Naperville has a long history of environmental stewardship, marked by notable achievements. These include creating the Park District in 1966, becoming the first city in Illinois to offer curbside recycling in 1986, establishing the headquarters of the Conservation Foundation at McDonald Farm in 1997, and adopting the Greenest Region Compact in 2017. These milestones reflect a longstanding dedication to sustainability and set the stage for the formation of the Naperville Environment and Sustainability Task Force (NEST), which continues to build on this legacy.
NEST is a non-partisan, volunteer-run task force. Our mission is to assist, inform, and advise the City government and Naperville residents and businesses as we identify, prioritize, and implement sustainability in our community.
A group of residents formed NEST in 2018. They were initially focused on the transition to cleaner energy, but soon expanded to broader environmental goals. On March 19, 2019, the Naperville City Council unanimously endorsed NEST as a City task force and commissioned us to develop a comprehensive sustainability plan. Over the next two years, volunteers from diverse fields dedicated more than 5,000 hours to create Sustainable Naperville 2036. When the report was completed, NEST worked with City staff to develop key implementation objectives, which were presented to City Council and unanimously endorsed on August 31, 2021.
Since then, NEST has continued to focus on core areas of sustainability:
- Transportation: Improving walking and bikeability
- Energy: Reducing carbon emissions and transitioning to cleaner energy
- Buildings & Development: Strengthening building efficiency and codes (75% of all greenhouse gas emissions come from our buildings)
- Natural Resources: Protecting green spaces and biodiversity
- Waste: Reducing landfill use
This month, NEST is launching a new initiative called Climate Coaches, where residents considering solar panels, heat pumps, electric vehicles, or native gardens can connect with neighbors who have already completed those projects. Naperville-specific resources are also available on our website to help people save money and reduce their environmental impact.
NEST regularly offers community programs and educational events. We’ve sponsored tours of the Groot Materials Recycling Center and the Urban Stream Research Center, where participants learned how scientists are restoring local watersheds by raising and reintroducing native mussels. Our monthly community meetings have focused on topics from sustainable schools and District 203’s carbon action plan to dark-sky protection and noise reduction. During election season, we sponsor environmental candidate forums to raise awareness of the candidates’ stances on green issues. We also partner with local groups on sustainability projects, including working with the Lions on Styrofoam recycling and co-sponsoring the local screening of the environmental film “Future Council” with Naperville Neighbors United.
Although recognized by the City, NEST receives no city funding and relies entirely on volunteers. We do this because we believe in leaving a healthier, more sustainable future for the next generation. We would love to have you join us—whether you’d like to volunteer regularly or just attend a program once in a while. Everyone is welcome. Check out what’s happening soon at
www.sustainnaperville.org.
My husband Joe and I are both involved with NEST; I serve on the Executive Team, and he chairs the Energy Team. If you’d like to learn more, please do not hesitate to reach out to us directly. We hope to see you at a meeting or event soon.
