Environmental Progress - Fall 2001

Illinois Government Getting "Greener"

Green Government group reports progress but identifies additional goals

The Illinois Green Government Coordinating Council has presented its first report to Gov. George Ryan. In April 2000, the governor signed an executive order calling for state government to serve as a role model for environmental leadership and protection, specifically directing state executive agencies to find ways to conserve raw materials, reduce energy use and cut waste generation. The Council was formed to help state agencies meet those goals.

Making up the Council are representatives of the Illinois Capital Development Board, the departments of Agriculture, Central Management Services, Commerce and Community Affairs, Natural Resources, the Illinois EPA and the Illinois Waste Management and Research Center.

Responses by the state agencies were truly across-the-board. The Department of Corrections, among other things, converted a liquid spray paint system to a powder coat finish in a metal furniture manufacturing operation. The shift significantly reduced volatile organic material emissions and generated an estimated 50 percent savings in raw materials. Numerous agencies replaced obsolete computers, monitors or copiers with equipment that had earned the Energy Star label in a national program developed jointly by U.S. EPA and the U.S. Department of Energy to promote more efficient energy use in equipment. Several switched to copiers with duplicating capacity, generating savings and waste reduction by allowing two-sided printing. Others implemented or expanded existing recycling programs in-house and purchased equipment and supplies with recycled content.

Other "green" activities at one or more of the state's executive agencies included:

• replacing vehicles, as needed, with smaller and more efficient units
• adopting more frequent tire rotation of fleet vehicles to extend tire life
• purchasing flexible fuel vehicles
• using insect predators instead of chemicals for exotic species control
• emphasizing electronic communication to reduce paper waste

The state Department of Transportation utilized more than 1.5 million tons of recycled materials in highway construction, including fly ash, by-product lime, glass beads, blast furnace slag, silica fume, reclaimed asphalt pavement, crushed concrete and boiler slag.

The Department of Revenue realized a total savings of $39,000 by recycling 44 tons of white ledger paper, 345 tons of mixed office paper, 37 tons of cardboard and 41 tons of unbleached paper.

At the Department of Agriculture, wooden shipping pallets are being reused, manure from fairgrounds livestock barns is being used as fertilizer, and recycled water from the nearby sanitary district plant is used for racetrack maintenance, dust control and plant watering at the State Fairgrounds.

The Department of Central Management Services provides services and programs to other state agencies, including telecommunications, motor vehicle purchases, printing, and property management. The department estimates it diverted 132 cubic yards of material from landfills and saved approximately 680 trees by posting award notices in electronic bulletins. High efficiency windows are being used in agency renovation and construction projects, a total of 858 hours of videoconferencing reduced the number of business trips, and more than $2.9 million worth of recycled products were purchased, ranging from appointment calendars and pencils to barricades and traffic cones with recycled content.

In 2002, the Green Government Council plans to create an Internet site for information, assess new lighting efficiency technologies at three state facilities, expand the mini-bin recycling system and participate in improving the I-CYCLE recycling service program.