- Breakout sessions and agenda now available
Earthrise 815 brings neighbors, business owners, and local leaders together for one full day built around the Rockford region’s Climate Action Plan. The morning opens with featured speakers Mark Charles and Illinois Commerce Commission Chairman Doug Scott, followed by three rounds of breakout sessions, a low-waste lunch, and a keynote address from author and environmentalist Bill McKibben.
Browse the full schedule below, then open a breakout track to see the room, moderator, and presenters for each session. The exhibit hall is open throughout the day, and we’ll close with a social hour.
Plan your day at Earthrise 815. Select a breakout track to see its description, room, moderator, and presenters.
Check in, pick up your name badge, and visit the exhibit hall before the program begins.
Mark Charles, Author, Public Speaker & Podcaster
Doug Scott, Chairman, Illinois Commerce Commission
Isaac Guerrero, Director of Communications, Region 1 Planning Council
How businesses are becoming more energy efficient, using clean energy, reducing material waste recycling and water conservation.
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What is going on with our electric grid and electricity prices? The impacts of data centers, solar and wind energy, electric vehicles, home, commercial and industrial electrification on our grid and on our electricity bills.
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As our climate changes so do the stresses on the plants around us – the plants that add such beauty and function to the whole world. Plants clean our air, purify our water, preserve our soil and give us joy. Learn more about how we can be better stewards of the plant world – to the benefit of all!
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We all know that we waste too much. Fortunately, there are many proven strategies to help us take meaningful action to waste less in nearly all aspects of our households and it all adds up to benefits we sometimes overlook.
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Housing costs are higher than ever – and we are all paying more to operate, maintain and insure them. Hear about the sustainable ways that work to address all these housing challenges.
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We know that extreme weather and extreme weather events are on the rise. Even in the Midwest we are not immune. Preparation is essential and there are many experts providing ways to do that – in our homes, our businesses, our neighborhoods and communities.
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Ours is a highly mobile culture with fossil-fueled vehicles at the center of it. We are making steady progress to employ alternatives: electric vehicles of all kinds, along with biking and walking, continue to transform how we move people and materials.
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A locally sourced, low-waste lunch is included, because a sustainability conference should practice what it teaches.
Bill McKibben, Author, Environmentalist & Founder of Third Act
There are important linkages between climate change, public health and social equity. Learn why front-line communities so often feel the impacts first and what resources there are to help.
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The vital role of natural lands: Our connection to nature, biodiversity, carbon dioxide sequestration, water management and human health.
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Landfills: Reducing emissions, conserving capacity and the impact of recycling. The Winnebago County Landfill is the largest in the state and it is projected to reach its capacity in just 12 years. Learn what that means for us all.
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Water: it is so easy to take it for granted – until it’s in short supply or polluted and unhealthy. What are the facts about our water supply and who is doing what to keep our water safe and abundant. This includes, of course, discussing the potential impact of hyperscale data centers.
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We all have to eat so farmers and farming have to be a top priority for us all. Hundreds of years of working the soil have taught us invaluable lessons in conserving the soil that grows our food. Come and hear how sustainable soil and land management practices have changed over the years and what the future of farming looks like.
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Every business pays attention to its bottom line and these days it’s more important than ever to keep expenses down – especially energy costs. Learn how energy efficiency and solar energy can do just that and help us meet our goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the process.
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Illinois is a national leader in clean and renewable energy. Not only that but our state is growing the CE/RE jobs needed to keep these sectors strong and growing – and doing so by programs designed to focus the jobs growth in frontline communities.
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Everyone can ‘get solar!’ Illinois is one of the best states in the US for getting solar affordably – regardless of your income. If you don’t have solar, learn how to get it – for your home, business, church, institution or government buildings. This session will also address the growing use of battery energy storage.
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We already are a community that is sustainable in more ways than most of us know. Learn many of those ways and how we could celebrate them publically and proudly!
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We can’t change the weather but we can and are impacting the climate. The science is well established and really quite interesting. All seven of the Rockford Region Climate Action Plan are based on climate change science – take a deeper dive into it.
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How we build our homes, businesses and communities sets the stage for how we live our lives and how we impact everything around us. As we learn to build more sustainably, we are changing and redesigning the built environment to align with our net-zero, low-waste, healthy, and equity goals.
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Down the drain – and gone. It is easy to ignore the critical role of waste water treatment and how we are doing it more sustainably for the environment and for the health of us all.
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Everyone can compost their kitchen scraps. Come and see a demonstration of several ways you can do it and reduce greenhouse gases from the landfill and improve your garden’s soil.
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The cheapest energy you can get is the energy you don’t use! Energy efficiency at home can save you money and reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the same time! Also learn about your solar energy options and how anyone can get solar.
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Join us in the exhibit hall for a time of networking and socializing.
Earthrise 815 is a project of Sustain Rockford, a nonprofit, grassroots organization. Whether through sponsorship or a donation to Sustain Rockford, your gift helps cover the keynote, breakout speakers, and low-waste lunch, and our continued mission of sustainability.
