Today we feature a guest column from WorldChanging Chicago allies Jonathan Pirc and Jenna Rose, part of the team at A Fresh Squeeze. The Chicago-centric green-living web resource is approaching its one-year anniversary; here Pirc and Rose share some of the motivations and networking efforts that made the site a reality.
So you want to save the world? Here’s how to start.
We don’t think we’re being too bold in saying that Chicago is the greatest city in America. Maybe even in the world. It has amazing parks, a beautiful lake and lakefront, and tons of people trying to make this world a better place.
And we want to help them. That’s why we started A Fresh Squeeze, a company devoted to making it easier for Chicagoans to live a greener life.
In May 2006, a few of us were sitting around, talking about our own efforts to be eco-friendly. Whether we were biking to work, eating locally grown produce or choosing energy-efficient products, we all felt that we could be doing more. But where should we start?
The lack of relevant, easy-to-understand information was frustrating. Most of the advice we found was either too general or beyond our means. We began to wonder: are other people having the same problem? Are there other Chicagoans who sincerely want to lessen their environmental impact, but don’t know how?
That’s when we decided to create a website that would offer simple, locally-relevant information on green living. Each week, we create two articles with ideas on how to live, work, commute, eat, shop, relax and travel sustainably. We keep these stories short and to-the-point, and we hope that they’re making people’s lives a bit easier and the city a bit greener.
Take a minute to visit A Fresh Squeeze. Subscribing to our e-newsletter is free and you can browse previous tips in our article archive. We love to hear your ideas for future articles, and submitting topic suggestions through our Contribute page is easy.
Many thanks to Worldchanging -- another ally in the fight to make Chicago the greenest city in the world!
