Sure, I haven’t written here in months. And I haven’t handed out all my issues of Mosaic to the people I promised them (“Jim Chelsvig, director of the River Forest, Ill., Trailside Museum, please visit Customer Service. We have your child/interview.”). It seems like the wheels have stopped turning on our project. But Americans can never be done. Even those with anti-green histories can change.

As for the subject of our magazine, the Greening of Chicago, America is Chicago. All eyes are on us as the new City of Kings. We have given the world a new president, and, whether you agree with his methods or not, he needs our help to show the world what a steel-boned, smog-exhaling city can do to save itself from its sordid Industrial Age past.

The presidential motorcade on its way to Hyde Park might be adding a few extra hydrocarbons to our air supply. But gosh darn it, we’ll clean that up, too. We have a city and a country to work on now, don’t we?

Maybe I sound like I have an agenda, and certainly I do. But I am not telling you guys what it is, because I just have that much journalistic and blogging integrity and because it doesn’t really matter. Whether public or private saviors, we know we don’t want to see the world burn and boil.

So it isn’t a great surprise that the Forest Preserve District has begun advertising with a new web address, http://www.soclose2you.org/. Named for the locally impressive forest preserves we have (64,000 acres–the largest preserves next to a major metropolitan area in the world), the district has decided to try to convey that to millions of high-rise dwellers. It is only a single page, designed to aim your web surfing to the Forest Preserve’s main website and volunteering page.

The only suggest I would make is to convey really how much we have, and then convince people to want to save it. Telling people they don’t want to lose their entire natural world might not work so much after so many disaster movies, Inconvenient Truths, and assorted other doomsayers.

Tell the people they want to keep their awesome 64,000 acres. It’s less doom and gloom, and you might make more friends. Remember that? Two Cs, “convey” and “convince.” “Less doom and gloom.” “Make more friends.”

Chicago is playing the greenest host this Saturday and Sunday to a Green Festival, full of green businesses and speakers on the greening of America, green, green, green!

Sorry, I could not help my jolly green self. Here’s the info:

Chicago Green Festival
May 17 & 18, 2008
Show Hours: Saturday 10 am – 8pm, Sunday 11 am – 6pm
Venue and Address: Navy Pier, 600 E. Grand Avenue, Chicago, IL

Really, do you need a zip code?

Chicago was the first city to ban foie gras, a dish of buttery, fattened liver created by overstuffing ducks and geese… and then by removing the organ in a barehanded sacrifice.

KALI MAAAA!!!

Okay, so I’m a little Indiana Jones-addled right now. Yet I think it is appropriately gruesome, and I can’t say I support the council’s decision to reverse its ban on the delicacy either way.

Look: I like liver. I like duck. I like anything that’s “fattened,” “buttery,” and not government-sanctioned. I also like people not causing horrible pain to animals.

When you know your duck has been Mortal Kombat-ed into a convenient, bite-sized French cuisine, it is tough not to imagine it screaming. Though it might enjoy all the food, as ducks like to eat a lot. So, well, enjoying all the food, then screaming in the morning over gaining the extra pounds. THAT’S torture.

Here’s a tip, council: stop telling us what we’re eating. Stop talking about it. Legislate, but don’t tell us, and keep it all behind closed doors for once. I don’t want to know, Freedom of Information Act be damned! Seriously, I’m scared what’ll happen when you guys tell me how my other food is made.

The fifth anniversary edition of Mosaic explores environmental issues in Chicago, including recycling, green building design, urban farming and green rooftops.

Mosaic is produced entirely by students, who report, write and edit the articles, take photographs and complete the design and layout.

A companion Web version of Mosaic is available online at www.luc.edu/orgs/mosaic2008.

The fact that a holiday has its own flag is astounding. It’s green, it’s bright, it’s got some Greek lettering. And that’s cool, but my real question is: the environmental movement likes the fact that the flag of the country producing a fifth of the world’s pollution is the basis the environmental movement’s flag?

This is more a condemnation of the US than anything. However, we have our bright spots. I noticed President Bush is finally putting together some real legislation. While it’s very little, it’s still better than what he WAS going to leave our next president.

The US is starting to put hybrid cars out on the road in bigger numbers than thought possible on our roads. Maybe it’s the fact that gas hit $3.50 a gallon average, but us American green troopers will take it as a victory.

And let’s never forget the most important part of the greening of America: CNN putting a little green logo in its corner for Earth Day.

A month ago, the Vatican announced environmentalism was a spiritual responsibility, much like Sen. Obama declared even more months ago. Polluting is one of the deadly sins of our times.

While often seen as a conservative force in the world and not conservationist (a bad stereotype discussed in my last post), the Church’s stance does not surprise me.

Catholics are known for seeing technology as a force for evil. Computers and cellphones interrupt our peacefulness and retreats. The constant bombardment of electronic signals disrupt our lives and arguably our health. Not to mention, Rome will definitely be the last church to ordain online.

We need the world to survive and knowingly harming the world with every little piece of trash is a sin. How can a person care so little about everyone and everything surrounding them to not find a recycling bin for that pack of aluminum cans? I cannot disagree with this position: I am heartily for a modern crackdown on gluttony and sloth, though I doubt the rush to confession Benedict might hope to see.

I’ll remember though. Every time I pick up a piece of trash, it’ll be a bit of a genuflect to get it.

A liberal myself, I was skeptical to check out a book about environmentalism by a former Republican Speaker of the House. While I don’t agree with all his more specific ideas (many regulations would go down the drain), the concept that it is not the government’s job to save us. The private sector–that is, us–has to be the driving force for environmentalism.

Grassroots work, and not just grassroots campaigning, works. The Forest Preserve helps woodland restoration, but much of the labor and saving is done by the Desplaines River Valley Volunteers in my trend story (to be published very soon!).

In a case Gingrich mentions, the formerly publicly-owned Atlanta Zoo fell apart under government leadership. Taken control of by private yet declared non-profit groups, the Atlanta Zoo is said to be thriving. I have not visited there for a journalistic inspection, but I will take Gingrich’s word for it.

Closer to home, Lincoln Park Zoo has tricked itself out in advertising. It is a similar private model, relying on advertising and donations more than government funding to keep the zoo free of charge. Sometimes this looks disgusting, but it is tolerable for the ability to see a penguin waddle for free.

Hear me, Morgan Freeman? $9? I waited for March of the Penguins to be syndicated on Animal Planet. With commercials.

When EcoFest was held a few weeks ago, I got to speak with the student rep of an organic food company. He was promoting a comparison between Whole Foods, Dominick’s, and his company’s prices.

Whole Foods: $17
Dominick’s: $14
His company: $10

The most surprising thing was not his company’s prices. Yes, their fruit was delicious and beautiful, but there are some factors not added into that mix. Whole Foods and Dominick’s add in the taxes and shipping costs. His company wouldn’t say.

The reason I’m not giving the name of the company? Besides the fact that I’m pretty down on them and that I forgot the name? It’s that it’s not the important part of this story.

More important was the price difference between Whole Foods and Dominick’s. It’s only $3 more for, on the whole, six or so pounds of better quality food!

You’d expect Whole Foods, on such products, much worse price, but it’s only around 20 percent more. I expected a 40-60 percent increase at least.

So maybe it’s not as tough to buy organic foods as I used to think.