Gardening for a gym class? Wish they had this when I was a teen! Do you garden in the city? What are you… http://bit.ly/9OJ6dg
Archive for March, 2010
Gardening for a gym class? Wi…
Tuesday, March 30th, 2010CTA/I-GO Card now open to all members!
Friday, March 26th, 2010We have great news! The combined Chicago Card Plus/I-GO Card will be available to all I-GO members beginning April 1, 2010. This applies only to members who joined I-GO prior to this program’s pilot phase launch in January 2009.
I-GO and the Chicago Transit Authority created the Chicago Card Plus/I-GO Card — which provides easy access to I-GO cars and CTA trains and buses, as well as suburban Pace buses — to combine the convenience, affordability, and environmental benefits of car sharing and public transit in one handy smart card.
To learn more about how the card works, please read our CCP/I-GO Card FAQ.
To get your new card, click here and follow the simple steps.
(Please note that there will be a one-time $15 charge on your monthly invoice to cover the cost of your new card. You could more than offset this charge by referring a new member to I-GO. For every approved applicant who names you on their application form, we’ll add $20 in free driving to your I-GO account.)
That’s all there is to it! To all our members who were not able to apply for the card during its first-year pilot program phase: We’ve appreciated your patience while we put the finishing touches on this fantastic program and, of course, your ongoing support as an I-GO member.
has some good news to kick sta…
Friday, March 26th, 2010has some good news to kick start your weekend.
Starting April 1st, the joint CTA/I-GO smartcard will be available… http://bit.ly/allLfa
has some good news to kick sta…
Friday, March 26th, 2010has some good news to kick start your weekend. Starting April 1st, the joint CTA/I-GO smartcard will be available… http://bit.ly/bZ6msZ
CTA/I-GO Card now available to…
Friday, March 26th, 2010CTA/I-GO Card now available to all I-GO members! – http://eepurl.com/lP-P
Will you be participating in t…
Thursday, March 25th, 2010Will you be participating in this year’s Earth Hour? http://bit.ly/9AfbxD
Chicago ranks 5th in nation fo…
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010Chicago ranks 5th in nation for energy efficiency, according to the EPA. http://bit.ly/b5oT7o
CNT updates groundbreaking survey
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010
Big-time congrats to our esteemed colleagues at the Center for Neighborhood Technology (I-GO’s proud parent org) on the massive update of its inspired Housing + Transportation Affordability Index. We’re talking data on 337 metro areas. We’re impressed. And so is the media, including the Washington Post, which ran this article on the project today.
The index — which you can check out on this website set up by CNT — now covers 337 metro areas in the U.S., with expanded and improved data. Their analysis shows that only two in five American communities — or 39 percent — are affordable for typical households when transportation costs are considered along with housing costs.
It’s a huge effort that takes into account 161,000 neighborhoods and 80 percent of the U.S. population. It provides the only comprehensive snapshot of neighborhood affordability by taking into account the transportation costs associated with neighborhood location and design.
Big-time congrats to our estee…
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010Big-time congrats to our esteemed colleagues at CNT on the massive update of its Housing + Transportation… http://bit.ly/cTofbL
Should bikes and cars be treat…
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010Should bikes and cars be treated equally? http://bit.ly/cqSfTf
Custom car stereos a blast from the past?
Monday, March 22nd, 2010
Interesting how MP3 players with aux plugs may have put an end to the era of the pimped-out car stereo. Never really thought about it before. This blogger on BNET did.
Did you know?: Tons of I-GO cars have aux inputs. You can search for them under Amenities in our online reservation system. And remember, if you’ve got a web browser on your phone, you can use it to access I-GO’s mobile reservations site.
Interesting how MP3 players wi…
Monday, March 22nd, 2010Interesting how MP3 players with aux plugs may have put an end to the era of the pimped-out car stereo. Never… http://bit.ly/cNZCiM
Come to “5K Green Healthy Livi…
Friday, March 19th, 2010Come to “5K Green Healthy Living Expo” Saturday, April 24 from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. Runners and walkers, this event… http://bit.ly/acs4dK
Come to “Oak Park’s Earth Fest…
Friday, March 19th, 2010Come to “Oak Park’s Earth Fest” Saturday, April 24 from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm. This is a family friendly event where… http://bit.ly/bQEsNN
Come to “University of Chicago…
Friday, March 19th, 2010Come to “University of Chicago Earth Fest” Friday, April 23 from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm. I-GO is excited to be a part… http://bit.ly/cBPr4l
Come to “Columbia College Eco …
Friday, March 19th, 2010Come to “Columbia College Eco Fair” Thursday, April 22 from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm. Columbia’s Earth Day event will… http://bit.ly/9mXRKG
Come to “Creative Chicago Expo…
Friday, March 19th, 2010Come to “Creative Chicago Expo” Saturday, April 10 from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. I-GO Car Sharing will be among the… http://bit.ly/bUBHca
http://www.facebook.com/igocar…
Friday, March 19th, 2010While we’re arguing over healt…
Thursday, March 18th, 2010While we’re arguing over healthcare, China is clobbering us on clean energy tech. http://bit.ly/dA9zeh
China’s jolly green giant
Thursday, March 18th, 2010
Time for a pent-up diatribe.
With all the intense skirmishing over healthcare, have Americans taken their eye off the ball that will really count in the long run? How many Americans are aware that, slowly but surely, China is commandeering the emerging clean-energy industry and siphoning away leading U.S. tech firms?
A few successes with entrepreneurial start-ups in test markets in this country, and stimulus funds for high-speed rail, EVs, alternative fuel research, and energy grid infrastructure look paltry compared to companies like Applied Materials betting most of its chips on China. (Pictured above: Applied Materials’ research lab in Xi’an, China, from an article in today’s New York Times.) By the time the American public wake up to this reality, will we be out of the game, watching from the sidelines? Or can we emerge as the tortoise to China’s hare in the end?
Yes, it’s hard to think about spending green on green when so many of us are struggling to get by these days in the U.S., but China thinks it’s key to future economic power. And if they’re right, will this make our current national debt obligations look like a dim sum when green tech fully blossoms? Isn’t it time we stopped yelling at each other and work together to put America back on track on the global stage? Doesn’t that go beyond political division?
At I-GO and at CNT, our parent org, that’s what we’re focused on: growing our sustainable initiatives in the U.S. while providing better, affordable, greener options for everybody.
Gotta hand it to Hannah
Wednesday, March 17th, 2010
Seems Daryl Hannah’s making a smaller Splash with green cars. Take that, Leno. Ethanol-powered TransAm? So Mad Max 2.0.
Seems Daryl Hannah’s making a …
Wednesday, March 17th, 2010Seems Daryl Hannah’s making a smaller Splash with green cars. Take that, Leno. Ethanol-powered TransAm? So Mad Max 2.0. http://bit.ly/bOc5wv
likes the “Sustainable Gardeni…
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010likes the “Sustainable Gardening” chart the Chicago Tribune posted: http://bit.ly/9CfqcW
Time is on our side
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010
The band Chicago once existentially opined, “Does anybody really know what time it is? Does anybody really care?”
Actually, lots do. In these challenging times, every second counts for getting this country back on track.
In a recent survey by Real Simple, the magazine’s editors ranked the top time-saving cities getting around, health & safety, information & technology, green time-savers, and lifestyle. Chicago gets its due at No. 14. But we think the editors missed the boat on car sharing, which definitely deserved a mention (in our humble estimation).
So who’s number one? Seattle. Click here to find out why — if you’ve got the time.
Know someone interested in car…
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010Know someone interested in car sharing? Send them our “How it Works” video and tell them to put your name on the… http://bit.ly/cLXOSp
New car locations
Monday, March 15th, 2010
- Lincoln Park: Toyota Prius hybrid hatchback, 2547 N. Lincoln Ave., vehicle ID# 4521
- Near North: Toyota Matrix hatchback, 50 E. Bellevue, vehicle ID# 4538
Have you heard of the Bloom Bo…
Monday, March 15th, 2010Have you heard of the Bloom Box? Very interesting idea! Google, Fed Ex, ebay, Staples, and Walmart are all… http://bit.ly/cL5j4r
Conan is coming to Chicago thi…
Thursday, March 11th, 2010Conan is coming to Chicago this May. Whose side are you on – Leno or Conan? http://bit.ly/cpFUOC
Today Google rolled out a ‘by …
Wednesday, March 10th, 2010Today Google rolled out a ‘by bicycle’ option in Google Maps. Sweet! http://bit.ly/bqYDMO
Get yer two-for-one admission …
Wednesday, March 10th, 2010Get yer two-for-one admission tix to FamilyFarmed EXPO http://bit.ly/dnkr2W
Spring’s (almost) in the air. …
Wednesday, March 10th, 2010Spring’s (almost) in the air. And you know what that means: time to sign up for a CSA. This week’s FamilyFarmed… http://bit.ly/dwYxyd
The right to bear farms
Wednesday, March 10th, 2010Think organic food can’t be diverse and tasty? That a sustainable micro farm is a miniaturized version of agriculture? That CSA is a shadowy government agency? That “artisanal” just means arts and crafts? Then you need to get over to the fantastic FamilyFarmed EXPO, running Thurs to Sat, March 11 to 13, at the UIC Forum, 725 W. Roosevelt Rd.
Celeb chef demos, urban agriculture workshops, CSA sign-ups with local and regional farms. It all goes down easy in our book.
Check out this video promo they created for the 2010 expo:
This is the fifth installment of Oak Park-based FamilyFarmed.org’s annual foodie fest. And it just keeps growing and getting better every year. FamilyFarmed.org’s mission is to “expand the production, marketing and distribution of locally grown and responsibly produced food, in order to enhance the social, economic and environmental health of our communities.”
Local. Green. Sustainable. Healthy. May as well be describing I-GO. Which is why we’ll be at the event on Sat, March 13, from 10am to 6pm, dishing out discount I-GO memberships at $25 a pop. Now that’s deliciously wholesome.
And we’ll sweeten the deal even more: Print out this two-for-one admission coupon and bring a pal:
Dinner’s served.
I-GO shamrocks out in Forest Park
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010
I-GO donned the green (even more than our usual eco self) in Forest Park’s annual St. Paddy’s Day parade this past Saturday, March 6, piloting a pimped-out Paddy wagon (er, Prius) down Madison Street. The parade is one of the bigger suburban St. Pat’s shindigs, and our Prius is located in the village, thanks to I-GO’s suburban expansion initiative, launched in 2009.
I posted 5 photos on Facebook …
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010I posted 5 photos on Facebook in the album “St. Patrick’s Day Parade, March 6, 2010″ http://bit.ly/berFIp
Newest I-GO car locations http…
Monday, March 8th, 2010Newest I-GO car locations http://bit.ly/ce1ACT
@amontag Welcome to I-GO. Judg…
Monday, March 8th, 2010@amontag Welcome to I-GO. Judging by that rainbow in your pic, we can tell you’ve finally seen the light!
@patrick0505 Hey, thanks for t…
Monday, March 8th, 2010@patrick0505 Hey, thanks for the shout-out, Patrick. We couldn’t agree more!
New car locations
Monday, March 8th, 2010
Downtown:
425 E. Erie St., 2009 Honda Element (blue), vehicle ID# 4413
535 N. St. Clair St., 2007 Toyota Matrix (blue), vehicle ID# 4536
Wicker Park:
1511 N. Artesian Ave., 2006 Toyota Scion xB (blue), vehicle ID# 4459
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’…
Monday, March 8th, 2010It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s…Super Taco. Able to circle the planet two and a half times before materializing… http://bit.ly/9g6cWE
You’ve heard of car sharing bu…
Friday, March 5th, 2010You’ve heard of car sharing but what about ‘cab sharing’? They’re giving it a whirl in NYC: http://bit.ly/96yEEP
We just posted this how-to tut…
Friday, March 5th, 2010We just posted this how-to tutorial video on our site. It goes over what a lot of you probably already know: how to… http://bit.ly/adr41l
Watch I-GO Car Sharing: How it…
Friday, March 5th, 2010Watch I-GO Car Sharing: How it Works on Vimeo! http://vimeo.com/9738392
In case you missed this electr…
Friday, March 5th, 2010In case you missed this electrifying page-turner, here’s I-GO’s March e-newsletter. (But seriously, folks…some… http://bit.ly/bHAE8q
News from I-GO: March 2010
Friday, March 5th, 2010
In case you missed it, here’s I-GO’s March newsletter. Lots of fun stuff in this issue: how we’ll be getting greener than usual for St. Pat’s, how to set up text alerts for your reservations, and more.
News from I-GO: March 2010 – h…
Thursday, March 4th, 2010News from I-GO: March 2010 – http://eepurl.com/iCVv
What sort of high-speed rail s…
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010What sort of high-speed rail station in Chicago would be enticing enough
to encourage people to opt for a train… http://bit.ly/d5GyIo
A big green thumbs-up to I-GO …
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010A big green thumbs-up to I-GO member Joe Baldwin for getting his Mobile Garden proposal greenlighted by the CTA. Go… http://bit.ly/dpFdgn
Training vines
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010
Last April, we wrote about I-GO member Joe Baldwin’s personal crusade to promote sustainability by turning a CTA flat-bed rail car into a “Mobile Garden.” Far-fetched? Perhaps. But the UIC grad student and multimedia artist has proven that his dogged persistence may pay off.
His proposal was recently greenlighted by the CTA — as reported in Time Out Chicago this week — though Baldwin still faces a long haul, and potentially as many delays as current CTA service, to secure funding and insurance and retool the original design as a greenhouse structure, in order to prevent dislodged debris from causing any problems. Makes sense to us. Only cartoon characters should get thumped on the head with plummeting potted plants.
The other part of the plan — now scheduled for a 2011 launch — was to distribute plants to commuters at various rail stations. Joe told us earlier it would work as a “Bring a Plant to Work Day” sort of deal, but this has apparently changed to CTA workers passing out seed packets aboard the designated Mobile Garden train. Joe has managed to secure the packet donation from a Wisconsin CSA.
What he really needs, though, is seed money. If you’re interested in helping Joe cultivate his dream — sown as a school project and now getting signaled onto a different sort of Green Line — you can pitch in at www.giveforward.org/makeitreal.
Come to “Going Green Matters” …
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010Come to “Going Green Matters” Sunday, March 14 from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm. In case you didn’t know, I-GO has expanded… http://bit.ly/azys7m
Come to “Going Green Matters” …
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010Come to “Going Green Matters” Sunday, March 14 from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm. In case you didn’t know, I-GO has expanded… http://bit.ly/azys7m
Come to “FamilyFarmed EXPO” Sa…
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010Come to “FamilyFarmed EXPO” Saturday, March 13 from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. Come see us at the 5th annual FamilyFarmed… http://bit.ly/dhXYnC
Come to “Forest Park’s St. Pat…
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010Come to “Forest Park’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade” Saturday, March 6 from 12:00 pm to 2:30 pm. Watch us strut our… http://bit.ly/b3dh1k
I-GO featured on Chicago Half Off
Monday, March 1st, 2010
Know someone who’s been on the fence about joining I-GO? Now’s the time to give your pal a nudge. Starting today, I-GO is a featured deal on Chicago Half Off.
We’re making 200 memberships available for just $25 a piece. So get ‘em while they’re hot.
I-GO is a featured deal on Chi…
Monday, March 1st, 2010I-GO is a featured deal on Chicago Half Off this week. Know anyone who’s been thinking about joining I-GO? Here’s a… http://bit.ly/c87N1J
Chicago Half Off featuring I-G…
Monday, March 1st, 2010Chicago Half Off featuring I-GO membership for $25 this week http://bit.ly/bFUF2V
Chi-Town Rewards partner of th…
Monday, March 1st, 2010Chi-Town Rewards partner of the month: Adler Planetarium. Two-for-one general admission for I-GO members. http://bit.ly/cgCs5n
This TIGER isn’t out of the wo…
Monday, March 1st, 2010This TIGER isn’t out of the woods yet. But we think he’ll earn his stripes soon enough. http://bit.ly/cHoZ3O
Will this TIGER be a balm?
Monday, March 1st, 2010
Our colleagues at the Center for Neighborhood Technology (I-GO’s parent org) recently blogged on how the U.S. Dept. of Transportation’s TIGER program (the acronym stands for Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) is impacting the Chicago area through the various CREATE projects (Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency). USDOT Secretary Ray LaHood announced last week that — under the aegis of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act — the feds are keepin’ it rail.
That sits well with us at I-GO. Along with CNT, we’ve been advocating for multi-modal sustainable transportation that moves folks and freight while causing the least amount of damage to the environment. In Chicago — which owes its very origins to waterway and rail infrastructure — investing in rail to create jobs and rebuild our communities shows refreshing foresight.
CNT has been at the forefront of tying transportation to housing and business development. I-GO, for its part, works with the CTA to offer a joint transit smartcard that allows users to access both our cars and CTA trains and buses (and suburban Pace buses, too, for that matter).
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