Company's Green Angle: Redesigning antique furniture to give it a new look, new use and a new purpose. Furniture is one of the leading fillers of landfills, so I save out-of-date pieces by giving them a little Botox!

This week's Business Spotlight features Steven Rosenberg, CEO of Green Purpose, LLC. Steven and his company are providing solutions to help reduce waste associate with operating a business.

 
Name - Steven Rosenberg

Title & Business - Chief Executive Officer of Green Purpose, LLC

What is your business's/company's green angle?  We solve companies' waste stream dilemmas by creating and executing comprehensive collection programs for recyclable, hard-to-recycle and non-recyclable items. We provide all of the necessary resources, education and legwork to ensure that our clients' programs are a success and are saving them money.

Where did you find the idea? - I came up with the idea after viewing all of the overflowing dumpsters in my town and realizing that most of the items in them had no business going to a landfill; They could either be reused, recycled or repurposed into other fully-functioning products instead.

Do you feel a sense of accomplishment by contributing to the environment? Please tell us how. - Yes, I do. Many of our business clients generate very large volumes of both recyclable and non-recyclable materials, and it is extremely rewarding to see how our services have helped them divert substantial portions of their waste streams from the landfill.

During these past few weeks we've interviewed many businesses and locals who are affiliated with Green City Market so we thought we would speak with Dana Benigno, Executive Director of Green City Market to see what it was all about.



Name: Dana Benigno

Title: Executive Director of Green City Market

Favorite thing about Chicago?: Definitely the food!

Where in Chicago have you lived?: I've lived in Chicago for 22 years now ... I've lived in Lincoln Park, Gold Coast, River North, Old Town, and am currently located in Ukrainian Village. It's my favorite so far.
Green City Market also offers several different educational programs available to the community as part of fulfilling their mission to promote a healthier society and appreciation for local, fresh, sustainably raised produce and products. Click here for more information on their various programs.

This special edition of Business Spotlight features one of the greenest restaurants in the nation, Uncommon Ground, and their Organic Rooftop Farm Director, Dave Snyder.


Name: Dave Snyder

Title: Organic Rooftop Farm Director

What neighborhood do you live in?: Garfield Park

Favorite thing about Chicago?: The people. Everyone is friendly and sociable.

What is Uncommon Ground's green angle?: At Uncommon Ground, we source our food from both organic and local farms. Because of this, the different seasons dictate the specials and the menu is always changing. In the end, our kitchen scraps are sent to a composting service as well. Still, we have a small carbon footprint since a majority of our food goes right from the roof to the kitchen. Both locations have 4-star certifications from the Green Restaurant Association.

Photo Courtesy of Uncommon Ground

We also enjoying educating the community through our open houses and private garden tours. It gives us a chance to mingle with the community and share what we do on a regular basis. 


Enjoy the open house yourself this Friday, August 3rd at their Edgewater location, 1401 West Devon at 6:00pm. For more information on their private garden tours click here.

We have a few corrections to our post this past Monday, July 23rd:

• The full name of the non-profit organization Jeff oversees as Rick Bayless' assistant is "Frontera Farmer Foundation"
• Only XOCO is LEED certified. All 3 restaruants are certified by the GRA (Green Restaurant Association).

Chicago Gateway Green is very excited to spotlight Jeff Maimon from Frontera Grill this week!


Jeff, oversees the Frontera Foundation, which is a nonprofit that gives small farmers that serve the Chicago area working capital grants up to $12,000. To date they have given out one million dollars in grants.



Name: Jeff Maimon

Happy Monday! This week Gateway Green is putting the spotlight on Jason Klarfeld from UrbanEater.
UrbanEater's mission is to build a unified marketplace where consumers can discover, interact and buy food directly from local producers. UrbanEater offers producers and consumers the ability to interact in a setting accessible via web, mobile, talent or public forum.



Name: Jason Klarfeld

Title: Co-Founder of UrbanEater

What neighborhood do you live in?: Lincoln Park

What is UrbanEater's green angle?: Our focus at UrbanEater is to strengthen community by connecting people with local food and the folks behind it. Living in a big city, the majority of people interact with these types of local food merchants at outdoor marketplaces only during the spring and summer months. We want to help these merchants promote their craft to a larger audience of consumers not knowing where to find their product, continue to build relationships, and as a result, grow their business. By creating a "virtual farmers market", we are able to bring a new quality of experience and intimacy to the online storefronts.

Happy Monday! This week Gateway Green is putting the spotlight on Meg Goldberg founder of bethie b.

With more than 30 years of interior decorating experience, bethie b. was inspired by Meg Goldberg's mom, Beth, who has passed along her love of repurposing items, finding quality pieces, creatively decorating spaces, discovering beauty in recycled artifacts, throwing out the decorator rule book, and loving the search for the unexpected – both for your home and in life.

Bethie b. allows clients to easily sell their home furnishings as well as buy quality interiors from locals in their area. They believe that everyone deserves affordable, quality, eclectic furniture and stylish home decor to help make their house feel like a home.



Name: Meg Goldberg

Title: Founder of bethie b.

What neighborhood do you live in?: Lakeview.

Favorite thing Chicago?: All things summer -- Belmont Harbor Dog Beach, summer street fests, byob sidewalk dining, farmers markets, urban gardens & beaches, and the people!

What is bethie b.'s green angle?: bethie b. is an online interiors boutique that allows clients and small businesses to buy and sell premiere recycled furnishings. Furniture is currently the #1 least recycled household item and accounts for 10 million tons of waste a year. Our mission is to promote sustainable, stylish living by providing a local marketplace for recycled interiors.