Markings Division                                      312-747-2210       
Information/Complaints                                         312-744-3674       
Neighborhood Improvements/Alleys                               312-744-8063       
50/50 Sidewalks Program                                        312-744-4537       
Streetscaping/Model Block                                      312-744-5900       

    Department of Water                                         312-744-7001       
1000 E. Ohio Street, Level +25, Chicago, 60611                                    
Complaints                                                     312-744-7038       
Department of Zoning                                           312-744-3507       
Zoning Board of Appeals                                        312-744-3887       

    Chicago Park District                                       312-747-1469       
Green Team                                                     312-747-2121       
Garfield and Lincoln Park Conservatories                       312-638-1766 
		Aldermanic Office		Streets & Sanitation Office
Ward 1		312-744-3063/3074			312-744-5523
Ward 2		312-744-6836/9867			312-747-5054
Ward 3		312-744-8734/6712			312-747-6181
Ward 4		312-744-2690/2691			312-747-0860
Ward 5		312-744-6832/3195			312-747-7900
Ward 6		312-744-6868/0670			312-747-8776
Ward 7		312-744-6833/3127			312-747-9873
Ward 8		312-744-3075/3098/5662			312-747-7804
Ward 9		312-744-6838/3061			312-747-3616
Ward 10		312-744-3078/5687			312-747-8081
Ward 11		312-744-6663/4096/4097			312-747-7222
Ward 12		312-744-3040/3068			312-747-3232
Ward 13		312-744-3076/3058			312-747-6719
Ward 14		312-744-3380/3381			312-747-0808
Ward 15		312-744-6850/6854			312-747-3220
Ward 16		312-744-3069/3184			312-747-0016
Ward 17		312-744-6827/3064			312-747-0093
Ward 18		312-744-6856/3087			312-747-3655
Ward 19		312-744-3072/5682			312-747-0028
Ward 20		312-744-6840/5688			312-747-6017
Ward 21		312-744-4810/4811			312-747-2866
Ward 22		312-744-9491/9492			312-747-5205
Ward 23		312-744-6828/5683			312-747-5588
Ward 24		312-744-6839/6849			312-747-5060
Ward 25		312-744-6845/6846/0584			312-747-5094
Ward 26		312-744-6853/4198			312-747-4558
Ward 27		312-744-6124/6125			312-747-2240
Ward 28		312-744-3066/3097			312-747-5025
Ward 29		312-744-3070/8805			312-747-9707
Ward 30		312-744-3304/3305			312-747-7338
Ward 31		312-744-6102/6123			312-747-3236
Ward 32		312-744-6567/6574/6573			312-747-8618
Ward 33		312-744-6825/6826			312-747-1451
Ward 34		312-744-6820/6829			312-747-5261
Ward 35		312-744-6835/3109			312-747-0227
Ward 36		312-744-6857/7947/6571			312-747-4030
Ward 37		312-744-8019/5312			312-747-6583
Ward 38		312-744-6811/6812			312-747-5075
Ward 39		312-744-7242/7243			312-747-8163
Ward 40		312-744-6858/7248			312-747-8387
Ward 41		312-744-3208/3942			312-747-2331
Ward 42		312-744-3062/3065			312-747-5026
Ward 43		312-744-3071/5685			312-747-4555
Ward 44		312-744-3073/3133			312-747-5028
Ward 45		312-744-6841/5684			312-747-3084
Ward 46		312-744-6831/5694			312-747-5030
Ward 47		312-744-3180/4021			312-747-0111
Ward 48		312-744-6860/6834			312-747-2130
Ward 49		312-744-3067/3080			312-747-0940
Ward 50		312-744-6855/6106			312-747-3099

Cook County Offices
Animal Control						708-974-6140
Building and Zoning					312-443-7693
Forest Preserve District of Cook County	800-870-3666
	HQ, 536 N. Harlem Ave., River Forest 60305	312-261-8400
	Picnic Permits, Rm. #608, County Bldg., 	312-443-6580
	118 N. Clark St., Chicago, 60602
State of Illinois Offices
Governor-Chicago					312-814-2121
Lieutenant Governor-Chicago				312-814-5220
All Constituent Services				800-843-5848
Environmental Protection Agency-Chicago			312-814-6026
Department of Natural Resources-Chicago			312-814-205-5724
Illinois Delegation to U.S. Congress
Call U.S. Capitol and ask for individual lawmakers	202-224-3121

Not-for-Profit Organizations

Chicago Botanic Garden 					847-835-8254
 (Horticulture Department)

Chicago Cares 						312-715-4250
 (short-term volunteers)

City Space 						312-744-5822
 (a coalition concerned with "greening" projects)

City Year 						312-464-9899
 (volunteer corps and one-day program)

Friends of the Chicago River				312-939-0490

Friends of the Parks 					312-922-3307

Keep Chicago Beautiful 					312-984-0448
 (creator of this guide)

Lake Michigan Federation (beach sweep)	 		312-939-0838

Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago		312-738-2227
 (community organization)

Take Action! 						312-883-9596
 (newsletter to recruit volunteers)

Treekeepers 						312-427-4256
 (tree-care training)

Urbs in Horto Fund (c/o the Chicago Community Trust)	312-372-3356

    KEEP CHICAGO BEAUTIFUL: Helping the Neighborhoods
    Keep Chicago Beautiful has been an ally of the City of Chicago and its neighborhoods for almost a decade.

    As the largest affiliate city of Keep America Beautifulthe national nonprofit public education organizationKeep Chicago Beautiful works to inform, educate, and inspire people to preserve Chicagolands environment and natural beauty and improve waste handling practices.

    According to Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, Keep Chicago Beautifuls work in educating the public on solid waste issues and recycling, and in linking the government to private business, is invaluable.

    Neighborhoods: A Resource and Reference Handbook represents Keep Chicago Beautifuls latest effort to reach out to the 176 neighborhoods that make our city rich and diverse.

    The organizations award-winning Guide to Recycling at Summer Festivals has helped many communities plan for the solid waste issues that arise at fairs and festivals. Neighborhood groups also have won Clean Home Chicago Awards from Keep Chicago Beautiful for cleanup and beautification projects. These awards have in turn inspired more neighborhood projects, increased volunteerism, and more awards.

    Les Waste, the organizations blue bear mascot, appears at festivals and community events across Chicagoland, teaching children and adults alike about integrating their solid waste handling practices. He is also the featured character on school lunch milk cartons, teaching children how to conserve natural resources and handle trash properly.

    In the belief that public education starts with children, Keep Chicago Beautiful pioneered an environmental education program in 1989 in the Chicagoland public, private, and archdiocese schools. More than 2,000 specially trained teachers since then have taught the basics of sound solid waste management to more than 100,000 children.

    With the motto, If youre not part of the solution, youre part of the pollution, Keep Chicago Beautiful continues to work with the City of Chicago and its neighborhoods, schools, and businesses to raise public awareness of solid waste issues and educate people about how to preserve our citys beauty.

    For more information, contact Keep Chicago Beautiful, 25 East Washington, Suite 1500, Chicago, IL 60602, 312-984-0448 (phone), 312-984-0479 (fax).



    |KCB and its Members| |Quiz Your SWM Smarts| |The Les Waste Story|
    |KCB Teacher Workshops|
    |Clean Home Chicago Awards|
    |Neighborhoods: A Resource and Reference Handbook|
    |Important Phone Numbers|
    |Guide to Recyclcing at Chicago Summer Festivals|
    |Cleanups and Graffiti Removal| |Finding and Organizing Volunteers|
    |Beautification and Litter Prevention|
    |The Three Rs: Reduce, Recycle and Reuse|