Our beloved Chicago is making strides to become more and more sustainable. The latest development in their efforts is joining with the RecycleBank program. This program tracks and actually pays the every day household recycler for the amount of goods they put into recycling instead of throwing into the landfill.

Here’s how it works: You earn points for both curbside recycling and electronics recycling. The RecycleBank program keeps track of it. Once a certain amount of points is accumulated, you can redeem them for gift cards at big names like Sears, Bed Bath and Beyond, Target.com, Kraft, CVS, Dick’s sporting goods, and more. Pretty easy, right?

The city of Chicago (the first city in Illinois to partner with RecycleBank) is kicking off this program for 38,000 households. I think the results will be extremely positive. Who wouldn’t recycle for money?

Are there any other great recycling programs out there? Do you recycle? Let us know!

One of America’s biggest national holidays takes place this Saturday, Independence Day, or more commonly known as the Fourth of July. The summer federal holiday commemorates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence and is often associated with parades, barbecues, carnivals, picnics and lets not forget giant explosions of colorful FIREWORKS!

Illinois law prohibits the use of fireworks without a permit so we’ve to quench our pyrotechnic tendencies and just enjoy the masterful explosive work of the experts. Downtown Chicago starts the holiday off with Independence Eve Fireworks at Grant park July 3rd at 7:30 and then Navy Pier has their fireworks July 4th at 9 pm.

Trying to capture the memories of this explosive holiday can be a little tricky. Fireworks aren’t the easiest pictures to take. Dealing with dark lighting and fast explosion of colors can lead to blurry smoky pictures. Here are a couple tips and tricks.

1)  Have the correct exposure: Set the camera to manual mode and try setting the camera shutter speed to 1.6 seconds.
2)  Use a tripod to avoid shaking the camera.
3)  Don’t bother using the flash. The fireworks act as their own flash.
4)  Use a Low ISO setting. Try shooting at or around 100.
5)  Don’t depend on automatic settings. Since fireworks are all about lighting, the automatic readings are going to constantly try to adjust moment to moment. Odds are not in your favor.

Please feel free to share any other tips or some of your favorite firework pictures!

This year Saint Patrick’s Day fell during the week (aka today) but this past weekend was all the traditional Chicago festivities such as the dying of the Chicago River. Each year over 100,000 people come out to see the river change colors.

For the past 43 years Chicago has been known for it’s St Patrick’s Day tradition of dying the Chicago River green in honor of the holiday. A great stop motion video of the dying process from the Wrigley Building was taken by Anthony J Stewart. The river was dyed at 10:45 on the day of the parade (Saturday March 14) and the recipe to turn it a vibrant shade of green, quite a difference then it’s normal murky shade of green, is top secret. Other cites have tried to replicate this great feat and have come up short. For those concerned about the environmental effects, it has been thoroughly tested by independent chemists and has been proven safe for the environment.

What people do not know that this is a privately funded operation and not by the city of Chicago. The Chicago journeymen Plumbers Local Union 130 U.A. have been sponsoring the parade since 1957. In 1961 Stephen Bailey, business manager of the union back then, was approached by a plumber who was wearing white coveralls. These coveralls had been mostly stained or dyed a perfect shade of green, an Irish green. Bailey asked how the coveralls got this way. He discovered that the dye used to detect leaks into the river turned this perfect shade of green. A tradition was born. For more information on the story behind dying the river check out www.greenchicagoriver.com.

Have a safe and Happy St Patrick’s Day!