What’s New: Sustainability & Green Initiatives

September is Environmental Awareness Month, and here at Wilmette Park District, Environmental Stewardship isn’t just one of our guiding principles – it’s a part of our identity! Eco-friendly practices have always been a part of our operations, but with so many new and emerging advancements in the field we onboarded an expert in 2023 to guide us into a new chapter. Sustainability Coordinator Lucy Mellen has made great strides advancing sustainable practices in our parks, facilities, programs and day-to-day operations.

A project tackled by Lucy early in her position was cataloguing these advancements as well as publishing the Park District’s Guide To Green Sustainability Plan in an easily accessible section of our website. The Sustainability & Green Initiatives page, published in 2024, is a collection of updates, history and accomplishments, tips to try at home, and resources available to Wilmette residents. As the web page grew, we decided a redesign was needed to keep the content organized and easy to navigate for the community.

In Spring 2026, we completely reorganized the Sustainability & Green Initiatives page, adding new subpages where related content is grouped together. We freshened up content with updates and new details – like digital downloads of the interpretive signs in our parks. We worked with our web developers to create a calendar extension that links directly from our events calendar so you easily keep track of upcoming sustainability events. The latest addition is a map of Nature Play areas in our parks, where kids can interact and explore natural structures and features in the great outdoors!

In the spirit of Environmental Awareness Month, we suggest you take a fresh look at the Sustainability & Green Initiatives page to see all the changes we’ve made. Whether you’re looking for sustainable resources available in Wilmette, planning to join an Environmental Stewardship workday or you want to learn about native plantings in Gillson Park, its all here at your fingertips. Check back for the annual sustainability update anticipated in early 2027!