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Take action; ways you can help!

Sign and share the petition on GoRealGoGrass.com in support of natural grass fields in Deerpath Community Park.

 

Help by writing personalized postcards to our Lake Forest neighbors. Email gorealgograss@gmail.com with how many postcards you would like to personalize and your address. We'll drop off the cards with a list of names for you.

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Write a respectful letter to your aldermen. See below for sample letters

 

Call your aldermen

 

Share GoRealGoGrass website and the petition with your friends via text, email and/or social media

 

Sent a text to your friends and neighbors with a link to the petition, and ask them to sign 

 

Talk to your neighbors. We've put together a few helpful talking points.

Letters
Sample/ Contacts

Sample letters

Contact our leaders

Download these template options to send to our City officials

Option A

(green space focus)

Option B

(landfill and PFAS focus)

Mayor


George Pandaleon, 847.373.9857

pandaleong@cityoflakeforest.com

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Aldermen


Ward 1
Jennifer Karras, 312.560.3135

karrasj@cityoflakeforest.com


James E Morris “Jed”  224.330.9593

morrisj@cityoflakeforest.com


Ward 2
Melanie K Rummel 847.514.7909

rummelm@cityoflakeforest.com


Edward “Ted” Notz Jr 847.830.6689

notze@cityoflakeforest.com


Ward 3
Jim Preschlack 847.234.1950

preschlack@cityoflakeforest.com


Ara Goshgarian 847.494.8766

goshgariana@cityoflakeforest.com


Ward 4
Raymond P Buschman 847.615.2572

buschmannr@cityoflakeforest.com


Eileen Looby Weber 847.489.9894

webere@cityoflakeforest.com

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Park District

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Sally Swarthout

swarthos@cityoflakeforest.com

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Paul Best

andreapaulbest@aol.com

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Nancy Duffy

nduffyhaus@aol.com

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Kevin Carden

kcarden@redico.com

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Patrick Marshall

patrick@bartlynn.com

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Marc Silver

msilverlf@gmail.com

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Kaci Spirito

kacispirito@gmail.com

Talking points

Talking points

Fiscally irresponsible.

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Unhealthy for the children to breathe fumes from synthetic turf on hot summer days.

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More stress on joints and bones and higher risk of career ending injuries among athletes playing on synthetic turf.

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Heat island effect, dangerous heat build up on synthetic turf is bad for athletes and also degrades plastics in the turf itself.

 

PFAS: all synthetic fields contain PFAS, highly toxic "forever chemicals" and these PFAS will  spread as the turf degrades into nearby watersheds and even thru the air. 
Microplastics: Plastic grass frays and degrades with use and exposure to sunlight and the pounds of microplastic shed from synthetic turf should raise alarm bells.

 

Fair Process - this is being rushed through without proper input from relevant city committees. 
This proposal for all synthetic turf covering all playing field surfaces in a 10.5 acre park runs contrary to the City of Lake Forest's 2016 Sustainability Plan, which resulted from a detailed community-wide survey.

 

Plastic Pollution - one synthetic field is the equivalent of 46 million plastic straws. . All that plastic grass has to be replaced in  7-10 years because it wears out and is no longer safe for athletics. Who is going to pay for cleaning all that plastic up  and dumping it where? If we want to look out for the health of our children and provide a better future for them, then this proposal does not make sense and does not stand up to close scrutiny. 

 

We are not against a sports complex but we are against this request for all synthetic turf. We hope the City Council will allocate funds for a design with grass fields. 

 

Even though the current proposal suggests a design with an infill of crushed olive pits in coated silica sand, rather than tire crumb rubber, the turf filaments, the turf liner and the shock pad underlayment still contribute to plastic and PFAS pollution and landfill issues.

 

Serious athletes prefer playing on well maintained natural grass.

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