Stories by Patty Wetli

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.

There hasn’t been a whole lot of good news in 2020, but here’s something to get excited about: Tuesday’s supermoon will be the closest the full moon gets to Earth in 2020, meaning it will look bigger and brighter than any other full moon this year.

Black Chicagoans make up 30% of the city’s population, but 72% of its COVID-19 deaths, according to newly released data. “Those numbers take your breath away,” Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said. “It’s unacceptable. No one should think this is OK.”

No sewing machine? No problem. The surgeon general demonstrates how to make a no-sew cloth mask.

The chorus frog has been filling forest preserves with the sound of its mating calls. Here’s why that’s such good news.

Water and sewer work across Chicago is going forward as planned. That means water shutoffs are possible, even as many city residents follow a statewide stay-at-home order.

Street sweeping season usually kicks off April 1, but with so many Chicagoans (and their cars) staying put, the city decided to improvise.

“Tiger King” has become a streaming sensation during the coronavirus pandemic, but accredited zoos and aquariums aren’t entertained by the unsavory practices on display.

Brutus and Titus, 4-year-old brothers, arrived at their new home in mid-March. Learn more about the African lions during a Facebook Live chat on Thursday.

As one person succinctly summed it up on social media: “We don’t need no April fools jokes … we living in one.”