The Shining

Now in their second year, the Green Awards prove there is no end to our citizens' eco-accomplishments. With nearly 100 nominations to choose from, we narrowed the list down to five remarkable individuals who strive for a brighter, cleaner, and greener future.

Edited by Cassie Walker and Nora O'Donnell

See "Before Spring" in its entirety at the Chicago Green Festival on May 17th at Navy Pier.

Call it a conversion experience, or the moment when the (compact flourescent) light bulb glowed so brightly it could not be ignored. For each of our 2008 Green Awards honorees, inspiration struck indelibly: a Buckminster Fuller lecture, a bus ride through a devastated Detroit, a morning in a beloved grandpa's woodshop. In the afterglow, these Chicagoans became more than acolytes of the environmental movement; they became innovators who set out to leave our city a little better—and brighter—than they found it.

FLORIAN PFAHLER Restaurateur

NAOMI DAVIS Activist

BIL BECKER Inventor

JILL SALISBURY Furniture Designer

DOUG FARR Architect

 

Photography: Anna Knott
Film: Uji Films