Chicago loses its grandfather of sustainability
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Ken Dunn attending a 2019 WBEZ roundtable on the future of recycling and compost in Chicago. Photo: Monica Eng/Axios
I was heartbroken last week to learn that Ken Dunn, Chicago's godfather of sustainability, had died at the age of 82.
Backstory: Dunn came to Hyde Park in the '70s to study philosophy at UChicago, but shifted to environmental education in 1975 by launching his Resource Center. It offered the city's first multi-stream recycling and composting services.
- Later, at his City Farm locations, he grew some of Chicago's finest produce in almost pure compost and sold it to high-end restaurants to create local living-wage jobs and revitalize vacant land.
I reported on Dunn's achievements for more than a decade but spoke to him for the last time in April after the closing of his recycling center in North Park Village, which, he alleged, was damaged by city crews.
- Every time I called him for a quick chat, I knew I was in for a long one about his hopes and dreams for Chicago.
What he's saying: "We need to figure out ways to get away from the economy that's profit-based, regardless of its impact on local citizens, communities or city and our climate," he told me during a WBEZ interview in 2019.
- "We're seeing the collapse of the climate and we have to start rebuilding community in every way we can … working together with food systems, producing food, harvesting, preparing food, eating food and sending the food scraps back to the land."
The bottom line: Chicago has lost a dreamer and a doer — and a man who forever changed our city.