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CARE Party of Oak Park (view source)

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The '''CARE Party of Oak Park''' (Citizens Active for Respect for the Environment) had its founding in 1985 in Oak Park, [[Illinois]]. From 1989 until the current date, its president has been [[Les Golden]]. Under his direction, CARE has achieved numerous environmental successes, including the ban of pesticides, conservation of water and paper, reform of garbage collection, preservation of trees, landscaping, and the election of numerous individuals to positions on various boards to legislate such concerns.<ref> (2001) Golden, Les, “It’s not easy being green, but here are some ideas”, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', April 11, p. 40</ref>

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==Political Activity==

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==Political and Educational Activity==

===Political Candidates===

[[File: LesGoldenNotEasyBeingGreen.jpg|thumb|left|175px| One of the leading environmentalist spokesmen and activists in Illinois, Les Golden as President of the CARE party in Oak Park, Illinois, secured the election of a majority on the Park Board which on their first day in office banned pesticides in the parks and recreation centers.]]

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===Green Building Design===

[[File: LesGoldenSaveCoyotes.jpg|thumb|left|175px|An active animal welfare advocate in the State of Illinois, Dr. Golden argued for compassion toward the coyote population of northern Illinois in a series of columns, and letters to the editor, and press releases.]]Dr. Golden has had a leadership role in large-scale commercial development as principal of Holley Court Partners. His proposal features green technology, including LEED, a rooftop garden, and internal recycling.<ref>http://www.oak-park.us/public/pdfs/Planning/Harlem_South/2006%20RFP%20Responses/09.26.06_Holley%20Court%20Partners.pdf</ref>

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===Childrens’ Educational Activity===

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Dr. Golden or an associate from the CARE party periodically provide lectures and seminars at local schools to the children. Although the subjects vary, the most frequently requested subjects are how to deal with baby wildlife found injured or orphaned in the spring and how the individual can help battle global warming. Although unpaid for this work, Dr. Golden previously received a modest grant to hire a speaker for these activities.

===The $50,000 “Trees: Our Natural Infrastructure for the Environment” Challenge===

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[[File: CAREToneProgress.jpg |thumb|right|400px| Beginning on January 1, 2010, with $5000 seed money from Dr. Les Golden, the TONE goal of raising $50,000 for inoculation of elm trees against Dutch Elm disease has reached about $38,000 as of February 1, 2012.]]

Each Fall, the park district resods worn portions of soccer and baseball fields. Les Golden met with park district officials and arranged an annual “Sod Distribution Week” during which the trimmings are made available to homeowners for use in their lawns rather than driven to landfills.

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===Trash Removal===

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Since 1995, Dr. Golden has worked with a local Boy Scout troop for “Saturday Morning Trash Pickup” days. He drives the scouts to the local forest preserves and works with them and their scout leaders to pick up discarded bottles, plastics, paper, and other trash. Not only does this beautify the parks, it prevents creatures from ingesting the material or using it for nesting material.

==Bird Kill and Road Kill==

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===Political Lawn Sign Recycling===

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He has consistently lobbied against the use of political lawn signs during election cycles. After the polls are closed, he contacts the schools, churches, and other polling places to gather the yard signs. He also has organized volunteers to walk the neighborhoods to pick up yard signs. He then delivers the yard signs and their metal spines to orphanages, schools, and libraries for use by children for art and architecture projects.

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He has consistently lobbied against the use of political lawn signs during election cycles+.<ref>http://www.oakpark.com/News/Articles/04-03-2012/Ways_for_Oak_Park_residents_to_recycle_those_campaign_signs</ref> After the polls are closed, he contacts the schools, churches, and other polling places to gather the yard signs. He also has organized volunteers to walk the neighborhoods to pick up yard signs. He then delivers the yard signs and their metal spines to orphanages, schools, and libraries for use by children for art and architecture projects.

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This activity is accompanied by letters to the editor providing suggestions for using the lawn sign material. In addition to the use of the plastic material for school art projects, Golden suggests using it to create insulating boxes instead of using ~~styrofoam and~~ using the metal spines for gardening, either, for example, to support tomato plants or to provide structure for the growth of vines of climbing vegetable plants.

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This activity is accompanied by letters to the editor<ref>http://oakpark.suntimes.com/opinions/letters/11474365-474/letters-to-the-editor.html</ref> providing suggestions for using the lawn sign material. In addition to the use of the plastic material for school art projects, Golden suggests using it to create insulating boxes (for example, a summer project for the kids before going on a picnic which will teach them the value of reusing material in a conservation effort) instead of using Styrofoam. He suggests using the metal spines for gardening, either, for example, to support tomato plants or to provide structure for the growth of vines of climbing vegetable plants.

==References==

Drlesmgolden

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