Vote For Youth Artwork To Be Featured On Skokie's New Garbage Truck

SKOKIE, IL — Trash day is getting a makeover, courtesy of the creativity of Skokie students set to turn the town's newest garbage truck into a moving masterpiece.

Students from 5th through 12th grades have submitted more than two dozen pieces of artwork to village staff as part of an art contest with the theme, "Reducing Waste." (See entries below.)

Voting is open through March 29. After that, two top vote-getters — one from high school and one from middle school — will have their art selected to appear on the side of the village's newest garbage truth.

The artistic endeavor aims to spread the word about the village's ambitious environmental sustainability plan.

The plan calls for a village-wide reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 35 percent below 2020 levels by the end of the decade, with a goal of a carbon-neutral Skokie by 2050.

Last year, the village switched to once-weekly trash pickup, which resulted in a significant reduction of diesel fuel consumption, with the potential for cutting greenhouse gas emissions by more than 25 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents, or MTCO2e.

The village also offers free municipal drop-off composting and a curbside food scrap compost collection program. Together, they have composted nearly 200 tons of food scraps, with a potential reduction of about 175 MTCO2e.

Skokie's sustainability plan has 43 different strategies and 189 different action items. While electricity and natural gas used for heating and cooling currently accounts for the largest share of emissions, the plan calls for the greatest reduction to come from the transportation sector, according to an update on its first year of implementation.

Community members can cast their votes through March 29. Winning artwork will be applied as vinyl graphics to each side of the vehicle. Village staff said they anticipate announcing the winners and unveiling the artwork in April to mark Earth Month.