Chicago Recycling
Coalition records, 1984-2007, bulk 1991-2003
Descriptive Inventory for the Manuscript Collection at Chicago
History Museum, Research Center
By Meghan Ryan, 2013
Please address questions to:
Chicago History Museum, Research
Center
1601 North Clark Street
Chicago, IL 60614-6038
Web-site:
http://www.chicagohistory.org/research
©
Copyright 2013, Chicago Historical Society, 1601 North Clark St., Chicago, IL
60614
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Title: Chicago
Recycling Coalition records, 1985-2007, bulk 1991-2003
Main creator: Chicago
Recycling Coalition
Inclusive dates: 1985-2007,
bulk 1991-2003
Size:
17 linear feet (41 boxes)
1 oversize folder.
Access: This collection
is open for research use.
Provenance statement: Gift
of the Chicago Recycling Coalition (accession number: 2013.0059.1).
Terms governing use: The
donor deeded all rights owned by the donor to this material, including
copyright, to Chicago Historical Society. Other
copyright may be retained by the creators of items, or their descendants, as
stipulated by United States copyright law, unless otherwise noted.
Please cite this
collection as: Chicago
Recycling Coalition records (Chicago History Museum) plus a detailed
description, date, and box/folder number of a specific item.
This descriptive
inventory contains the following sections:
Biographical/historical note,
Summary description of the collection,
List of online catalog headings about the collection,
Arrangement of the collection,
Detailed description of archival series in the collection,
List of contents of the collection.
Biographical/historical
note:
The Chicago Recycling Coalition
(CRC) advocated for responsible waste management practices. The CRC worked with
community members and elected officials and began in 1985 as the Coalition for
Appropriate Waste Disposal (CAWD). The CRC developed community-based initiatives,
including a campaign to shut down the city's last municipal waste incinerator
and to replace the City of Chicago's Blue Bag recycling system.
Summary description of
the collection:
Meeting minutes, reports, maps, surveys, correspondence, newspaper
clippings, publications, memos, lists, educational materials, photographs, and
publications of the Chicago Recycling Coalition about its efforts to limit
pollution and promote responsible waste management policies. Topics include the
CRC's founding in 1985 as the Coalition
for Appropriate Waste Disposal, working with neighborhood groups and
elected officials in Chicago (Ill.) to popularize recycling, CRC's opposition
to the Blue Bag recycling system because studies indicated it wouldn't be
effective, CRC's work with a coalition named WASTE (Westside Alliance for a Safe Toxic-free Environment) in
opposition to the City of Chicago's Northwest Incinerator at 700 North Kilbourn
Avenue, and the effects of industrial incinerators in other parts of Illinois.
Collection written in English.
List of online catalog
headings about the collection:
The following index headings for this collection were entered in
the online catalog.
Subjects:
Chicago Recycling Coalition--Archives.
Coalition for Appropriate Waste Disposal (Chicago, Ill.)--Archives.
Chicago (Ill.). Dept. of Streets and Sanitation.
Northwest Incinerator (Chicago, Ill.)
Westside Alliance for a Safe
Toxic-free Environment (Chicago, Ill.)
Community organization--Illinois--Chicago.
Pollution--Illinois--Chicago.
Recycling industry--Illinois--Chicago Metropolitan Area.
Recycling (Waste, etc.)--Illinois--Chicago.
Refuse and refuse disposal--Illinois--Chicago.
Chicago (Ill.)--Politics and government.
Chicago (Ill.)--Social conditions.
Form/genre:
Correspondence.
Maps.
Minutes.
Newsletters.
Newspaper clippings.
Photographic prints.
Publications.
Reports.
Surveys.
Added entries:
Chicago (Ill.). Dept. of Streets and Sanitation.
Coalition for Appropriate Waste Disposal (Chicago, Ill.)
Westside Alliance for a Safe
Toxic-free Environment (Chicago, Ill.)
United States--Illinois--Cook County--Chicago.
Arrangement of the
collection:
The collection is arranged in six series:
Series 1. Coalition for Appropriate Waste Disposal (CAWD), 1984-1996
(box 1-2)
Series 2. Administrative
files, 1989-1996 (box 3- 11)
Series 3. Press, publications, and development files, 1988-2007 (box
12-20)
Series
4. Blue Bag initiative files, 1989-2007 (box 21-24)
Series 5. Northwest Incinerator files, 1985-1996 (box 25-28)
& oversize folder
Series 6. Community Outreach and other program initiatives,
1989-2007 (box 29-41)
Detailed description of
archival series in the collection:
Series 1. Coalition for Appropriate Waste Disposal,
1984-1996 (box 1-2)
Series 1 documents the activities of the Coalition of
Appropriate Waste Disposal (CAWD), the pre-cursor to the Chicago Recycling
Coalition. Contains proposals, meeting minutes, financial information, news clippings,
assessments, and reports. Also present is correspondence with elected officials
and politicians.
Series 2. Administrative
files, 1989-1996 (box 3-11)
Series 2 contains meeting minutes, including board meetings.
Also includes executive committee and annual meeting minutes, correspondence, financial
information, policies, strategic plans, surveys, and legislation.
Series
3. Press, publications, and development files, 1988- 2007 (box 12-20)
Series 3 includes information
pertaining to CRC's website, fundraising information, legislation, news
articles, correspondence, grant materials, press conference materials,
information on educational workshops, newsletters, other CRC publications,
Department of Environment Solid Waste Management curricula, and information on
careers related to recycling advocacy.
Series
4. Blue Bag initiative files, 1989-2007
(box 21-24)
Series 4 consists of surveys, city
promotional materials, and news articles documenting the City of Chicago's
implementation of the Blue Bag recycling program and CRC's campaign to fight
the Blue Bag ordinance because studies indicated the blue bags program would
not be effective. Also contains press releases, information on educational
programs, campaign materials and photographs. In October 2006, Chicago
announced it would phase out the Blue Bag recycling program and begin replacing
it with a blue cart recycling program.
Series
5. Northwest Incinerator files, 1985-1996 (box 25-28 &
oversize folder)
Series 5 documents the campaign by
the CRC to shut down the City of Chicago's Northwest Incinerator, located at 700
North Kilbourn Avenue on Chicago's West Side. CRC worked with the umbrella
organization, WASTE (Westside Alliance for a Safe Toxic-free Environment),
against the incinerator. This series contains maps, news clippings, petitions, proposals,
legislation, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) correspondence, meeting notes, and
information relating to incinerators located in Chicago (Ill.) and elsewhere in
the state of Illinois. The Northwest Incinerator was decommissioned in 1996.
Series
6. Community Outreach and other program initiatives, 1989-2007 (box 29-41)
Series 5 includes residential, small
business, and neighborhood recycling information, correspondence, permit
information, legal documents, draft legislation, resolutions, solid waste
management plans, Chicago recycling initiative guides, assessments, proposals,
and educational materials related to composting and recycling. Additionally,
series 6 contains material related to local environmental controversies.
List of contents of the
collection:
box 1-2 Coalition
for Appropriate Waste Disposal, 1984-1996
box 3-11 Administrative
files, 1989-1996
box 12-20 Press, publications,
and development, 1988-2007
box
21-24 Blue
Bag Initiative files, 1989-2007
box 25-28 Northwest
Incinerator files, 1985-1996
oversize folder Northwest Incinerator files,
1985-1996
box 29-41 Community Outreach
and other program initiatives, 1989-2007