Join past, present, and future Dunes to Downtown riders at the incredibly cool offices of Digitas, on the 11th floor.

Check out our plans for this year’s 62 and 125 mile rides from Chicago, to the Indiana Dunes, and back.

2012 - 4th Annual Ride to Recharge, at the Indiana Dunes. © Frank Rico

Digitas Chicago © Torchia Associates, Inc.

Who: You, of course.

What: Ride Info Social

Where: Digitas Chicago, 11th Floor, 180 N. LaSalle, Chicago IL 60601

When: Monday, June 10, 2013 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm

Why: Learn more about Climate Cycle’s Dunes to Downtown Ride.

How: Hang out, have a beer, chat.

RSVP to our Facebook event, or drop us a line via email.

The post You’re Invited! Ride Info Social – at Digitas – June 10th appeared first on Climate Cycle.

Climate Cycle/Climate Steps Grant Park Award Ceremony and RAP from Radek Skalski on Vimeo.

The post Watch this! 5th Annual Ride to Recharge and Climate Steps appeared first on Climate Cycle.

Bobby’s Bike Hike, the official bicycle rental company for Climate Cycle, is offering all-day rentals for riders for only $25.

Pick up Saturday, May 18th starting at 8:30 am, and return by 6:00 pm.

Rentals include a bicycle, helmet, and lock.

To make a reservation, call 312-915-0995 or click here.

The post Rent a Ride at Bobby’s Bike Hike appeared first on Climate Cycle.

Four years ago, a partnership was formed between Curie Metro High School (Chicago’s 2nd largest high school) and Climate Cycle (an organization then in its infancy). Many flowers have bloomed out of this partnership, among them the largest solar array of any K-12 school in Chicago.

On Friday, April 26, we will commemorate this landmark achievement with a “Solarbration” at Curie Metro High School. It will be a large event for the Curie community that includes many activities, including demos of other Climate Cycle projects within the school.

Please RSVP to Joey Feinstein joey@climatecycle.org if you’d like to attend, along with any questions.

The post Solarbration at Curie Metro High School appeared first on Climate Cycle.

Polaris Students © Tricia Koning

The following is cross-posted from the blog of the Healthy Schools Campaign. Ms. Davis was one of the judges of this year’s Student Showcase.

By Rochelle Davis, HSC President & CEO

Often, big ideas start with the most unexpected of sparks. For the third- and fourth-grade students of Polaris Charter Academy, a big energy-saving idea started with their school mascot: the polar bear. When students learned that the habitat of the polar bear is disappearing due to climate change, they decided to do something about it. The students, upon learning that energy usage is a major contributor to climate change, conducted an energy audit of their own school and created a series of recommendations based on their findings. They found by making simple, fundamental changes, such as reducing light usage and unplugging electronics over the weekend, they could save a significant amount of energy and contribute to a future for their beloved polar bears.

In February, Polaris students presented their work at the 2013 Climate Cycle Soiree, an annual event held by a fantastic Chicago organization that inspires students to explore their environment and prepares them to tackle the sustainability issues of our time.

Climate Cycle encourages teachers to bring environmental/climate change issues to the classroom in a way that empowers students to do something, and I was lucky enough to serve as a judge for this showcase of projects. I am very familiar with the thrill and challenge of running a student competition and it was a fun to be on the other side and judge these students as a part of the event. The Polaris project was just one of a diverse and wonderful range of projects created by amazing, smart kids.

Given our work at HSC, I was also impressed to see so many students taking on issues relating to school food. For Budlong Elementary’s “Greening the Cafeteria” project, students did a very good job of explaining how the food system uses a lot of energy, and connecting that to their own school. Walter Payton College Prep had a fantastic project on the importance of composting. And another group from Polaris presented research on water quality, our sewer system and how this relates to schools. This last project was particularly exciting to me, as the students identified several key sustainability issues and goals that we’ve been discussing related to our green schoolyard initiative.

We applaud the work of our friends at Climate Cycle in giving students a chance to learn about the environment and take action in their own schools and communities — and we applaud the amazing students for the high quality of these projects.

The post On Climate Cycle & How Students Explore Saving the Natural World appeared first on Climate Cycle.

© Goodman Theatre

Hey there, theatergoers! The Goodman was good enough to donate some tickets for The Happiest Song Plays Last, a world premiere production by Pulitzer Prize winner Quiara Alegría Hudes, which opened Saturday, April 13, and runs through May 12.

Register for any of the three events in the 5th Annual Ride to Recharge Series by midnight Wednesday, April 17th, to be entered to win a pair of tickets!

Sign up today for:

1) the classic Ride with its 4, 10, and 20 mile ride distances or

2) the Dunes to Downtown, with distances of 62 miles or 125 miles or

3) Climate Steps, the schools-only walk, with distances of 1.5 and 3 miles.

The post Register by Wednesday, April 17th, and Win Goodman Tickets! appeared first on Climate Cycle.

Watch Songs for Biology: Students Write Hip-Hop to Learn Science on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.

Our Executive Director, Joey Feinstein, has been known to spontaneously combust a rhyme. To combat the effects of climate change, we’re going to have to use all the cross disciplinary tools we have have access to!

Watch Joey freestyle with suggestions from Locke Elementary School’s 6th grade students in “Rocke the Locke Clean Energy Movement!” Join us on May 18th at the 5th Annual Ride to Recharge and Climate Steps to be part of the movement!

The post Rapping and Learning appeared first on Climate Cycle.

Our terrific Event Intern, Jessica Lesniak, helped produce the 2012 Ride to Recharge. © Steve Deku

Internship Overview

The Event Intern will gain first-hand experience in helping to produce a large scale activity-based fundraiser. This internship is ideal for someone who is interested in creating and implementing systems in order to ensure the event operations run smoothly. The intern will have the opportunity to build her/his network in the events industry as well as the environmental, school, and athletic events community. This opportunity is perfect for students majoring in non-profit management, communications or marketing.

Responsibilities

Event Committee Assistance

• Assist event producer with coordination of sponsors, volunteers and exhibitors
• Provide pre and post production event assistance
• Attend event committee meetings and provide administrative assistance (if needed)

Exhibitors at Post-Ride Celebration

• Recruit exhibitors in the green, cycling, and environmental community
• Manage the exhibitor application process
• Check-in exhibitors on event day
• Act as a liaison to exhibitors, sponsors, and volunteers on event day
• Follow up with exhibitors on their ride day experience (potentially distribute an online survey)

Qualifications

• Organized, reliable, responsible, on time, and responsive communicator
• Able to respond to emails within 12 hours Monday – Friday
• Available all day on May 17 and 18th
• Take-initiative attitude
• A fast learner, able to think on your feet
• Thrives in a fast-paced environment
• Interested in getting more involved in the green, school, or cycling community
• Available to attend event committee meetings

Weekly hours will range between 5 – 10 hours during April/May 2013. There is an opportunity to extend and expand this internship upon Climate Cycle staff evaluation in July. This internship is unpaid.

Please send your cover letter and resume to elizabeth@climatecycle.org

The post We’re Looking for an Event Intern! appeared first on Climate Cycle.

Joey Feinstein talks Climate Cycle on WGN 720 AM. © WGN Radio

Executive Director Joey Feinstein took to the airwaves again, Saturday March 9, on WGN Weekend with Bill Moller.

In case you missed it, click here to hear the entire interview:

http://wgnradio.com/2013/03/10/kids-and-climate-change/

The post Check Out Joey’s WGN 720 AM Interview appeared first on Climate Cycle.

Daniela Fernandez and Joey Feinstein at WBEZ, before the interview. © Daniela Fernandez

In February,  radio host Jerome McDonnell interviewed Executive Director Joey Feinstein and Student Leadership Board (SLB) graduate Daniela Fernandez, in the first ever “EcoHeroes” segment on WBEZ’s Worldview 91.5FM. EcoHeroes is “a Worldview series about local people who decided to stand up and make our ecosystem better.”

Joey and Daniela spoke about what inspired each of them to join the Clean. Energy. Movement.

Click below to listen to the interview in its entirety:

The post Listen to Recent WBEZ Interview appeared first on Climate Cycle.