Elgin Watchman
A monthly podcast focused on environmental sustainability issues in our city and throughout the Fox River Valley
Episodes
75 episodes
Elgin Sustainability Commission October 2024 Meeting: Single Use Plastic Bag Fee Ordinance (again)
The Elgin Sustainability Commission met on Tuesday, October 8th at the Edward Schock Centre in downtown Elgin. While Tia was off this month celebrating Indigenous Peoples Day, Erik and his Siamese Cat (aka Luang) summarize t...
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Season 3
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Episode 17
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28:53
Elgin Sustainability Commission September 2024 Meeting: The Mystery Surrounding A Former Commissioner
The Elgin Sustainability Commission met on Tuesday, September 10th at the Edward Schock Centre in downtown Elgin. Tia and Erik unpack the run-of-the-mill agenda items. It did not seem as if there was very many new topics be...
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Season 3
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Episode 16
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54:15
Waste War Special Series: Elgin City Council Decides On Next Waste Hauler
Our season three special series on Waste continues with this episode in which Tia, Kendra, and Erik unpack what happened at the August 28, 2024 city council meeting.Every council member weighed in with their opinionsThere w...
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Season 3
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Episode 15
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1:43:17
Waste War Special Series: A Conversation with Lakeshore Recycling Services
Our season three special series on Waste continues with this episode in which Tia chats with the Elgin City staff recommended waste hauler in the 2024 RFP, Lakeshore Recycling Services. She is joined on this hot August day by Katie Neary, Manag...
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Season 3
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Episode 14
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43:53
Waste War Special Series: Elgin City Council Evaluating Waste Hauler Proposals
In today's sixth episode of our Season Three deep-dive series -- Waste Wars -- Tia, Kendra, and Erik discuss the August 14, 2024 meeting of the Elgin City Council. Last month, Tia and Kendra unpacked and discussed (
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Season 3
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Episode 13
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1:12:29
Elgin Sustainability Commission August 2024 Meeting: Climate Action Planning And More
The Elgin Sustainability Commission met on Tuesday, August 13th at the Edward Schock Centre in downtown Elgin. To summarize the commission agenda items, Tia and Erik typically play fun little podcast games to keep thin...
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Season 3
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Episode 12
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47:15
Waste War Special Series: Discussion with Kane Co. Recycling Program Coordinator
In today's fourth episode of our Season Three deep-dive series -- Waste Wars -- Tia talks with Clair Ryan, who is Kane County's Recycling Program Coordinator. Lots and lots of ground was covered throughout this episode, but here is a summary&nb...
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Season 3
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Episode 11
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57:23
Elgin Sustainability Commission July 2024 Meeting: Ferris Bueller Loves Elgin Trees
The Elgin Sustainability Commission met on Tuesday, July 9th at the Edward Schock Centre in downtown Elgin. To summarize the commission agenda items, Tia and Erik typically play fun little podcast games to keep things ...
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Season 3
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Episode 10
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1:02:13
Waste War Special Series: Tia & Kendra Unpack City's Waste Hauler RFP
In today's third episode of our Season Three deep-dive series -- Waste Wars -- Tia and Kendra go through the request for proposals (RFP) for the city of Elgin's waste hauler contract starting in 2025. How long will the waste ha...
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Season 3
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Episode 9
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44:29
Elgin Sustainability Commission June 2024 Meeting: Gardens, Dams, and Governance
The Elgin Sustainability Commission met on Tuesday, June 11th at the Edward Schock Centre of Elgin. (Spoiler alert . . . the meeting was adjourned at 7:28pm for the second month in a row ... so, kudos to Commission Chairperson Tom Armstrong...
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Season 3
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Episode 8
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1:04:14
Elgin Sustainability Commission May 2024 Meeting: An Eco Casserole of Conversations
The Elgin Sustainability Commission met on Tuesday, May 14th at the Edward Schock Centre of Elgin. (Spoiler alert . . . the meeting was adjourned at 7:28pm and Erik came to this episode in a great mood.) The commiss...
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Season 3
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Episode 7
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1:04:18
Waste War Special Series: Interview with Elgin City Council Member Carol Rauschenberger
In today's third episode of our Season Three deep-dive series -- Waste Wars -- Tia interviews Elgin City Council Member Carol Rauschenberger. To say Council Member Rauschenberger's "mind is blown" on so very many topics related t...
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Season 3
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Episode 6
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46:04
Elgin Sustainability Commission April 2024 Meeting: More Single Use Bag Fee
The Elgin Sustainability Commission met on Tuesday, April 9th at the Edward Schock Centre of Elgin. Surely, this meeting occurred in an alternative universe because: 1) 100% of the city council appointed commissioners were in atten...
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Season 3
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Episode 5
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1:08:29
Waste War Special Series: Interview with Elgin City Council Member Tish Powell
In today's first episode of our Season Three deep-dive series -- Waste Wars -- Tia interviews Elgin City Council Member Tish Powell. Broadly, they discuss the city of Elgin's upcoming decision on who to hire for garbag...
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Season 3
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Episode 4
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1:03:13
Elgin Sustainability Commission March 2024 Meeting: More About 2024 Priorities
The Elgin Sustainability Commission met on Tuesday, March 12th at the Edward Schock Centre of Elgin. An efficient meeting by all measurements with virtually no tangents, side conversations, talking over each other, and long-winded echoing of ea...
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Season 3
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Episode 3
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1:01:13
Waste War Special Series: Let's Start With Environmental Racism
Welcome to Season Three of The Elgin Watchman podcast. As you know, we got off to a slow start with this podcasting season . . . winter weather, public meeting cancellations, etc. Regardless, we're back in the saddle again. We appreciate your p...
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Season 3
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Episode 2
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30:52
Elgin Sustainability Commission Feb 2024 Meeting: 2024 Priorities Plus
The Elgin Sustainability Commission met on Tuesday, February 13th. After cancelling the January 2024 meeting due to weather, the February meeting touched on a lot of different topics. Unfortunately, the commission couldn't vote on anything beca...
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Season 3
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Episode 1
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42:45
Season Two Finale: Looking back at 2023 and Forward to Season Three
Tia and Erik chat about their favorite podcast moments of 2023 and look ahead to what's on deck in 2024 for The Elgin Watchman podcast. Spoiler alert #1 . . . Erik's biggest disappointment was the Elgin City Council's inability to ...
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Season 2
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Episode 23
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26:34
Elgin Sustainability Commission Dec 2023 Meeting: Artificial Turf on Playgrounds and Sports Fields
The Elgin Sustainability Commission met on Tuesday, December 12th. What looked like a potentially short meeting with only two agenda items, turned into a two hour debate about the pros vs. cons of using artificial turf in city parks/playgrounds...
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Season 2
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Episode 22
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49:01
Fox River Story: The Damn Dam
Erik is still lost and no where to be found so Tia and Gary Swick pick up the slack and tackle the hottest topic in town: the dam! Ahhh yes..the Kimball Street dam...what is going on with that? Why's everyone talking about this?!Listen ...
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Season 2
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Episode 21
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51:49
Elgin Sustainability Commission Nov 2023 Meeting: Waste, Recycling, and Organics
The Elgin Sustainability Commission met on Tuesday, November 14th. For almost two hours, commissioners and various city staff members talked about the upcoming expiration of the Waste Hauler contract. In this episode, Tia & Eri...
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Season 2
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Episode 20
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1:04:48
September 2023 Elgin Sustainability Commission Meeting
It's ladies night! Tia can't make the September commission meeting so the wonderful and talented Kerry Kelly attends in her stead. Tia invites Kerry on to unpack the meeting and is joined by another friend of the podcast, Kendra Kroiss, who wei...
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Season 2
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Episode 19
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55:48
The Fox River Story: Sustainable Asset
Welcome to the sixth episode of The Fox River Story, a Season Two collaboration with Friends of the Fox River.Tia Aagesen and her husband TJ (who is the big sexy voice of...
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Season 2
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Episode 18
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50:58
Welcome to Elgin, Kristin Youngmeyer
The Elgin Sustainability Commission met on Tuesday, August 8th, and unlike the last few months, this time they were joined by the city's new Sustainability Analyst, Kristin Youngmeyer. The fourth city staff liaison to the commission in th...
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Season 2
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Episode 17
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56:18
Elgin Sustainability Commission Meeting July 2023: Why Does the Commission Exist?
The Elgin Sustainability Commission met on Tuesday, July 11th, without a city staff liaison present to help guide their deliberations -- AGAIN. Just like last month's commission meeting, this agenda was one of the shortest on...
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Season 2
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Episode 16
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50:32