Nowadays, we hear a lot about recycling, reducing the burning of fossil fuels and going green. , Hearing this makes me wonder how if Chicago is doing anything to help its environment. When I heard we were going to go visit the "Chicago Center for Green Technology", I did not know what to expect. What I found interesting to hear before going to the center was that these types of places help provide employment, make Chicago greener, and it definitely makes Chicago more sustainable.
Once we arrived at the center, I was surprised to read all about what the center provided for the city of Chicago. It was amazing to find out that this was originally built in 1952. This building used to be a building that "recycled construction and road-demolition debris". What left me speechless was the fact that this place had filled "17 acres of land with 70 foot high piles of rubble".
After being taken care of by Major Daley, this site became one of the most important places in the city of Chicago. Chicago Green Tech helps by increasing energy efficiency, reducing vehicle emission and by using less harmful building materials. As we walked around the area, we saw a huge garden, full of different kinds of plants that are native to the area. These plants are being watered naturally with rainwater that has been stored in rain cisterns. These rain cisterns are huge containers that store all of the rain water that falls on the roofs. Instead of falling to the ground or the sewers the water enters the cisterns which conserves up to 12,000 gallons of water. I thought this was amazing.
As we walked around the area, we entered a small house that was all sustainable on its self. It had solar panels for used for the light, it had special cooling device, recycled materials, and toilets that automatically managed the amount of water used.
I thought this house was just amazing. It has a great kitchen, a nice living room, a beautiful bathroom and its benefits are more than enough to take it into consideration when looking for a great home.
The last part of the building that we visited was the roof. To me, this was the most amazing part of the whole tour around the Chicago Green Tech building.
The roof was full of solar panels that provide 28.8kW of power. This system of using solar panels... "converts the sun's light into electricity for the building and provides almost 25 % of the building's power". Seeing how this works is amazing. What we also saw in the roof was a green garden. The garden was very pretty and very green. Even though it has been raining a lot in Chicago, the plants seems to survive the harsh weather. I wish every building had a green roof, which would really help out the environment.
Once the tour was over, I realized how much people take for granted. We have been learning about gentrification, wage theft, harsh working conditions and so many problems that Chicago has faced and is facing throughout its history, but taking time and considering the valuable things is another story. I believe people should find the best solutions to gentrification without affecting the people that are already living in the areas. I think that Chicago is an amazing city with so much potential of becoming a better place for people to live in, and if its people work together, we can all make it work. People need to be aware of their rights as employees, they need to have the opportunity to defend their community against gentrification, but overall, as a nation, we should all focus on changing our daily habits in order to help the environment.
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