Stories by Patty Wetli

No pandemic silver lining here, but the good news is that healthier ozone levels mean an uncommonly strong and stubborn polar vortex is finally loosening its grip.

We’ve had a string of wet days, which stresses Chicago's combined sewer system. Here are conservation tips to minimize the chance of an overflow.

What to do with groceries has been the source of much debate. But the amount of the virus that survives on surfaces is a tiny fraction of the original material, experts say. 

Too many visitors are flocking to the most popular forest preserves and ignoring social distancing rules, prompting weekend parking lot closures through the end of May, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle announced Friday.

The Lincoln Square mainstay closed in 2017 and filmmaker Matt Richmond set out to learn why. The documentary will stream for free on April 30.

Face masks and eyeglasses don’t mix. Here’s how to keep your glasses fog-free while you cover up to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Chicago was a hub for environmental activism on the first Earth Day, and it remains a pioneer today.

Apollo 8 astronauts were the first to ever witness an earthrise, a view of the planet that put its fragility into perspective and helped propel the environmental movement.

Environmental organizations have had to scale back plans for the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. Get ready for lots of livestreams and calls for digital action this week. Here’s a sampling of what’s on offer.

In the midst of the coronavirus outbreak, we’re going to have to clean up the planet individually. Creative ideas from the Earth Day Network include “plogging” and #TrashTag.

Environmental organizations have petitioned the EPA to establish rules requiring companies to minimally disclose to the public that they’ve stopped monitoring and reporting pollution during the COVID-19 pandemic.

An image of Lurie Garden in full summer bloom—and it’s “wonderfully romantic glow”—was declared the overall winner in the Royal Horticultural Society’s annual competition.

Get ready to belt out “I Won’t Back Down” and “Sweet Home Chicago” during citywide singalongs.

Lawsuits have now been filed against the developer and other parties involved in the mishandled demolition of a former coal plant in Little Village, which recently left the neighborhood covered in a plume of unknown particles. 

Garden centers are juggling an anticipated increase in demand with social distancing concerns. Now, many are offering online ordering, no-contact delivery and curbside pickup as options.

Could this year get any worse? Well yeah, it could. It once snowed in June, according to the National Weather Service.

Hilco Redevelopment Partners issues an apology and outlined corrective actions following a demolition that left the Little Village neighborhood covered by a plume of dust over the weekend.

The moon will align with Mars, Saturn and Jupiter in the pre-dawn hours this week.

Sanitation crews have been seeing a surge in coronavirus-related items placed in recycling bins. They belong in the trash.

An influx of visitors has made social distancing difficult, so the preserve was padlocked over the weekend. Nearby, Rosehill Cemetery has also closed its grounds to the general public.

An active community of sewers in Chicago and across the U.S. has stepped up to the challenge of making cloth masks to help combat the spread of the coronavirus.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker called out the hashtag himself during Thursday’s press briefing, saying the daily #SpritzersWithPritzker tweets bring smiles to his office and staff. Meet the Forest Park woman behind it.

The Illinois Soybean Association is contributing raw materials and packaging to the Chicago Park District, which is producing 600 gallons of hand sanitizer for its staff and other essential workers.

The University of Illinois at Chicago will administer a groundbreaking agreement that encourages energy companies and transportation entities, among others, to voluntarily convert right-of-way land to pollinator-friendly habitat.

As the coronavirus continues to spread, the Chicago Transit Authority is announcing additional safety measures for its employees and riders to promote social distancing, including rear-door boarding on buses effective Thursday.

Juanita Irizarry, executive director of Friends of the Parks, is worried that if Chicagoans flocks to the city’s parks on this warm spring day, officials will crack down on access to all our green spaces.