The Evanston Green Living Festival is an opportunity for residents to get inspired to make healthy, green changes to their lifestyles and support local businesses. This year’s theme – “Staying Healthy, Staying Alive: Streets Alive!” – featured dozens of businesses that make products or services that empower individuals to make those changes, as well as organizations that are working to create a more sustainable world.
“Open streets events such as Streets Alive allow residents to experience their cities without the usual interference of motorized traffic,” said Natalie Watson, a board member with Citizens’ Greener Evanston and Streets Alive coordinator. “In these newly created open spaces, people come together as a community, get exercise and fresh air, and discover that they can easily traverse miles without getting in a car.”
This year’s highlights included a green market, edible gardens, environmental arts activities for kids, exhibits in cutting-edge tactical urbanism, alternatives in transportation and energy, and a pop-up parklet. Nissan’s all-electric Leaf and the latest news on Pace suburban bus network’s compressed natural gas bus fleet also were part of the programming. .
The Green Living Festival was presented by NorthShore University HealthSystem, as a featured part of Streets Alive, which is organized by the Evanston Environmental Association (EEA), Citizens’ Greener Evanston (CGE) and the city of Evanston.
Gina Grillo is a freelancer.